Senators press DOE for data after hold-harmless and definition changes raise 'cliff' concerns
Senators urged the Department of Education to provide analysis showing how changes in the definition of 'economically disadvantaged' and hold-harmless provisions affect district counts and funding, warning that abrupt step-downs could produce a 'cliff' for school budgets and students.
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During the question-and-answer period Senator Lowe framed the central policy tension: changes in how 'economically disadvantaged' students are counted have reduced counts in many districts and the committee has relied on several temporary "bridge" provisions in recent years. "Economically disadvantaged is obviously the big elephant in the room right now," Senator Lowe said, asking the department for a comparison of prior definitions and the current direct-certification approach and for district-level impacts.
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