Dear State Directors:

Attached are fiscal year (FY) 2021 (school year (SY) 2021-2022) preliminary estimates of State allocations for the Education for Homeless Children and Youth (Homeless Education), Supporting Effective Instruction (Title II, Part A), and State Assessment Formula Grants (Title I, Part B) programs. The estimates are based on the FY 2021 appropriation, which became law in December 2020. Please note that preliminary estimates of FY 2021 allocations for the English Language Acquisition (Title III, Part A) program are not yet available.  (As described in more detail below, we expect to issue FY 2021 preliminary estimates for the Title III, Part A program by sometime in February.)  Some program-specific notes about these four programs follow.

• Homeless Education
• In calculating the allocations, in accordance with section 722(c)(1) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the U.S. Department of Education (ED):
• Used each SEA’s relative share of Title I, Part A funds based on the preliminary FY 2021 Title I, Part A allocations; and
• Ensured that each SEA received at least its minimum amount.
• In addition, the preliminary FY 2021 Homeless Education allocations incorporate revisions to FY 2020 Homeless Education allocations due to updates to SY 2017-2018 State per-pupil expenditure data by several SEAs that resulted in ED’s revising FY 2020 Title I, Part A allocations in September 2020, which was after ED had awarded all FY 2020 Homeless Education funds in July 2020.
• ED expects to issue final FY 2021 allocations in June, which will be the basis for the July 1, 2021 grant award. The final allocations will likely differ from the attached preliminary allocations due to expected differences between the preliminary FY 2021 Title I, Part A allocations and the final allocations FY 2021 Title I, Part A allocations that ED will calculate in June.

• Title II, Part A:  
• In calculating the preliminary allocations ED applied the:
• State Title II, Part A hold harmless requirement in section 2101(b)(1)(C) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA); and
• Percentages specified for FY 2021 in section 2102(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the ESEA with respect to a State’s ages 5 to 17 population and ages 5 to 17 population in poverty. 
• ED is reserving 0.5 percent of the Title II, Part A appropriation for evaluations under section 8601 of the ESEA.
• The attached Title II, Part A table shows the maximum amount of State level reservations and the minimum amount that must be allocated to local educational agencies based on the preliminary allocations.
• ED expects to issue final FY 2021 allocations in June, which will be the basis for the July 1, 2021 grant award.  The final allocations will likely differ from the preliminary allocations due to the expected availability in June of updated State level ages 5 to 17 population data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Title I, Part B:
• In calculating the preliminary allocations ED used the same State level ages 5 to 17 population data that it used to calculate FY 2020 allocations.
• ED expects to issue final FY 2021 allocations in June, which will be the basis for the July 1, 2021 grant award.  The final allocations will likely differ from the preliminary allocations due to the expected availability of updated State level ages 5 to 17 population data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Title III, Part A:

• For the preliminary allocations, as authorized by section 3111(c)(3)(A) of the ESEA, for the portion of a State’s allocation that is based on the number of English learners (ELs), ED will use a combination of counts from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) (specifically, multiyear estimates covering the period 2015-2019) and the same school year 2018-2019 State-reported English learner counts that ED used for FY 2020 allocations. The ACS data will be weighted at 75 percent and the State-reported data at 25 percent.
• As required by section 3111(c)(3)(B) of the ESEA, for the portion of a State’s allocation that is based on the number of immigrant children and youth, ED will use ACS data (specifically, multiyear estimates covering the period 2015-2019). 
• However, the ACS multiyear estimates covering the period 2015-2019 are not yet available. ED:

• Anticipates that these ACS estimates will become available by early February. 
• Will release preliminary FY 2021 Title III, Part A allocations after these ACS estimates become available.

• ED expects to issue final allocations in June, which will be the basis for the July 1, 2021 grant award. The final allocations will likely not differ from the preliminary allocations.

Thank you for your work in implementing these programs.  Please send any questions about the FY 2021 preliminary allocations to Todd Stephenson ([log in to unmask]), Elizabeth Witt ([log in to unmask]), and the respective program mailbox ([log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], or [log in to unmask]).

Best,

Patrick Rooney

Director, School Support and Accountability