[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 110 (Wednesday, September 15, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1646]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TITLE I FUNDING FLEXIBILITY

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                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 15, 2004

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a cosponsor of legislation 
introduced by my friend and Virginia colleague Congressman Tom Davis to 
address needed flexibility in the Title I education program. Title I 
provides the majority of federal education money; however, these 
education dollars are tied to arbitrary thresholds of needy students.
  A school district can go from just above the threshold to just below 
with the change of only a couple of percentage points. This means that 
the increase or loss of only a few needy students can bring a 
significant windfall of new federal money to a district or can 
devastate a school district that has received federal funds for years.
  In northern Virginia there is one such district. Fairfax County, one 
of the largest school districts in the country, will likely lose nearly 
$3 million because of a loss of only a handful of qualifying students. 
The most recent census-defined poverty rates have dropped the county's 
population from just above 5 percent to just below 5 percent leaving 
the school district ineligible for most Title I federal funding. For 
years, Fairfax County School District has received Title I federal 
funds because more than 5 percent of the students were below the 
census-defined poverty rate.
  While there are other school districts throughout the country facing 
similar difficulties, Fairfax County, which serves over 150,000 
students, is the largest school division to be dropped out of 
eligibility for Title I grant programs and stands to lose the most 
money.
  This legislation introduced today would provide school districts like 
Fairfax County with a multi-year phase down of these funds. This multi-
year phase down will allow school districts time to plan for students' 
educational future. This flexibility would be particularly helpful for 
Fairfax County School District where the number of students below the 
poverty rate dropped by a such a small number.
  Despite this current situation, Fairfax will maintain its commitment 
to education success and will have the same number of schoolwide Title 
I programs in the coming school year as it did before.

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