ED Releases Draft Stimulus Waiver Guidance, Granting Flexibility on Choice, SES Set-Asides

WASHINGTON, July 8 — The U.S. Department of Education (ED) released long-awaited draft guidance that gives states and school districts the ability to request waivers on a host of statutorily required Title I set-asides due to the influx of billions of dollars in stimulus funds.

Most notably, ED will allow waivers related to the 20-percent reserve for public school choice transportation and supplemental educational services (SES). The set-aside is designed to ensure districts regularly allocate a defined amount of resources toward these policy priorities. But the need to spend scarce resources on programs that have not been widely utilized by students have made the set-asides a perennial source of complaint. The advent of the stimulus created the untenable possibility of large chunks of money going unused during a major economic crisis.

In addition to choice and SES, the guidance addresses waivers on the 15 percent carryover limitation and the professional development set-aside, and offers additional details on waiving maintenance of effort — the fiscal rule requiring that school districts maintain a certain level of state and local spending or lose a proportionate amount of federal dollars.