ARP ESSER Maintenance of Equity

Section 2004 of the ARP Act includes new maintenance of equity provisions that are a condition for State educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) to receive funds under ARP ESSER.   These provisions are central to ensuring that essential resources are meeting the needs of students who have been subject to longstanding opportunity gaps in our education system.

On June 9, 2021, the Department released maintenance of equity guidance, which the Department updated on December 29, 2021. The updated guidance is available here.

The Secretary’s August 6 letter to chief state school officers and school districts superintendents is available here.

On Friday, October 1, 2021, the Department submitted the following documents for publication in the Federal Register: 1) Notice of Proposed Requirements (NPR) that proposes a requirement that SEAs publish LEAs’ maintenance of equity data on their websites; 2) Request for Information (RFI) to help inform the Department’s support for SEAs and LEAs in implementing the MOEquity provisions. Following public comment, on December 29, 2021, the Department submitted the following Notice of Proposed Requirements (NPR) document for publication in the Federal Register.

On October 12, 2021, the Department released additional information for LEAs about the process for submitting an exception request for FY 2022 maintenance of equity determinations. That information is available here. Such requests may be found here: PDF, PDF, PDF.

Baseline and Initial Data Submission

Appendix A of the maintenance of equity guidance  includes information on baseline and initial data that each SEA was required to submit by July 30, 2021 for FY 2022. To the extent that FY 2022 funding data are not available, an SEA may provide projected data or request an extension to provide the data that are not currently available by October 15, 2021. Data will be posted in the maintenance of equity data table as they are received.

* Accessibility: The Department places a high priority on posting documents on its website that meet the accessibility standards established by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and is working diligently to ensure that those standards are met by all documents posted on this page. If you experience problems with the accessibility of any of these materials, and need them in an alternative format, please contact OESE’s Office of State and Grantee Relations at SGR@ed.gov or (202) 453-5563. Please be specific in your request about the information you need, which may include identifying MOEquity data from a specific State.

American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief

• Maintenance of Equity