Education Resources Blog

Most teachers do not start the year planning to fund their own classrooms. It happens gradually: a set of markers here, a book order there, laminating film for the anchor charts that keep falling apart. By spring, the receipts add up to real money.

Trying to figure out how to best spend your Career & Technical Education funding - or use other funding for career & technical education programs? Let's take a look at some options.

Engagement. Inclusivity. Social-Emotional Support. With all that students have experienced in recent months, you're looking ahead to the future. In a "normal" year, your federal funding dollars may have gone towards field trips, student performances, or hands-on lab materials. Now you have decisions to make on how to spend that funding in a meaningful way to set up for what next year will bring. Overcoming challenges from distance learning, promoting inclusion and equality, and expanding your social-emotional support efforts are just a few concepts that will require extra action as students (hopefully) return to classrooms. Today we'll explore a few major funding streams and how you can use aligned tools to face these challenges, head-on.

CARES, ESSER, HEERF, GEER....is your head spinning with letters? With additional funding for education to assist with planning in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic, there's a lot to process in terms of what is meant for which purpose, and we're here to help. Below you'll find some explanations, links, and a downloadable resource to help guide you through the COVID Funding for Education "jungle" and offer some suggestions on investments that align with the funding to enhance learning and safety today, tomorrow, and beyond!

Title I funds can pay for almost anything that strengthens instruction for students who need extra academic support, from additional staff and tutoring to instructional materials, technology, professional development, and family engagement. The key is that every purchase has to add to what the school already provides and connect to a documented student need. According to the U.S. Department of Education website, the Title I Grant program is meant to provide funding to disadvantaged Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) to improve their academic achievement. The most common of these, Title I - Part A, "...provides financial assistance to LEAs and schools with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards." Key takeaways Title I, Part A funds extra instruction, staff, materials, technology, and family engagement for students in schools with high numbers or percentages of children from low-income families. What the money can pay for depends on the program type: schoolwide programs can upgrade the whole school, while targeted assistance programs serve students identified as needing extra help. Classroom tools such as poster printers and die-cut machines can qualify when they're tied to a documented academic need and add to core instruction rather than replace it. What is Title I funding, and what can it be used for? Title I funding is federal money that the U.S. Department of Education provides, through states, to school districts and schools with high numbers or percentages of children from low-income families. The Department's Title I, Part A program page describes it as support for extra instruction in reading and mathematics, as well as special preschool, after-school, and summer programs. As these funds are meant to improve instruction and provide additional academic support and learning opportunities, they are often allocated towards reading or mathematics curriculum, supplemental programs to reinforce and extend the regular school curriculum, or additional staff members to lead and teach the students. The Department's guidance on schoolwide programs gives examples in each of these areas: Instructional staff: Schools can fund additional staff, including instructional coaches who provide school-based professional development. Supplemental instruction and tutoring: Funds can pay for after-school tutoring and increased learning time for students who need more support. Instructional materials and technology: Schools can improve the quality of instructional materials and buy devices and software students use to access digital learning materials. Professional development: Training helps teachers and staff strengthen instruction for the students Title I serves. Parent and family engagement: Activities that increase family and community engagement help families support learning at home. Schoolwide vs. targeted assistance programs How a school can spend its Title I funds depends on which of two program models it runs. Your school improvement plan or your district's Title I coordinator can tell you which one applies. Schoolwide program: Under ESSA, a school where at least 40 percent of children are from low-income families can run a schoolwide program, and a school below that line can operate one with a waiver from its state. Schoolwide programs are designed to upgrade the entire educational program, so purchases can serve every student in the building. Targeted assistance program: Schools that don't run a schoolwide program use Title I funds for children who are failing, or most at risk of failing, to meet challenging academic standards. Purchases need to serve those identified students. Title I allowable expenses and what's not allowed The rule that shapes nearly every Title I purchase is "supplement, not supplant." Federal law says Title I funds can only add to the money a school would otherwise receive from state and local sources, not replace it. In practice, that means Title I can't cover costs that state and local funds would pay for anyway. Federal cost rules also require every expense to be necessary and reasonable, and they don't allow entertainment or social activities unless those costs have a specific program purpose. Typically allowable Typically not allowable Extra reading and math instruction, tutoring, and increased learning time Core instruction that state and local funds would otherwise pay for Instructional materials and technology tied to a documented student need Purchases that aren't necessary or reasonable for the Title I program Professional development for staff who serve Title I students Entertainment or social activities without a specific program purpose Parent and family engagement activities Services for students with disabilities and English learners that must be paid for with non-federal funds Rules vary by state and district, so confirm allowability with your district Title I coordinator before you place an order.

If we all held unlimited monetary resources, there's no end to what we would provide for "our kids." There are many professions far more lucrative than those in education - but for the most part, you aren't doing it for the money, you're doing it for the intangible reward of helping students learn. And with schools trying to provide so much with so little, choices are forced to be made. And that's why, according to a survey of 1,800 public and private school teachers following the 2015-2016 school year, the average American teacher spends $600 of his/her own money every year on basic supplies. With this in mind, we at VariQuest, being passionate about education, want to help. There are many federal, state, and private funding streams available for any number of projects in schools, and the process of applying can be intimidating, so we've developed a free guide to help you learn how to write a grant.

April 11, 1965. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965: