Uncertain Future for Education Technology Grants

Earlier this month, the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) released a report, ARRA Investments in Technology, Innovation, and K-12 Reform. The report examines how states are using $650 million in Enhancing Education through Technology Program (EETT) funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The authors found that states and school districts have been slow to spend the ARRA EETT funds because of uncertainty over the program’s future in 2011 and beyond.

EETT was authorized in 2002 under Title II, Part D of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Its purpose is to improve academic achievement through the use of technology in K-12 schools and to ensure that all students are technologically literate by the end of eighth grade. States and school districts can use funds to purchase technology and software to have in classrooms. They can also pay for professional development for teachers and school leaders to gain a better understanding of how to use student assessment data and other tools to hone teaching techniques.

Funds for the program are distributed to states based on their share of Title I funding. Under the original law, state education agencies can reserve up to 5 percent of EETT funds for administrative and technical assistance, and must distribute the rest to local education agencies (LEAs), half according to the Title I formula and half through a grant competition. However, guidance from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) in July 2009 – several months after the ARRA was passed – strongly encouraged states to use 100 percent of the ARRA EETT funds for competitive grants. Only 25 states were able to devote all ARRA EETT funds to a competitive grant process. The rest had already begun to distribute funds and were thus unable to change all their funds to competitive grants.

But the funding situation for EETT in 2011 and beyond is somewhat uncertain. In fiscal year 2009, Congress provided the EETT with $270 million in funding plus a one-time infusion of $650 million in federal stimulus funds through the ARRA that are available through the end of fiscal year 2011. In fiscal year 2010 the program received only $100 million in annual appropriations, and President Obama did not request funding for the program in his fiscal year 2011 budget request. Instead, the program would be folded in with other federal programs aimed at improving instruction and academic standards under a larger competitive grant program. While no information is available on how the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education would fund EETT in fiscal year 2011, the appropriations bill passed out of the Senate Subcommittee funds it at $100 million. With no omnibus spending bill approved in Congress for fiscal year 2011, states can’t be sure what to expect in the current fiscal year.

The SETDA report indicates that states had only drawn down 23 percent of ARRA EETT funds by the end of school year 2009-10, but notes that this does not account for funds that are in the process of being spent but have yet to be drawn down from ED accounts, so the true amount is likely higher. However, the report points out that many states intended to reserve these ARRA funds for the 2010-11 school year in anticipation of significantly reduced federal support for EETT.

With the future of federal support for EETT uncertain, states are encouraging LEAs to create sustainability plans that rely on sources other than the federal government for the future of their technology programs. LEAs are also finding one-time uses for the ARRA funds, including purchasing equipment and software, developing digital content, creating professional development programs for educators, and building a knowledge base for educational technology. These uses of funds do not require a sustained investment from states or the federal government.

The Continuing Resolution, a temporary spending bill passed by Congress in September to extend fiscal year 2010 funding levels into fiscal year 2011 in the absence of an approved appropriations bill, is set to expire on Friday. Save for a last minute reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in the next couple of weeks, it seems likely that Congress will fund EETT at $100 million for fiscal year 2011 – the same amount as in 2010. As EETT ARRA funds run out at the end of 2011, however, states and school districts will face a significant drop in funding, assuming the program continues to exist. With the long-term future of federal support for EETT in jeopardy, we’ll be interested to see how states and LEAs use their remaining ARRA EETT funds.