In fiscal 2003 Iowa, Maryland and Michigan were allocated less than in fiscal 2002 in Title I funds for disadvantaged students. This unanticipated reduction in funds, due largely to updated Census Bureau data on children in poverty, hurt these states that are already suffering from state budget cuts. The U.S. Department of Education's funding is based on a statutory formula that can't be adjusted by the Department.
"I understand that the reduction in funding for Title I programs couldn't be helped because of the updated census data, but Iowa schools are already facing hardships because of decreased funding from the state. This reduced funding for Title I threw an unexpected wrench in many Iowa schools' budget plans," Grassley said.
Grassley has been an advocate for restoring funds for the states that weren't allocated money at the same level as last year. He wrote to Education Secretary Rod Paige asking for his assistance in correcting this situation and each of the members of the House-Senate Conference committee on the supplemental appropriations bill for fiscal 2003 asking for special language to help the funding problem.
The fiscal 2003 Emergency Supplemental bill, which passed Congress as part of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill contained a provision that would allow the Secretary of Education to transfer fund that would otherwise lapse at the end of fiscal 2003 to the education for the Disadvantaged account. These funds would then be distributed to those states that had a reduction in fiscal 2003.