The U.S. Department of Education (ED) plans to issue guidance inviting waivers related to the use of FY 2009 Title I, Part A funds available through the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), waivers related to certain Title I, Part A statutory and regulatory provisions related to public school choice and supplemental educational services, and waivers related to maintenance of effort requirements. The guidance provides instructions for State educational agencies (SEA) on how they may apply to ED for waivers and instructions for local educational agencies (LEAs) on how they may implement the waivers obtained by their SEA. The guidance includes information collections covered under the Paperwork Reduction Act.
Approval of this information request will enable ED to consider requests to waive certain statutory requirements that relate to the use of Title I, Part A ARRA funds. The information collections relate to the information that must be submitted to ED as part of a waiver request, as required by section 9401 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). OMB approval on an emergency basis would enable ED to provide SEAs and LEAs with timely information about waivers of certain Title I, Part A requirements--information that will be necessary as SEAs and LEAs make crucial decisions about how they will most effectively use Title I, Part A funds, including those available under the ARRA, during summer 2009 and in SY 2009-10. If emergency clearance is not granted, ED will not be able to provide the waiver request information to SEAs and LEAs in time for them to plan successfully. And without proper planning, Title I, Part A services to academically at-risk students, including those supported by the ARRA, would suffer.
Similarly, now that States have received the SecretaryÂs letter regarding the Title I regulations, as soon as possible they need understand the process for how to request a waiver and what information will be required to accompany that request. The SecretaryÂs letter indicates that ED will provide additional information about the process for submitting a waiver request and this waiver guidance keeps that commitment. The waiver process must begin at this time in order for States and LEAs to plan for their implementation of the public school choice notice requirement for SY 2009-10. In addition, if a school or LEA in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring is going to be able to be approved as an SES provider for SY 2009-10, a waiver must be granted before a State completes its process for approving SES providers, or with sufficient time for the State to reopen that process, if it chooses to do so. Likewise, the process for requesting waivers related to the provision of SES to eligible students attending Title I schools in the first year of improvement must begin at this time in order for LEAs to have sufficient time to appropriately plan their implementation of SES. In all three cases, without emergency approval, States and LEAs will not be able to take advantage of the flexibility the Secretary is offering regarding these provisions for the upcoming school year because ED would not be able to provide information regarding how to apply for a waiver until it is too late.
Concerning MOE, in accordance with EDÂs MOE regulations for ESEA programs (including Title I, Part A) covered by the MOE requirements, States will soon begin identifying those LEAs that failed to maintain effort in SY 2008-09. Section 9521(c) of the ESEA gives the Secretary the authority to waive the MOE requirements if an LEA experiences an exceptional or uncontrollable circumstance or experiences a precipitous decline in its financial resources. Due to the state of the economy during SY 2008-09, ED expects many more LEAs will have experienced a precipitous decline in their financial resources or an exceptional or uncontrollable circumstance than in prior years, causing them to miss maintaining effort and in turn to seek an MOE waiver from ED. Given these circumstances, the planned waiver guidance specifies the process States may use to obtain MOE waivers from ED for their LEAs. In order for this process to begin in a timely fashion, ED needs emergency approval of the information collection activities in the guidance associated with MOE waivers.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Waiver Guidance ED Response to Comments 07.14.2009 use.doc
Emergency Memo.pdf
Guidance on Title I, Part A Waivers