IDEA Money Watch
Vol. 3, Number 6             September 2011
In This Issue
State-by-State Spending Update
Monitoring Reports Forthcoming
ED LEA MOE Guidance
Get to Know Your Table 8
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Funding Cliff stories

from around the country:

 
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Office of Inspector General

State Audit   Reports     

 

 

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the U.S. Department of Education is charged with the responsibility of monitoring use of federal education funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).    

 

The OIG has issued these reports on use of ARRA funds during 2010-2011:   

Resources

EdMoney - website developed by the Education Writers Association - provides district-level Recovery Act funding information, links to local news coverage and more. Check it out.


LearningPort  - a website developed by the Office of Special Education Programs at U.S.ED - builds on OSEP's guidance document, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Using ARRA Funds Provided Through Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to Drive School Reform and Improvement, by providing easy access to a wealth of professional development resources.   

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Greetings!

IDEA Money Watch, a project of  The Advocacy Institute, is keeping track of the use of $11.3 billion in federal IDEA Part B funds provided to local school districts as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

All IDEA ARRA funds must be obligated by September 30, 2011 ...just 21 days remain!


 Thanks for your interest in this project!

The Advocacy Institute
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Spending Report :: State-by-State Update

According to the latest report from the U.S.ED, many states have significant amounts of Recovery Act funds remaining. As of August 26, 2011,  only 4 states, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts and South Dakota, indicate 100% of IDEA Part B ARRA funds have been obligated.

All Recovery Act funds must be obligated by Sept. 30, 2011.

The significant balances remaining prompted the USED to send letters to both the governors and chief state school officers calling their attention to the need to obligate all ARRA funds.  


States with significant portions of IDEA Part B ARRA funds remaining include:

Alabama: $28 million

Delaware: $6 million   

Georgia: $39 million
Louisiana: $22 million
Maryland: $34 million
Mississippi: $22 million  

Nebraska: $20 million  

New Hampshire: $9 million   

New Jersey: $67 million 
New York: $118 million 

South Carolina: $35 million  

Virginia: $70 million  

Utah: $31 million
Wyoming: $6 million     

 

Across all states, the rate of obligation for IDEA Part B funds now stands at 89% -  with $1.2 billion still to be obligated.

 That's less than 1 month away! 

Find out where your state stands >> Go to
our state-by-state chart.
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OSEP ARRA Monitoring Reports 

The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the U.S. ED is about to release its state-by-state reports on monitoring of IDEA ARRA funds, as required by the Recovery Act.

 

The reports, announced in a December 2010 memorandum, will follow four monitoring principles to assess the distribution and use of ARRA IDEA funds:

 

  1. State procedures are reasonably designed to ensure accountability and transparency of ARRA IDEA funds;
  2. State controls are reasonably designed to ensure such funds are used in accordance with IDEA and ARRA requirements;
  3. ARRA IDEA funds reach intended recipients and achieve results, and;
  4. State procedures are reasonably designed to ensure that instances of fraud, waste, or abuse of ARRA IDEA funds are promptly identified and mitigated.  
To guide the monitoring, OSEP designed the ARRA Monitoring Inventory (AMI). Results derived from completion of the AMI will be reported to states via a letter.

OSEP plans to complete all state monitoring activities by December 31, 2011.

IDEA Money Watch will provide links to the ARRA IDEA Monitoring letters as they become available.  
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UPDATE :: US ED's New Interpretation of IDEA's LEA MOE Requirements
   

Last month we reported on the new guidance issued by US ED regarding the IDEA provision for "maintenance of effort" (MOE) by local school districts (LEAs) on June 16, 2011.

On August 17, 2011, the Center for Law and Education (CLE) submitted a letter to USED regarding  the June informal guidance.

CLE's analysis found that OSEP's guidance is "inconsistent with the legislative history of P.L. 94-142 and the local MOE statutory provision, and is contrary to basic tenets of statutory construction and contract law," adding that "Given the current economic burden on school districts, OSEP's flawed interpretation is especially inopportune; it can be anticipated that LEAs will transgress the statutory prohibition against reducing their local MOE outside of the expressly authorized exceptions (�613(a)(2)(A)(iii)) as a means of lowering their MOE in subsequent fiscal years resulting in further harm to the education of the nation's 5.9 million children with disabilities in need of special education."

IDEA Money Watch has posted an Information Alert on this topic and encourages wide dissemination.

The guidance was also the topic of the Education Week blog "On Special Education" that appeared on August 31th.

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Get to Know Your Table 8     


Table 8 provides information on the reductions to local spending on special education (MOE) taken in 2009 by school districts in every state.

Nationwide, LEAs took $1.4 billion in reductions to local spending in 2009. These reductions need not be restored when Recovery Act funds run out!

Table 8 data for LEAs in every state (except Louisiana) are available here.

We've also put together a helpful document, Understanding Table 8, to assist in reviewing Table 8 data.

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