Congressional Asian Pacific, Black, and Hispanic Caucuses Ask Dept. of Education to help Underfunded and Underserved Communities of Color
June 23, 2016
To ensure funding for poor and underserved schools, the Congressional Asian Pacific, Black, and Hispanic Caucuses sent a letter to Secretary John King demanding that the Dept. Of Education “use its regulatory authority to guide and enforce the use of federal funds by local education agencies to help underfunded and underserved communities of color.” The funding, known as Title I, is intended to aid schools that are traditionally underfunded. Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA-27) noted that “we know that there are States and districts that are providing more State and local dollars to schools that are not receiving Title I funds than to those schools that are receiving Title I funds,” The “supplement, not supplant” provision was amended by ESSA with the intention of requiring states and districts to spend local funds equally, independent of federal funding.