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NEWS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEFormula Fairness Campaign Focuses on Funds for Rural Communities
The $26,600 grant, approved by the WRF Board of Directors in June, will allow RCA to educate more than 45 communities throughout the state of Arkansas about Title I funding issues. RCA will also work to educate and engage support from administrators, teachers, parents, and students in all regions of the state. In addition to supporting RCA’s grassroots efforts, the grant will fund the preparation of issue briefs and other forms of communication to educate the Arkansas congressional delegation on the issue of the Title I funding formula and its significance to the state. “The current federal funding formula for the Title I program disadvantages rural communities of concentrated poverty,” said Dr. Sherece West, President and CEO of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation. “By supporting efforts for a more equitable distribution of federal Title I education funds, we have the opportunity to improve educational outcomes in the state.” The Title I program provides federal financial assistance to local school districts to meet the educational needs of disadvantaged students. The current funding formula to distribute Title I funds is a complex combination of four “number weighting” system formulas that favor large districts irrespective of their child poverty rate. Only seven Arkansas school districts receive more than the minimal appropriated funds through Title I, five school districts receive the minimal appropriated funds, and the remaining 236 districts receive less funds due to the federal formula’s current weighting system. “Under the current formula, school districts across the state lose nearly $4.5 million a year in Title I funds,” said Ms. Lavina Grandon, Policy and Education Director for RCA. “The Formula Fairness Campaign will provide opportunities to educate and engage communities, educators, and policymakers about this disparity and to encourage more equitable funding.” About the Rural Community Alliance (RCA) About the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation
Lavina Grandon |
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (June 29, 2010) – A grant to the Rural Community Alliance (RCA), awarded recently by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, will support RCA’s work to engage Arkansas citizens in the national Formula Fairness Campaign. The Campaign focuses on ensuring that rural communities receive a more equitable share of federal Title I education funds.