Dist. 21 again refuses federal Title I funding

Wheeling Township Elementary District 21 once more agreed to reject funding tied to No Child Left Behind laws, but this year again came with some dissent from the board.

Member Rich Rosen said on Thursday that the projected $425,000 of Title I funds that the district is declining is much more than the $250,000 that was initially rejected in 2005 and the funds that were projected for subsequent years.

The board initially decided three years ago that it didn't want federal sanctions if district test scores didn't meet No Child Left Behind requirements.

By rejecting the funds, the district doesn't have to offer school choice or pay for private tutoring if schools are deemed failing. It still has to comply with state requirements.

However, Rosen was pushing for the board to accept the funds for two years and then, if the schools are deemed failing again and the punishments are once again leveled against the district, opt out again.

He added that he hopes in two years, the district would be instrumental in changing the law.

Rosen consented that "this is going to be an untested thing if we take it."

However, other board members said they didn't feel comfortable being a test case for the law and had ethical concerns about opting in and out.

"If we chose to do that … nobody has tested the waters," said board member Staci Allan.

Board members pointed out that the Title I funds can go for only certain items, such as tutoring for failing students, and can't be used to hire teachers, for example.

Member Kathy Edmonds said only some of the students who would be required under the federal law to undergo tutoring would be covered by those funds, and the district would still end up having to spend more of its own money.

"We're setting ourselves up to fail as a district (if we accept the money), and I don't think it's worth the money to do that," said board member Arlen Gould.