November 29, 2011

TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:

SUBJECT:          1) Impact of Congressional Reduction of Selected School Year 2011–2012
    Federal Funds on Local Educational Agencies;

                            2) Education Jobs Fund Increase

As described in the November 1, 2011, letter to local educational agencies (LEAs) posted to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) Correspondence page, Congress passed a fiscal Continuing Resolution on September 30, 2011, for the federal fiscal year (FFY) 2012 appropriations. This federal bill included a small decrease (an estimated 1.5%) to the existing FFY 2011, which is school year (SY) 2011‑2012, allocations to states.

TEA staff has analyzed the information provided by the various program offices at the US Department of Education (USDE) to determine the impact of this reduction on currently awarded Notices of Grant Award (NOGAs) and NOGAs to be issued with the release of maximum and reallocation entitlements in December 2011and January 2011. Historically, TEA holds a portion of program funds in reserve when planning amounts are calculated each year to be able to cover the impact of new charter school enrollments without reducing awards to existing LEAs. In some instances, these reserves are able to cover most or all of the required program reductions.

The following table describes the impact to some of the applicable SY 2011–2012 entitlements of the estimated 1.5% Congressional reduction to the following federal program areas.

Grant Program	Impact of Reduction
ESEA, Title I, Part A	The reductions must be calculated using the statutory funding formula which includes a variable hold harmless provision. This means that the reductions must be taken only from LEAs that received an increase in funding for SY 2011–2012 from the prior year. Approximately 200 LEAs will receive a reduction from their planning amounts when the maximum entitlements are released on December 2, 2011. However, the vast majority of LEAs impacted will still see an increase from their prior year maximum entitlement.
ESEA, Title I, Part D, Subpart 2	The reductions will be taken from the program funds held in reserve when the planning amounts were calculated. There is no anticipated reduction to LEAs when the maximum entitlements are released on December 2, 2011.
ESEA, Title I School Improvement	The reductions will be taken from the program funds held in reserve when the initial entitlements were calculated that would have been reallocated to the campuses later.  There is no anticipated reduction to campus NOGAs.
ESEA, Title II, Part A	The majority of the reductions will be taken from the program funds held in reserve when the planning amounts were calculated. Approximately 10 LEAs will receive a minimal reduction from their planning amounts when the maximum entitlements are released on December 2, 2011.
IDEA, Part B	The majority of the reductions will be taken from the program funds held in reserve when the planning amounts were calculated. Minimal reductions are expected when maximum entitlements are released on January 16, 2012.
Title I, Part C – Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act	With the exception of allocations to state agencies, reductions will be taken from current year funds during the reallocation process in January 2012. Due to reallocations from prior-year funds exceeding the current year reductions, there are no net decreases to LEA NOGAs anticipated as a direct result of federal reductions. Perkins reallocations will be released on January 9, 2012.

Process for Reducing Allocations

The required reductions are being calculated with the maximum entitlement or reallocation process for each applicable program area. The maximum and reallocation entitlements will be posted online at the Division of Grants Administration Federal Entitlements page on the dates specified in the preceding table. 

TEA staff in the Division of Grants Administration will process for the LEAs the maximum entitlement for NCLB program calculations, including any required reductions, and reallocation for Perkins programs during the months of December and January.  It is vitally important that the LEA not begin or submit any amendment to the NCLB consolidated application or Perkins application in the eGrants system while these adjustments are being processed. Once the adjustment is completed for your LEA, you will receive a revised NOGA transmittal letter and NOGA by email.  At that time, you may submit an amendment to the application if your LEA chooses to make changes to the budget.

LEAs will follow the standard process of amending their IDEA consolidated application to incorporate the maximum entitlement.

Education Jobs Fund Increase

The approximate $18,900,000 available for reallocation to Education Jobs Fund (Ed Jobs) grantees will be calculated within the next few weeks and will be posted online at the Division of Grants Administration Federal Entitlements page on or before December 16, 2011.

No application is necessary to receive the additional Ed Jobs funds. Grantees will receive an amended NOGA via email that includes the reallocation funding, along with a revised NOGA transmittal letter. TEA will send a message via the Grants Administration and Federal Program Compliance (GAFPC) listserv to notify grantees that their amended 2010–2012 Ed Jobs NOGAs are being emailed.

For detailed information regarding Ed Jobs allowable activities, please check the frequently asked questions (FAQ) posted in the “Texas Guidance” section of the Education Jobs Fund – Guidance page.

If you have questions concerning the impact of this Congressional reduction in funding or the Ed Jobs reallocation, please email the Division of Grants Administration at GAFPC@tea.state.tx.us.

Sincerely,

Cory Green, Chief Grants Administrator

Office for Grants and Fiscal Compliance