Dive Brief:

• Congress heard arguments for and against a proposed rule by the Obama administration to regulate equitable funding across districts in a House education subcommittee hearing Wednesday called “Supplanting the Law and Local Education Authority Through Regulatory Fiat.”
• The Washington Post reports, as evidenced by the name of the hearing, there is strong opposition to the proposed rule because it might force districts to move teachers from one school to another at the start of the academic year, and Education Week reports Oklahoma schools are particularly concerned because a teacher shortage leaves many districts with few options.
• At its most basic, the rule requires districts to spend no less state and local money on high-poverty schools than on wealthier ones, and Center for American Progress Managing Director Scott Sargrad argued Wednesday that the 5,700 Title I schools that receive an average of $440,000 less per year than wealthier schools is an obvious equity problem that needs to be addressed.

Dive Insight:

Research shows disadvantaged students need more resources and supports to achieve at the same levels as their more advantaged peers. According to the Education Law Center, which compiles an annual report card of fairness in state funding, the funding formulas in 16 states are progressive, meaning more money goes to districts that have more students in poverty. Fourteen states have regressive funding formulas, where less money actually goes to high-poverty schools, and the remaining states have flat funding formulas where there is basically no difference in funding.

Even if the Obama administration approves a rule that would require massive changes across the country, there is still a possibility schools will not be forced to comply. The Senate education committee chairman, Lamar Alexander, has already said he will overturn it.