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Kilili: NMI’s Title I funding increases to $4M
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Posted on Apr 30 2012
Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) said Friday that federal Title I education funding for the Northern Marianas will increase in the coming school year to $4 million, up from $3.7 million last year. The U.S. Department of Education will release 25 percent of the funds on July 1 and the remaining 75 percent on Oct. 1.
“Educating our children is the key to success in their lives and to our prosperity in the Northern Marianas,” Sablan said. “And thanks to the leadership of the Public School System, which has to apply for the annual grant, we now know our students will be receiving more federal funding to help with their education.”
In fact, the funding for school year 2012-13 is likely to go up again with the October distribution. Friday’s announcement is based on population and income information that will change when 2010 Census data is released later this summer. That change, expected to be in the Northern Marianas’ favor, will be plugged into the Education Department’s formula for funding the CNMI, American Samoa, Guam, and the Virgin Islands, which share a set-aside of Title I money.
Until the 2010 Census data is available the department is required to use the 2000 Census numbers, which fail to reflect the realities in the Northern Marianas and the other insular areas. Population has dropped in all four territories. But income in the Northern Marianas has plunged, judging from the increases in eligibility for Medicaid and food stamps in recent years. Economic decline compared to the other insular areas is also revealed in the Northern Marianas Gross Domestic Product, which has fallen every year since 2005.
“We are not rich in oil or gold,” says Sablan. “Our wealth is in our people. So we have to nurture and cultivate our human capability through education in order to grow in the future.”
Title I, Part A, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act provides financial assistance to schools with significant populations of children from low-income families.
