H.R. 7989

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7989 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7989

To amend the weights used to determine amounts for targeted grants and 
education finance incentive grants for local educational agencies under 
title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 18, 2026

Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. Panetta) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education 
and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the weights used to determine amounts for targeted grants and 
education finance incentive grants for local educational agencies under 
title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``All Children are Equal Act'' or the 
``ACE Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Section 1125AA of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6336) is amended--
(1) by amending the heading to read as follows:

``SEC. 1125AA. INCREASE GRANTS PER FORMULA STUDENT AS THE PERCENTAGE OF 
ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN IN A LOCAL 
EDUCATIONAL AGENCY INCREASES.'';

and
(2) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
``(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
``(1) The current Basic Grant Formula for the distribution 
of funds under this part does not adequately target funds for 
schools with the highest concentrations of economically 
disadvantaged students.
``(2) The current formulas for distributing Targeted and 
Education Finance Incentive Grants is intended to allocate more 
funds per formula student to local educational agencies with 
higher concentrations of such students.
``(3) These formula use two weighting systems, one based on 
the percentage of the aged 5-17 population in a local education 
agency that is eligible to receive funds under this title 
(percentage weighting), and another based on the absolute 
number of such students (number weighting). Whichever of these 
weighting systems results in the highest total weighted formula 
student count for a local educational agency is the weighting 
system used for that agency in the final allocation of Targeted 
and Education Finance Incentive Grant funds.
``(4) Since the amount available to be distributed through 
these formulas is fixed by congressional appropriation, any 
gain in allocation share by one local educational agency causes 
a loss to other local educational agencies.
``(5) The number weighting alternative is often favorable 
to very large local educational agencies, even if the agency's 
formula student percentage is low. But because smaller local 
education agencies simply do not have enough students to gain 
from number weighting, they are adversely affected under the 
number weighting alternative.
``(6) The Congressional Research Service has compared the 
funding allocations of each local education agency for school 
year 2021-2022 under the current dual weighting system with the 
funding allocation it would have that year if all local 
educational agencies had their student count weighted only by 
percentage weighting.
``(7) This data shows that the use of number weighting in 
these formulas has shifted funding from smaller to larger local 
educational agencies notwithstanding the level of poverty in 
either. This is contrary to the intent of Congress, which is to 
direct more funding per formula student to local educational 
agencies with high concentrations of poverty, as measured by 
the number of formula students as a percentage of the aged 5-17 
population of the local educational agency.
``(8) The National Center for Education Statistics 
confirmed these findings in a statistical analysis report dated 
May 2019.
``(9) Congress has a responsibility to correct this 
unintended inequity by reducing the power of the number 
weighting system relative to the percentage weighting system so 
that local educational agencies with high percentages of 
poverty but low numbers of students are not disadvantaged under 
the formulas used for grants under this part.''.

SEC. 3. TARGETED GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.

Section 1125(c)(2)(A) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6335(c)(2)(A)) is amended to read as follows:
``(A) In general.--For each fiscal year for which 
the Secretary uses local educational agency data, the 
weighted child count used to determine a local 
educational agency's grant under this section--
``(i) for each fiscal year through fiscal 
year 2025, is the larger of the two amounts 
determined under subparagraphs (B) and (C); and
``(ii) for fiscal year 2026 and each 
succeeding fiscal year, is the amount 
determined under subparagraph (B).''.

SEC. 4. EDUCATION FINANCE INCENTIVE GRANT PROGRAM.

(a) States With an Equity Factor Less Than 0.10.--Section 
1125A(d)(1)(B)(i) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6337(d)(1)(B)(i)) is amended to read as follows:
``(i) In general.--For each fiscal year for 
which the Secretary uses local educational 
agency data, the weighted child count used to 
determine a local educational agency's grant 
under this section--
``(I) for each fiscal year through 
fiscal year 2025, is the larger of the 
two amounts determined under clauses 
(ii) and (iii); and
``(II) for fiscal year 2026 and 
each succeeding fiscal year, is the 
amount determined under clause 
(iii).''.
(b) States With an Equity Factor Greater Than or Equal to 0.10 and 
Less Than 0.20.--Section 1125A(d)(2)(B)(i) of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6337(d)(2)(B)(i)) is amended 
to read as follows:
``(i) In general.--For each fiscal year for 
which the Secretary uses local educational 
agency data, the weighted child count used to 
determine a local educational agency's grant 
under this section--
``(I) for each fiscal year through 
fiscal year 2025, is the larger of the 
two amounts determined under clauses 
(ii) and (iii); and
``(II) for fiscal year 2026 and 
each succeeding fiscal year, is the 
amount determined under clause 
(iii).''.
(c) States With an Equity Factor Greater Than or Equal to 0.20.--
Section 1125A(d)(3)(B)(i) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6337(d)(3)(B)(i)) is amended to read as follows:
``(i) In general.--For each fiscal year for 
which the Secretary uses local educational 
agency data, the weighted child count used to 
determine a local educational agency's grant 
under this section--
``(I) for each fiscal year through 
fiscal year 2025, is the larger of the 
two amounts determined under clauses 
(ii) and (iii); and
``(II) for fiscal year 2026 and 
each succeeding fiscal year, is the 
amount determined under clause 
(iii).''.
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