SENATOR ENSIGN’S COMMITMENT TO OUR NATION’S
DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN

Title I is the largest program under the Department of Education. Title I provides financial assistance to local educational agencies (most commonly known as school districts) and schools with high numbers or percentages of poor children to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic content and student academic achievement standards. However, under current law, the formula used to distribute Title I funds is grossly inequitable. Specifically, the formula is extremely unfair to a fast-growing state like Nevada and is in need of drastic change.

During the debate on the No Child Left Behind Act, I worked with my colleagues to find a more equitable way to distribute Title I funds. While we still have a lot of work to do, I was able to include an amendment in the No Child Left Behind Act that ensures that more money reaches Nevada by requiring the Department of Education to use the most updated population numbers. Because of this amendment, Nevada has seen historic increases in Title I, receiving an additional $53 million dollars in only five years. As you can see below, Title I funding for the state of Nevada has tripled since I came to the United States Senate. I pledge to work with the Department of Education to guarantee that the most updated population data available is used to calculate the Title I formula.

As a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, I plan to work with my colleagues to address the inequities that are still present in the Title I funding formula. I plan on introducing legislation that will allocate Title I funding equally across the board. Under current law, Title I funding ranges from over $1500 per student in Vermont to $611 per student in Arizona. The state of Nevada currently receives just over $700 per student in federal Title I funds. Clearly this is an inequity that has to be addressed. The federal government should not value a disadvantaged student in Vermont any higher than a disadvantaged student in Nevada.