LIVING HERE
The potential numbers for the coming school year following the election effective on January 20, 2025, can be estimated. The different ‘titles’ that allow for the injection of revenue into the school district’s budget are published for everyone to see.
Title I: A program that supplements funding for low-achieving students, particularly in high-poverty schools. Title, I Target Assistance is available to children up to age 21 who are eligible for free public education, and who are identified as failing or at risk of failing to meet academic standards.
Title II: Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is a federal program that provides funding to states and districts to improve the quality of teachers and school leaders. The program’s goals include:
- Increasing student achievement
- Improving the quality of teachers, principals, and other school leaders
- Increasing the number of effective teachers, principals, and other school leaders
Providing greater access to effective teachers, principals, and other school leaders for low-income and minority students.
Title III: Part A of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act provides funds to help English learners, including immigrant children and youth, succeed in school by assisting them in becoming fluent in English and meeting challenging state academic content and student academic achievement standards. The priorities of Title III are to:
- Increase the English language proficiency of English learners (ELs) by providing effective language instruction educational programs that meet the needs of ELs and increase English language proficiency and student academic achievement
- Provide effective professional development designed to improve the instruction and assessment of ELs, to enhance the ability of teachers and school leaders to understand and implement curricula and assessment practices and measures, and to increase children’s English language proficiency or substantially increase the subject matter knowledge, teaching knowledge, and teaching skills of teachers
- Provide and implement other effective activities and strategies that enhance or supplement language instruction educational programs for ELs which shall include parent, family, and community engagement activities
Title IV: Part A (Title IV-A) Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program (SSAE) was authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015. The Title IV-A program is intended to improve student’s academic achievement by increasing the capacity of states, local education agencies (LEAs), schools, and local communities to (1) provide all students with access to a well-rounded education, (2) improve school conditions for student learning, and (3) improve the use of technology to improve the academic achievement and digital literacy of all students.
The potential loss to the Lake Geneva school districts, if those federal annual benefits go away, is nearly forty percent of their budget, and even though those funds have specific places for the money to be spent, the enormity of their size gives the school districts greater power with banks and the community organizations and public as a whole. If that money goes away then at the very least, some Lake Geneva schools will be closed.
