“The letter doesn’t have any new information, doesn’t provide new content,” said Ivy Smith-Morgan, the associate director of P-12 analytics at EdTrust, a nonprofit that advocates for improving racial and economic equity in education. “It feels like it’s just trying to slap a school choice label on things that states and districts have already been able to do.”

“As part of these provisions, state leaders need to consult leaders in geographically diverse districts when deciding whether to reserve these funds for the direct student services.
If states choose to do that, it would cut into the allocations each district receives, Smith-Morgan, of EdTrust, said.”

“In a district that receives more funding, that kind of cut means more on a per-student basis than it does in other districts,” she said. “Taking advantage of this provision could result in sort of what we would consider to be inequitable Title I cuts across districts.”

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