This legislation changes how the federal government distributes Title I education funding to school districts based on student poverty levels under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Currently, districts receive whichever amount is larger under two calculation methods: one weighted by the percentage of low-income students, and one weighted by the raw number of low-income students. The number-based method has tended to favor very large school districts even when their poverty rate is relatively low, while smaller districts with high concentrations of poverty receive less than intended. Starting in fiscal year 2026, this bill eliminates the number-weighting option for Targeted Grants and Education Finance Incentive Grants, so districts would qualify based only on the share of their student population that is economically disadvantaged. Because the total pool of grant money is fixed by Congress, this shift would redirect funding away from some larger districts and toward smaller districts with higher poverty concentrations.
Average Household Impact
- Title I number-weighting formula — Eliminated for FY2026 and after, shifting funds toward high-poverty-percentage districts
Congressional Summary
All Children are Equal Act or the ACE ActThis bill revises the funding formulas for distributing Targeted Grants and Education Finance Incentive Grants (EFIG) to local educational agencies (LEAs).Under current law, both the Targeted Grant and EFIG formulas use a weighted formula child count to increase aid to LEAs with the highest numbers or percentages of poor and other disadvantaged children (commonly referred to as formula children). Generally, children counted in these formulas are assigned weights based on (1) each LEA's percentage of formula children (commonly referred to as percentage weighting), and (2) each LEA's number of formula children (commonly referred to as number weighting). The higher of the two weighted formula child counts is then used in the formula for determining grants for an LEA.Under this bill, beginning in FY2026 and for each succeeding fiscal year after, the weighted formula child count used to determine an LEA's Targeted Grant must be based only on the percentage weighting. Additionally, the weighted formula child count used to determine an LEA's EFIG must be based only on the number weighting.For additional information seeCRS Report R48893, FY2024 State Grants Under Title I-A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA);CRS Report R48890, Determining Grants Under Title I-A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA); andCRS Report R48165, The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as Amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): An Analytical Review of the Allocation Formulas.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2026-03-18
- Date Added
- 2026-07-07
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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