New Report Shows NYC is Losing Title 1 Money

In this report, IBO looks at the history of Title I-A and New York City schools’ eligibility and allocations. Among our findings:

• The number of low-income children eligible for Title I-A funding nationwide grew by about 28 percent from calendar year 2006 through 2017. Over that same period, federal spending on the program grew by just 17 percent.
• In school year 2005-2006, New York City received just over $1 billion in Title I-A funds (in 2017 dollars). By school year 2016-2017, the city’s allocation had shrunk to just under $650 million, a nearly 38 percent decline.
• From school year 2005-2006 through 2016-2017, the number of Title I-A eligible schools in the city increased from 969 to 1,243, a rise of 28 percent.If recent funding and demographic trends continue it is likely that New York City and other school districts across the country will need to either find efficiencies in the delivery of their Title I-A funded programs, fill shortfalls with local funds, or cut back on services.

Chalkbeat’s analysis includes this:

New York City distributes some of its school funding through a formula that is designed to give more financial support to schools with greater shares of students with disabilities, who are English learners, or who are struggling academically. But despite some efforts to infuse schools with more resources, the formula has not been fully implemented.

The analysis also found that high-need schools tend to have less experienced teachers. At city schools with the lowest levels of poverty, 15 percent of teachers have less than three years of experience. That number jumps to 23 percent at high-poverty elementary and middle schools and to 26 percent at needy high schools.

Read more from Chalkbeat here:
https://chalkbeat.org/posts/ny/2018/09/17/nyc-schools-with-high-share-of-low-income-students-lag-in-funding/