The Department of Education (ED) has announced a pilot program for LEAs who wish to apply for the Every Student Succeeds Act's (ESSA) new weighted student funding pilot program, or the new "student-centered" funding pilot program.
According to the ED announcement the pilot program would grant participating LEAs flexibility that "to combine eligible Federal funds with State and local funds in order to allocate resources to schools based on the number of students and the corresponding level of need," and is "widely considered to be a modern, transparent, and quantifiable way to allocate resources to the students most in need."
The application process will open February 7, 2018. For LEAs planning to participate in the pilot during the 2018-19 school year, applications are due by March 12, 2018. For those planning on participating for the 2019-2020 school year, applications are due by July 15, 2018.
The application will be available for download from the Department of Education website beginning February 7, 2018. Completed applications can be submitted to weightedfundingpilot@ed.gov.