Poor schools to receive additional $9.5 million in federal aid

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Tuesday, March 16, 2004 | 11:07 a.m.

The Clark County School District is expected to receive an extra $9.5 million, a record 24.5 percent increase, in federal dollars for its poorest schools, U.S. education officials announced Monday.

The increase is because of a change in the formula used by the Education Department to calculate Title I aid -- funding reserved for the nation's poorest schools.

Based on the Education Department's calculations, Clark County's share will increase the district's take to $48.6 million for 2004. Nevada's overall Title I funding will be more than $63 million, an increase of 19 percent from 2003.

"Obviously we're very pleased," said Doug Thunder, deputy superintendent of administrative and fiscal services for the Nevada Education Department. "Whenever we can get extra dollars for our students it's good news."

The funds may be used to pay for teachers and programs at schools with the highest populations of students from low-income families.

The bulk of Clark County's increase will be used to expand kindergarten classes to full-day schedules at 35 at-risk schools, said Mark Lange, director of Title I compliance for the district.

"It's an expensive proposition, but we believe it's money well-spent in the long run," Lange said Monday. "If we can catch kids early on there's less remedial help needed down the road."

Providing full-day kindergarten programs for as many students as possible is one of the district's top priorities, said Agustin Orci, deputy superintendent of instruction.

"It's something I think everyone agrees can have a tremendous effect on a student's future potential," Orci said.

Studies have shown students in full-day kindergarten programs are more advanced academically at the end of the year than their peers in half-day programs, and are also more successful in first grade and beyond.

Lange said the nearly 25 percent increase in Title I dollars is by far the largest he's seen in the more than 32 years he's been with the district. In addition to providing full-day kindergarten classes the district will likely be able to add more campuses to the list of those helped with Title I dollars, Lange said.

Last year 44 percent of the district's schools met the federal criteria for Title I aid but less than half of those campuses received money. The funding -- more than $37 million -- wouldn't have helped if it had been spread too thin at a larger number of schools, Lange said.

The change in the federal law, sponsored by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and backed by the rest of the state's congressional delegation, called for the Education Department to use only the most recent census figures when determining aid to schools in high-poverty areas. Prior to the change the Education Department used data from 1999 to determine funding.

"This is a great step forward in our efforts to improve the education system in Nevada and across the country," Ensign said Monday in a prepared statement. "These grant awards reflect recognition of the unique demands on Nevada's schools because of our state's growth."

While Clark County's increase was the largest of the state's 17 school districts in terms of dollar amounts, the biggest percentage increase went to Pershing County, with 29.4 percent. Pershing will receive an additional $53,728 which would raise its 2004 Title I funding to $236,306.

Some states, including Massachusetts, will see a 10 percent drop in Title I dollars this year because of the change. But many western states experiencing soaring population growth -- such as Arizona and Nevada -- will see large increases in federal funding.

Republicans Jim Gibbons and Jon Porter, as well as Democrat Shelley Berkley, sent a letter to the House Appropriators last October supporting the plan.

Porter also worked with Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Ohio, who heads a House spending subcommittee, to make sure the Census Bureau had enough money to do an annual study on population levels.

"Using annually updated data will increase Nevada's share of Title I funding, but I am still deeply concerned that the president has shortchanged by more than $9 billion what should be a top priority in his budget -- the No Child Left Behind Act," Berkley said. "This funding gap threatens to leave nearly 12,000 students in Nevada without the math and reading assistance they were promised through the Title I program."

A January Congressional Research Service report said the law was underfunded by $9.4 billion, which would affect 11,719 Title I students in Nevada, according to Berkley's office. Porter spokesman Adam Mayberry said he met with the chairman several times to make sure Ensign's amendment could actually be implemented. He made clear the while some areas get 1,00 new students a year, Southern Nevada gets up to 15,000 students every year and those changes need to be considered with the funding, he said. 8