ED issues ARRA guidance on waivers of Title I requirements and IDEA funding, announces ARRA web conferences

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has issued draft guidance regarding Title I, Part A waivers. The most recent iteration of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is included in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the federal stimulus bill, provides $10 billion in additional Title I, Part A funding to schools with high concentrations of students living in poverty. The July 2009 non-regulatory guidance addresses general requirements of Title I, Part A waivers; waivers of statutory and regulatory requirements under NCLB related to supplemental education services (SES) and public school choice, including a waiver allowing school districts with one or more schools in improvement to offer SES, in addition to public school choice, in the first year of school improvement; waivers related to Title I, Part A ARRA funds; and waivers of “maintenance of effort” (MOE) for states and school districts, the general requirement that states and districts maintain their own funding levels in order to receive federal funds.

ED’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) has issued an update to its April guidance on Individuals with Disabilities Education Act IDEA) Part B grants under ARRA, adding a new section addressing the relationship between stimulus funding and the state and local MOE requirements under IDEA. The update guidance, the April guidance, and an NSBA statement issued in response to the April guidance expressing other concerns with IDEA MOE requirements are below.

Finally, ED has announced that it will be holding a series of technical assistance web conferences on implementation of ARRA. The first web conference in the series, on "Fraud Prevention in Recovery Act Programs," will be held on Thursday, July 30th, at 1:00-2:30 PM (EST), and will be presented by the ED Office of Inspector General (OIG). Then, starting on Monday, August 10th, ED will begin conducting the ED Recovery Act Technical Assistance Web Conferences every other Monday, at 2:00-3:30 PM (EST). Participants must register at the second link below, and archives of the conferences also will be available. ED welcomes suggestions for future ARRA topics to be discussed. Background information and resources on ARRA are available at the last links.

ED draft non-regulatory guidance on Title I waivers
OSERS updated guidance on IDEA Part B funding under ARRA
OSERS April guidance on IDEA Part B funding under ARRA
NSBA statement on IDEA MOE and ARRA
ED announcement of ARRA technical assistance web conferences
NSBA School Law pages on ARRA
NSBA Legislative Advocacy page on Title I and IDEA funding under ARRA