A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Section F. LEA Uses of Funds

For most LEAs, the first order of business will be to develop an approach to improving educational achievement for both regular and special-needs children that includes hiring fully qualified teachers and reducing the size of regular classrooms in the early grades to an average or maximum of no more than 18.

First, the LEA may reserve no more than three percent of the funds for administrative costs.

Then:
If schools in an LEA have a class size in grades kindergarten through three (or in other grades or subjects for LEAs that do not serve grades kindergarten through three)that is higher than 18 children:

• The LEA must use a minimum of 72 percent of the funds it receives to recruit, hire (including payment of salaries and benefits), and train fully qualified classroom teachers in order to reduce the class size for those grades.
• The LEA may use a maximum of 25 percent of the funds for:

• The costs of testing new teachers for academic content knowledge and to meet State certification requirements that are consistent with Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (See F-7 below for further information on Title II); and
• Providing professional development to teachers, consistent with Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (See F-7 below for further information on Title II).

If the LEA has already reduced class size in grades kindergarten through three (or in other grades or subjects for LEAs that do not serve grades kindergarten through three) to 18 or fewer children with fully qualified teachers, it may use the funds to:

• Make further class-size reductions in grades kindergarten through three (or in other grades or subjects for LEAs that do not serve grades kindergarten through three);
• Reduce class size in other grades; or
• Carry out activities to improve teacher quality, including professional development.

If the LEA has already reduced class size in grades kindergarten through three (or in other grades or subjects for LEAs that do not serve grades kindergarten through three) to 18 or fewer children, but some of its teachers for those grades are not certified to teach in the classrooms to which they are assigned, the LEA must first develop and implement a plan with specific activities or programs that will ensure that all teachers in those grades will become fully certified within the shortest possible time period. After determining the amount of Class-Size Reduction funds it will need to support these efforts, the LEA may use any remaining funds to:

• Make further class-size reductions in grades kindergarten through three (or in other grades or subjects for LEAs that do not serve grades kindergarten through three);
• Reduce class size in other grades; or
• Carry out activities to improve teacher quality, including professional development.

Note: In school districts where a State or local class-size reduction goal of 20 or fewer was in place prior to enactment of the FY 2000 Class-Size Reduction statute (i.e., before November 29, 1999), the State or local goal may be substituted for the target of 18 (see F-4).

An LEA may not use funds for classroom facilities or to provide classroom equipment such as chairs and computers.

If a State or local class-size reduction goal was in effect prior to the enactment of the FY 2000 Class-Size Reduction statute (i.e., before November 29, 1999), an LEA may substitute that class-size reduction goal instead of the statutory goal of 18, as long as the State or local goal is 20 or fewer children per class. The definition of class size under the State or local goal must be consistent with the definition of class size in Section C of this guidance.

LEAs that receive an allocation smaller than that of the starting salary of a new, fully qualified teacher in the district have two options. They may use their allocation either to:

• Help pay the salary of a full- or part-time certified teacher hired to reduce class size, which may be in combination with other Federal, State, or local funds; or

• Carry out activities to improve teacher quality, including professional development.

In making this determination, the State and LEA should use the lowest salary paid to a new, fully qualified, certified teacher for regular classes in grades kindergarten through three.

Sections 310(c)(2)(A)(ii) and (iii) of the Class-Size Reduction statute authorize LEAs to use program funds (1) to test new teachers for content knowledge and to meet state certification requirements that are consistent with Title II of the HEA, and (2) to provide professional development consistent with Title II of the HEA. Title II of the HEA provides, to States that win competitive grants, funding for such activities as reforming teacher certification or licensure requirements and providing professional development for teachers. LEAs that participate in HEA Title II programs can coordinate with these activities in numerous ways - by, for example, coordinating funds or conducting joint activities under the Class-Size Reduction Program and Title II. Examples of such activities include:

• Helping teachers learn new skills that will enable them to take advantage of new options for instructional techniques that become available when class size is reduced.
• Preparing teachers to work with diverse student populations, including students with disabilities and limited English proficiency.
• Preparing teachers to work with parents in determining how best to help their children learn to high standards.
• Developing programs that can be used as recruitment incentives to attract fully qualified teachers to high-poverty schools.
• In a coordinated effort with the Reading Excellence Act (REA) program, helping teachers acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for effective reading instruction in the early grades.
• Providing high-quality preservice clinical experience for student teachers who agree to teach in the LEA?s schools after they earn their teaching credentials.
• Providing a mentoring program involving new and veteran teachers that involves interaction with faculty at nearby institutions of higher education.

More information regarding Title II of the HEA can be found at http://www.ed.gov/programs/heatqp/index.html.

The mission of a good professional development program is to prepare and support educators to help all students achieve to high standards of learning and development. The Department of Education has developed a series of principles for high-quality professional development, which it encourages all LEAs to adopt. (See www.ed.gov/G2K/bridge.htm) The Department also encourages LEAs to learn about the schools and districts that have earned recognition for their exemplary professional development through the Department's National Awards Program for Model Professional Development. Information about these award recipients may be found at www.ed.gov/inits/TeachersWeb/.

Yes, materials for staff development and teacher training may be purchased with these funds, provided that the cost of these items is reasonable and necessary to the training program.

Generally, each State or LEA may make this determination, consistent with its definition or interpretation of "class size." (See, however, definition of "class size" under Section B -- Definitions in this document.) Class size may be determined for each school in the LEA by the average number of students per regular class for each grade level in the school or by the maximum number of children per regular class in each grade. It should not be determined by the average for the LEA as a whole.

Requirements for teacher certification are set by each State for the teachers in that State. Many States have allowed for alternative certification programs that enable individuals to take non-traditional paths to full certification. Teachers that have completed such a program can be hired with Class-Size Reduction funds so long as they have attained State certification and demonstrate the general knowledge, teaching skills, and subject matter knowledge required to teach in their content areas.

The statute permits LEAs to use Class-Size Reduction funds for the costs of "testing new teachers for academic content knowledge and to meet State certification requirements." Tests should be administered consistent with State or local requirements. Depending on these requirements, the testing could involve prospective teachers who have just finished their academic work or those who have just moved into the State and, under State law, must pass a test before teaching in the State.

No, an LEA is not required to spread these funds to all its schools. Instead, LEAs might find that the best results come from targeting the funds to the poorest schools, the lowest performing schools, or to the schools with the largest classes. As indicated in the "Research" section, the benefits of class-size reduction are greatest for disadvantaged and minority students, and the intervention seems to be most effective when implemented in the child's first school year.

Under the Class-Size Reduction Program, LEAs do have the flexibility to sharply reduce class size below 18 in one of grades K-3 while the class size in other early grades remains well over 18. However, no research evidence to date suggests that, for instance, exposing a student to a class size of 12 in kindergarten followed by first through third grade class sizes of over 18 will result in the same increased achievement effect for that student as a class size of 18 or fewer over all four years.

Class-size reduction research indicates that students attending a class of 18 or fewer students for multiple, sequential years in the early grades will demonstrate increased student achievement. Based on this research, the Department strongly recommends that LEAs focus on making sequential reductions of class size in grades kindergarten through three to 18 or fewer students, instead of making substantial reductions below 18 in one grade (see the "Class-Size Reduction as an Effective Educational Intervention" section).

Funds may be used to reduce class size in both existing half-day and full-day kindergarten programs. However, increasing the number of hours that half-day kindergarten students are in school generally does not result in a reduction in class size. Therefore, funds cannot be used to extend existing half-day kindergarten classes into full-day programs.

If the size of special education classes in the early elementary grades is higher than the target level of 18, the LEA may, of course, use these funds to reduce the size of those classes. If the LEA wishes to reduce special education classes to fewer than 18 children, it may do so once its regular classes in grades kindergarten through three have reached that goal.

Many children with special needs now receive their schooling primarily in mainstream classrooms. LEAs may also use these funds to pay professional development costs for regular classroom teachers to help them better serve children with disabilities and other special needs. LEAs may also use these funds to hire special education teachers to team teach with regular teachers in classrooms that contain both special education and regular students

Yes, LEAs may use up to three percent of their funds for local administrative costs. These costs may include expenses associated with the annual report that LEAs must issue under this program. (See Section H -- Accountability.)

• These funds are primarily intended to bring additional fully qualified teachers into a school district. No funds may be used to increase the salaries or provide benefits to teachers who were not hired under the Class-Size Reduction Program, other than participation in professional development and enrichment programs. In some instances, however, teachers hired under the program to reduce class size might include veteran teachers already employed by the LEA.

• With respect to participation in professional development and enrichment programs, Class-Size Reduction funds may be used to pay stipends to teachers who are attending professional development programs during non-duty hours. Although no stipends may be provided for attending professional development during regular duty hours, Class-Size Reduction funds may be used to pay for a substitute teacher during such times. The 25 percent cap on professional development expenditures applies to the use of funds for stipends. Also, LEAs must not violate the non-supplanting provision in section 310(c)(3) by using funds to pay stipends. Thus, if an LEA would not otherwise have paid a stipend but for the availability of the Class-Size Reduction funds, it may use the Class-Size Reduction funds for this purpose.

• Teachers hired with FY 1999 funds for the 1999-2000 school year may continue to be paid with the FY 2000 funds, provided that those teachers are certified by the beginning of the 2000-2001 school year. In addition, after the LEA hires a teacher with Class-Size Reduction funds, it may continue to use funds under this program each year to pay that teacher, so long as funds are appropriated by the Congress.

Class-size reduction can help improve student learning the most when teachers are well prepared with techniques for teaching in smaller classes. That is why the legislation allows school districts to use as much as 25 percent of the funds they receive to promote high-quality teaching—including training for current teachers. Funds may not be spent to provide professional development to non-instructional staff.

In addition, LEAs that have already reduced class size to 18 for grades kindergarten through three (or in other grades or subjects for LEAs that do not serve grades kindergarten through three) with fully qualified teachers may choose to use all of their program funds to train both new and experienced teachers. However, for most LEAs, the bulk of the funds (at least 72 percent) must be used for recruiting, hiring, and training new teachers.

LEAs will incur a variety of costs depending on their approach to recruiting and hiring, and the Department encourages them to be creative in designing recruitment activities in order to attract the highest qualified teachers—particularly for high-poverty schools. Among the recruiting costs that would be allowable are:

• Advertising.
• Travel to schools of education to interview prospective teachers.
• Payment of hiring bonuses.
• Designing packages that will help attract teachers to high-poverty schools, particularly those schools that are having difficulty in attracting fully qualified, certified teachers, and providing the services included in the packages—including, for example:

• Placing prospective teachers in classrooms as interns under circumstances that (1) pair them with veteran, certified teachers who will provide close supervision; (2) permit them to gain experience in providing instruction to small groups of students; (3) provide them with intensive mentoring and professional development; and (4) where possible, include a commitment from the prospective teacher (for a reasonable amount of time) to accept a teaching position in the LEA upon achieving full certification.
• Payment of college tuition for a prospective teacher who contracts to teach in the LEA?s schools.
• Paying moving expenses for a new teacher and his or her family to come to the school district.
• Paying for new teachers to go through the certification process of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, after they have taught for the required period of time.
• Paying for a mentoring program for new teachers that involves veteran teachers and faculty from nearby colleges and universities.
• Assisting new teachers to obtain a higher-level degree.

LEAs must ensure equitable participation of teachers from private, nonprofit elementary and secondary schools in professional development activities if it makes such activities available to public school personnel with Class-Size Reduction funds. In carrying out professional development activities, the LEA should follow section 6402 of the ESEA, which contains requirements applying to Title VI, with respect to the participation of private school teachers. Under these provisions, an LEA must engage in meaningful consultation with private school officials to determine the needs of a particular private school's teachers and the professional development activities that will meet those needs. The LEA then must provide those activities on an equitable basis to the private school teachers, regardless of whether the activities are the same as those that the LEA provides to the public school teachers. The equitable participation requirement does not apply to the activities of recruiting, hiring, and training teachers or testing new teachers, and no funds may be used for these activities for private schools.

Yes, LEAs must use these Federal funds only to supplement, and not to supplant, State and local funds that, in the absence of the Federal funds, would otherwise be spent for activities authorized by the Class-Size Reduction Program. Thus, if the State or LEA has already instituted and is funding a class-size reduction initiative, these Federal funds must be used to supplement and not replace those State or local funds. More specifically, if State or local funds are made available for the purpose of recruiting, hiring, and training teachers in order to reduce class size, testing new teachers, or providing professional development to teachers, the Federal Class-Size Reduction Program funds may not be used to replace those State or local funds.

An LEA that added State or local funds to its FY 1999 allocation, thus enabling it to pay the salary of a full-time teacher to reduce class size, may receive a higher allocation in FY 2000. Such an LEA may not decrease the amount of locally contributed funds for class-size reduction purposes in light of the increased allocation.

Yes, the State-level maintenance of effort requirement in Title VI of the ESEA also applies to this program.

[Section E. Applying for Funds]

[Section G. Flexibility to Meet Local Needs]