Complaints about the mis-allocation of Title I parent involvement funds have been around since Title I began 40 years ago, and perhaps as long in CPS. This email sent to me by a reader suggests that the problem has only gotten bigger. Are Title I funds being used for PI in your schools, do you know? Lots of schools don't even have fully functioning PI Committees, last I looked.
It was brought to my attention that the
Title I - Low Income Funds for school
year 2006-2007 that was given in
the amount of $303, 184, 767.00
for District 299 to address the
supplemental academic needs
of children, had $23,000.000
twenty three million dollars that
was not used or released and was
stated to be ( FROZEN ) by the
date of 8. 31. 2007 date.
You can check this information with
the Illinois State Board of
Education Grants department
to see if this information is correct
or incorrect.
I am asking on behalf of many
parents and community
residents three (3) questions:
1. Isn't
that an excessive
amount to carry over and why
were these funds frozen?
2. How much of those funds can
be attributed to the 06-07
1% of the Title I - Part A
subpart one Section 1118
Parental Involvement funds
3. (C ) ? not used or expended
for purposes intended in a timely
manner, in addition do these
frozen funds also cover the amount of
the funds that the Title I - Part A
NCLB schools did not get
to use from their School wide
SIPAAA Title I - Part A allocations
for STAFF 7990 (Legacy)
by the August cut-off date of August
31, 2007 because they were frozen
by Human Resource in March 2007
and not returned to the schools in
July 07 with the Parent Training Funds???
3. Parents would also like to receive
a copy of the report for the last
five (5) years indicating how
the State reviewed the District's
compliance with the terms under
Section 1118. Especially
with regard to Charter Schools
Parents being made aware of the
terms of Title I - Part A Section
1118 of the NCLB Act and their
options to use these funds to support
their reasonable and necessary expenses
when they attend school related
meetings and trainings.
These answers are very important.
as it is these dollars come into
District 299, Only because
of the information from the Census
( the homes of Title I Children
and community residents)
and the Working Poor
income of parents as
reflected on the school lunch
forms and the
formula children
index used to allocate these funds
to the qualifying Title I -
Part A schools of every
description as it would
apply. Charter Schools
Alternative Schools and
Private Schools.
I await a timely response
and your consideration of
these important matters that
can have a profound effect
on the Resources that affect
]schools making AYP and
the students making grade
level academic progress in all
of the Title I - Part
A schools in this District
If you don't get a answer from the State Board of Ed. Then the next step is to contact Washington.
Is Ron Lawless still the point person on the state in Parental Involvement under NCLB?
If he is, then he has alot to answer.
Posted by: Contact the Inspector General of the U.S. Dept of Ed. | September 14, 2007 at 06:30 PM
Lawless is supposely the man, who many say, snoops around at CPS and was always hanging around at LSC Relations, hoping to get Beverly Butler position who retired.
Myron Mason is Lawless boss.
Posted by: Has Lawless responded to this? | September 17, 2007 at 10:15 PM
Hey, isn't this the same ISBE Ron Lawless who screwed up Curie H.S. by freezing their PI Title I 1% funds because the agenda did not state that this was an annual meeting. He spoke at an NCLB meeting but only seemed to interfere and confuse the parents. The principal Ms. Jones scrambled to organize a meeting under the direction of Ron Lawless that was poorly attended by only 22 parents and 10 Curie H.S. security guards to make it look like there was a turn out. There are over 3000 kids who attend Curie, this was a dismal, lame attempt to pull in parents. I felt sorry for the non-english speaking parents who sat at one of the tables who didn't get the concept of this meeting. The Principal was not helpfull Since this was my first meeting I was ever urged to attend at the school. I was very dissappointed on the content and left very confused after listening to conflicting information spewed out by Principal Jones and Ms. Corletta. Someone didn't prepare the principal or she just doesn't understand why we were called to this meeting. A teacher from DePaul U. was there who had to correct much of what was said at this meeting. The Principal Ms. Jones told us she would keep us informed, but never did. That was two years ago, still haven't heard anything about PI.
I just gave up as a parent, thank god my son graduates this year. Parents need to ask the Principal Ms. Jones why hasn't she tried to contact all parents to attend these meetings. I felt I was used to attend this ill prepared meeting that left me lost and depressed. Someone from CPS should look into these type of meetings and see if they are run correctly and do they meet the guidelines with factual information for parents.
Posted by: Depressed Curie HS Parent | September 17, 2007 at 11:42 PM