ACE Act

All Children are Equal Act or the ACE Act This bill revises the funding formulas for distributing Targeted Grants and Education Finance Incentive Grants (EFIG) to local educational agencies (LEAs). Under current law, both the Targeted Grant and EFIG formulas use a weighted formula child count to increase aid to LEAs with the highest numbers or percentages of poor and other disadvantaged children (commonly referred to as formula children). Generally, children counted in these formulas are assigned weights based on (1) each LEA's percentage of formula children (commonly referred to as percentage weighting), and (2) each LEA's number of formula children (commonly referred to as number weighting). The higher of the two weighted formula child counts is then used in the formula for determining grants for an LEA. Under this bill, beginning in FY2026 and for each succeeding fiscal year after, the weighted formula child count used to determine an LEA's Targeted Grant must be based only on the percentage weighting. Additionally, the weighted formula child count used to determine an LEA's EFIG must be based only on the number weighting. For additional information see CRS Report R48893, FY2024 State Grants Under Title I-A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA); CRS Report R48890, Determining Grants Under Title I-A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA); and CRS Report R48165, The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as Amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): An Analytical Review of the Allocation Formulas.