Supplemental
Educational Services Memo from MDE
from Jeremy Hughes, Ph.D.,
Michigan Dept. of Education, June 5, 2003
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TO: LEA
and ISD Superintendents
Public School Academies and Public School Authorizers
FROM: Jeremy M. Hughes, Ph.D.
Chief Academic Officer/Deputy Superintendent
hughesj@michigan.gov
DATE: June 5, 2003
SUBJECT: URGENT! SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICES (NCLB)
If you have Title I schools in your district, one or more of
them may be affected by a decision that has just been made
regarding schools that made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in
2001-02, but are still identified for improvement or corrective
action because they did not make AYP in either 1999-2000 or
2000-01.
Since the release of AYP reports on April 14, we have, behind
the scenes, been in intense negotiations with the U. S.
Department of Education (USDOE) regarding an interpretation of
the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law. We have been interpreting
Section 1116(b)(7)(D) of the law, dealing with “Delay,” as
allowing “AYP-one-year-only” schools to delay implementing the
consequences of NCLB for one year, until those schools learn
whether they have made AYP for a second year.
The USDOE challenged our interpretation, stating that the
“delay” provision of the law allows those schools not to have to
move to the next level of consequences, BUT STILL REQUIRES THEM
TO IMPLEMENT THE FEDERAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE LEVEL AT WHICH THEY
ARE FROZEN FOR ONE YEAR. In negotiations that ended this week,
the USDOE’s interpretation has prevailed.
It is obviously too late for these schools to offer choice and
transportation, with the school year ending or already ended for
some. The agreement therefore calls for the following steps to
be taken.
For a Title I school in your district that was identified for
improvement or corrective action on the 2000-01 AYP Report, made
AYP in 2001-02, but was still identified because it did not make
AYP in either 1999-2000 or 2000-01, one of the following must be
done:
1. The district must offer supplemental educational services
over this summer to the economically disadvantaged (free and
reduced lunch) students enrolled in the school in 2002-03.
…OR…
2. The district must carry over to next fall the Title I funds
that were set aside in 2002-03, to be used in the event the
school did not make AYP and had to offer choice, transportation,
or supplemental educational services. If carried over, these
funds must be added to the 2003-04 set-aside funds, resulting in
a larger amount used to pay for choice, transportation, or
supplemental educational services.
Note that, in either of the above cases, the funds for
supplemental educational services are earmarked for
“economically disadvantaged” (free and reduced lunch) students
only, while funds for choice and transportation are available to
all students in the school. If the number of students opting for
supplemental educational services (this summer) or choice,
transportation, and/or supplemental educational services (next
fall) exceeds the amount of funds available (20% of Title I
funds is the maximum required set-aside), then the students must
be ordered from highest need (academically) to lowest, with the
funding going to the highest need students first, until the
funding runs out.
Verification of the Title I schools affected by this decision
will be mailed to you within several days by the MDE Office of
Field Services. In the meantime, you may discover this yourself
by the following process:
1. Look at the 2001-02 AYP reports issued to your schools in
April. (Title I schools only. This decision does not apply to
non-Title I schools.)
2. In the top section of each report, note if the school made
AYP in 2001-02 in both Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics.
3. If YES in both cases, note whether the school is still
identified for improvement in 2001-02. This will be indicated by
a “Yes” in the “Identified for Improvement?” box for 01-02.
4. If this is the case, this school is an “AYP-one-year-only”
school and the options listed above apply to this school.
Note: If the district chooses to carry over its 2002-03
set-aside funds into 2003-04, and then learns (on this summer’s
report) that it has made AYP for a second year, the school is
free from all federal consequences next fall and “goes back to
go” on the ladder of consequences. The Title I set-aside funds
may then be used for other Title I activities.
If you have questions about this memo or the steps that must be
taken, please call my office
(517-335-0011) or Linda Brown in the Office of Field Services
(517-241-3147).
P.S. It seems that all my recent memos to you have had to end
with an apology. I am sorry again for the great inconvenience
this may cause you, coming at this particular time. Both Tom
Watkins and I have tried mightily to represent and defend
Michigan’s schools and students in the difficult implementation
of NCLB. We have been successful in achieving flexibility in
some areas, but have also learned there are some non-negotiables.
This appears to be one of them.
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