ACE Act

Glenn Thompson

Republican · PA · Representative

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

• Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-19)Original· 2026-03-18

Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

2026-03-18

Source: Congress.gov

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 .

Plain-English rewrite of the Congressional Research Service summary published on Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 7989 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7989 To amend the weights used to determine amounts for targeted grants and education finance incentive grants for local educational agencies under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 18, 2026 Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mr. Panetta) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the weights used to determine amounts for targeted grants and education finance incentive grants for local educational agencies under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``All Children are Equal Act'' or the ``ACE Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. Section 1125AA of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6336) is amended-- (1) by amending the heading to read as follows: ``SEC. 1125AA. INCREASE GRANTS PER FORMULA STUDENT AS THE PERCENTAGE OF ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN IN A LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY INCREASES.''; and (2) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows: ``(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings: ``(1) The current Basic Grant Formula for the distribution of funds under this part does not adequately target funds for schools with the highest concentrations of economically disadvantaged students. ``(2) The current formulas for distributing Targeted and Education Finance Incentive Grants is intended to allocate more funds per formula student to local educational agencies with higher concentrations of such students. ``(3) These formula use two weighting systems, one based on the percentage of the aged 5-17 population in a local education agency that is eligible to receive funds under this title (percentage weighting), and another based on the absolute number of such students (number weighting). Whichever of these weighting systems results in the highest total weighted formula student count for a local educational agency is the weighting system used for that agency in the final allocation of Targeted and Education Finance Incentive Grant funds. ``(4) Since the amount available to be distributed through these formulas is fixed by congressional appropriation, any gain in allocation share by one local educational agency causes a loss to other local educational agencies. ``(5) The number weighting alternative is often favorable to very large local educational agencies, even if the agency's formula student percentage is low. But because smaller local education agencies simply do not have enough students to gain from number weighting, they are adversely affected under the number weighting alternative. ``(6) The Congressional Research Service has compared the funding allocations of each local education agency for school year 2021-2022 under the current dual weighting system with the funding allocation it would have that year if all local educational agencies had their student count weighted only by percentage weighting. ``(7) This data shows that the use of number weighting in these formulas has shifted funding from smaller to larger local educational agencies notwithstanding the level of poverty in either. This is contrary to the intent of Congress, which is to direct more funding per formula student to local educational agencies with high concentrations of poverty, as measured by the number of formula students as a percentage of the aged 5-17 population of the local educational agency. ``(8) The National Center for Education Statistics confirmed these findings in a statistical analysis report dated May 2019. ``(9) Congress has a…

responsibility to correct this unintended inequity by reducing the power of the number weighting system relative to the percentage weighting system so that local educational agencies with high percentages of poverty but low numbers of students are not disadvantaged under the formulas used for grants under this part.''. SEC. 3. TARGETED GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. Section 1125(c)(2)(A) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6335(c)(2)(A)) is amended to read as follows: ``(A) In general.--For each fiscal year for which the Secretary uses local educational agency data, the weighted child count used to determine a local educational agency's grant under this section-- ``(i) for each fiscal year through fiscal year 2025, is the larger of the two amounts determined under subparagraphs (B) and (C); and ``(ii) for fiscal year 2026 and each succeeding fiscal year, is the amount determined under subparagraph (B).''. SEC. 4. EDUCATION FINANCE INCENTIVE GRANT PROGRAM. (a) States With an Equity Factor Less Than 0.10.--Section 1125A(d)(1)(B)(i) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6337(d)(1)(B)(i)) is amended to read as follows: ``(i) In general.--For each fiscal year for which the Secretary uses local educational agency data, the weighted child count used to determine a local educational agency's grant under this section-- ``(I) for each fiscal year through fiscal year 2025, is the larger of the two amounts determined under clauses (ii) and (iii); and ``(II) for fiscal year 2026 and each succeeding fiscal year, is the amount determined under clause (iii).''. (b) States With an Equity Factor Greater Than or Equal to 0.10 and Less Than 0.20.--Section 1125A(d)(2)(B)(i) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6337(d)(2)(B)(i)) is amended to read as follows: ``(i) In general.--For each fiscal year for which the Secretary uses local educational agency data, the weighted child count used to determine a local educational agency's grant under this section-- ``(I) for each fiscal year through fiscal year 2025, is the larger of the two amounts determined under clauses (ii) and (iii); and ``(II) for fiscal year 2026 and each succeeding fiscal year, is the amount determined under clause (iii).''. (c) States With an Equity Factor Greater Than or Equal to 0.20.-- Section 1125A(d)(3)(B)(i) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6337(d)(3)(B)(i)) is amended to read as follows: ``(i) In general.--For each fiscal year for which the Secretary uses local educational agency data, the weighted child count used to determine a local educational agency's grant under this section-- ``(I) for each fiscal year through fiscal year 2025, is the larger of the two amounts determined under clauses (ii) and (iii); and ``(II) for fiscal year 2026 and each succeeding fiscal year, is the amount determined under clause (iii).''. <all>

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