Section 8521(a) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA) provides that a local educational agency (LEA) may receive funds under Title I, Part A and other ESEA âcovered programsâ for any fiscal year only if the State educational agency (SEA) finds that either the combined fiscal effort per student or the aggregate expenditures of the LEA and the State with respect to the provision of free public education by the LEA for the preceding fiscal year was not less than 90 percent of the combined fiscal effort or aggregate expenditures for the second preceding fiscal year. This provision is the maintenance of effort (MOE) requirements for LEAs under the ESEA.
If an LEA fails to meet the MOE requirement, under section 8521(b) of the ESEA, the SEA must reduce the amount of funds allocated under the programs covered by the MOE requirement in any fiscal year in the exact proportion by which the LEA fails to maintain effort by falling below 90 percent of either the combined fiscal effort per student or aggregate expenditures, if the LEA has also failed to maintain effort for 1 or more of the 5 immediately preceding fiscal years. In reducing an LEAâs allocation because it failed to meet the MOE requirement, the SEA uses the measure most favorable to the LEA.
Section 8521(c) gives the U.S. Department of Education (ED) the authority to waive the ESEA's MOE requirement for an LEA if it would be equitable to grant the waiver due to an exceptional or uncontrollable circumstance such as a natural disaster or a change in the organizational structure of the LEA or a precipitous decline in the LEA's financial resources. If an MOE waiver is granted, the reduction required by section 8521(b) does not occur for that year.
A request for a waiver of the MOE requirement is discretionary. Only an LEA that has failed to maintain effort and that believes its failure justifies a waiver would request one. To review an MOE waiver request, ED relies primarily on expenditure, revenue, and other data relevant to an LEAâs request provided by the SEA. To assist an SEA with submitting this information, ED developed an MOE waiver form as part of the 2009 Title I, Part A Waiver Guidance, which covered a range of waivers that ED invited at that time.
The purpose of this collection is to renew approval for the MOE waiver form. This MOE waiver form has been updated to reflect the statutory changes in the ESEA, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act. ED believes that the proposed form, which is slightly modified from the currently approved version, will enable an SEA to provide the information needed in an efficient manner. This collection includes burden at the SEA level.
US Code:
20 USC 8521
Name of Law: Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015
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.