ADVISORY FROM SPECIALISTS
As federal legislators deliberate on the future of the U.S. Department of Education, an innovative interactive data tool from Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan illustrates the distribution of federal education funds to local school districts—making this information accessible by U.S. congressional district for the first time.
Moreover, U-M specialists are ready to provide insights on the DOE’s involvement in K-12 education and various mechanisms for channeling federal funds to local educational institutions (see below).
A mix of federal, state, and local finances supports traditional public schools as well as public charter schools. Although the federal government does not serve as the primary funding source for public education, federal education funds are designated for particular initiatives, including: 1) Title 1 programs aimed at assisting students from low-income families; 2) Child Nutrition Act programs that offer free and low-cost school meals for students from economically disadvantaged households; 3) special education services for children with disabilities; and 4) vocational and technical education initiatives.
The Federal Education Funding Data Dashboard details the amount of federal support designated for each of these initiatives for the 2020-21 academic year, which was the latest data available at the time of analysis. The funding allocations can be searched by state and U.S. congressional district. Totals are calculated based on the complete federal dollars allocated to school districts and do not encompass funds allocated to each state’s department of education.
The dashboard also presents the overall count of public schools and students in each state or congressional district, along with the number of students living in poverty and those identified as experiencing homelessness.
By geographic area, local school districts in the South received the highest amount of federal education funding ($33.9 billion), followed by institutions in the Western U.S. ($25.8 billion). Within the larger regions, the Pacific division secured the largest federal education funding amount for local schools ($18.8 billion), succeeded by the South Atlantic ($15.2 billion) and the West South Central ($13.1 billion).
The five congressional districts with the highest proportion of funding for local schools originating from federal sources are:
- Arizona Congressional District 2 (28.2%)
- California Congressional District 42 (27.6%)
- Mississippi Congressional District 2 (22.6%)
- Kentucky Congressional District 5 (21.6%)
- Michigan Congressional District 13 (21.1%)
U-M experts available for insights include:
Elizabeth Birr Moje serves as the dean of the Marsal Family School of Education, holds the title of George Herbert Mead Collegiate Professor of Education, and is an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Literacy, Language, and Culture.
Contact: [email protected]
Brian Jacob holds the Walter H. Annenberg Professorship of Education Policy at the Ford School of Public Policy, is a professor of economics, and is co-director of U-M’s Youth Policy Lab. He can discuss the federal DOE’s function in K-12 education.
Contact: [email protected]
Christina Weiland is a faculty member at the Marsal Family School of Education and co-director of the Education Policy Initiative at U-M. She can provide insights on the DOE’s role in early childhood education.
Contact: [email protected]
Jennifer Erb-Downward, the director of housing stability programs and policy initiatives at Poverty Solutions, developed the data dashboard and is available for remarks regarding the data analysis.
Contact: [email protected]
Amanda Nothaft, who oversees data and analysis at Poverty Solutions, can discuss various federal funding mechanisms, such as categorical grants, which describe the current method of distributing federal education funding to local schools based on specific goals, and block grants, which are allocated to states for wider, general aims, enabling state governments to determine how the funds are utilized within the outlined purposes and constraints.
Contact: [email protected]