Short title

This Act may be cited as the

All Children are Equal Act

or the

ACE Act

Findings

Section 1125AA of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6336) is amended—(1)by amending the heading to read as follows:

1125AA.

Increase grants per formula student as the percentage of economically disadvantaged children in a local educational agency increases

;

and

(2)by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

(a)

Findings

Congress makes the following findings:(1)The current Basic Grant Formula for the distribution of funds under this part does not adequately target funds for schools with the highest concentrations of economically disadvantaged students.(2)The current formulas for distributing Targeted and Education Finance Incentive Grants is intended to allocate more funds per formula student to local educational agencies with higher concentrations of such students.(3)These formula use two weighting systems, one based on the percentage of the aged 5–17 population in a local education agency that is eligible to receive funds under this title (percentage weighting), and another based on the absolute number of such students (number weighting). Whichever of these weighting systems results in the highest total weighted formula student count for a local educational agency is the weighting system used for that agency in the final allocation of Targeted and Education Finance Incentive Grant funds.(4)Since the amount available to be distributed through these formulas is fixed by congressional appropriation, any gain in allocation share by one local educational agency causes a loss to other local educational agencies.(5)The number weighting alternative is often favorable to very large local educational agencies, even if the agency’s formula student percentage is low. But because smaller local education agencies simply do not have enough students to gain from number weighting, they are adversely affected under the number weighting alternative.(6)The Congressional Research Service has compared the funding allocations of each local education agency for school year 2021–2022 under the current dual weighting system with the funding allocation it would have that year if all local educational agencies had their student count weighted only by percentage weighting.(7)This data shows that the use of number weighting in these formulas has shifted funding from smaller to larger local educational agencies notwithstanding the level of poverty in either. This is contrary to the intent of Congress, which is to direct more funding per formula student to local educational agencies with high concentrations of poverty, as measured by the number of formula students as a percentage of the aged 5–17 population of the local educational agency.(8)The National Center for Education Statistics confirmed these findings in a statistical analysis report dated May 2019.(9)Congress has a responsibility to correct this unintended inequity by reducing the power of the number weighting system relative to the percentage weighting system so that local educational agencies with high percentages of poverty but low numbers of students are not disadvantaged under the formulas used for grants under this part.

Targeted grants to local educational agencies

Section 1125(c)(2)(A) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6335(c)(2)(A)) is amended to read as follows:

(A)

In general

For each fiscal year for which the Secretary uses local educational agency data, the weighted child count used to determine a local educational agency’s grant under this section—(i)for each fiscal year through fiscal year 2023, is the larger of the two amounts determined under subparagraphs (B) and (C); and(ii)for fiscal year 2024 and each succeeding fiscal year, is the amount determined under subparagraph (B).

Education Finance Incentive Grant Program

(a)

States with an equity Factor less than 0.10

Section 1125A(d)(1)(B)(i) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6337(d)(1)(B)(i)) is amended to read as follows:

(i)

In general

For each fiscal year for which the Secretary uses local educational agency data, the weighted child count used to determine a local educational agency’s grant under this section—(I)for each fiscal year through fiscal year 2023, is the larger of the two amounts determined under clauses (ii) and (iii); and(II)for fiscal year 2024 and each succeeding fiscal year, is the amount determined under clause (iii).

(b)

States with an equity factor greater than or equal to 0.10 and less than 0.20

Section 1125A(d)(2)(B)(i) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6337(d)(2)(B)(i)) is amended to read as follows:

(i)

In general

For each fiscal year for which the Secretary uses local educational agency data, the weighted child count used to determine a local educational agency’s grant under this section—(I)for each fiscal year through fiscal year 2023, is the larger of the two amounts determined under clauses (ii) and (iii); and(II)for fiscal year 2024 and each succeeding fiscal year, is the amount determined under clause (iii).

(c)

States with an equity factor greater than or equal to 0.20

Section 1125A(d)(3)(B)(i) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6337(d)(3)(B)(i)) is amended to read as follows:

(i)

In general

For each fiscal year for which the Secretary uses local educational agency data, the weighted child count used to determine a local educational agency’s grant under this section—(I)for each fiscal year through fiscal year 2023, is the larger of the two amounts determined under clauses (ii) and (iii); and(II)for fiscal year 2024 and each succeeding fiscal year, is the amount determined under clause (iii).