New NAFIS reports show distribution of funds by state, school district and congressional district
Washington, DC – November 12, 2019 – The National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS) today released Impact Aid Payments Overview: Fiscal Year 2018 Section 7003 – Basic Support and Impact Aid Payments Overview: Fiscal Year 2018 Section 7002 – Federal Property. These publications detail how Impact Aid funds were distributed to local education agencies across the United States and its territories – and 220 school districts in Oklahoma benefited from the program, more than any other state.
According to FY 2018 data from the U.S. Department of Education (the most recent available), Oklahoma school districts received approximately $36 million in total Impact Aid funding, including $32 million in Basic Support funding, $2.5 million in Impact Aid Children with Disabilities payments and $1.6 million in Federal Property funding.
Were the program fully funded by Congress, Oklahoma schools would have received an additional $64 million (approximately $49.5 million more in Basic Support and $14.5 million more in Federal Property).
The 220 Oklahoma school districts receiving Impact Aid serve more than 200,000 students, who all benefit from these funds. Nationally, approximately $1.4 billion in Impact Aid appropriations supported 1,253 school districts serving around 10 million students.
Impact Aid is a Federal education program that partially reimburses school districts for the lost revenue and additional costs associated with the presence of nontaxable Federal property, such as military installations, Indian trust or treaty lands, Federal low-rent housing, national parks, national laboratories and other Federal buildings and property. Because most school districts are funded largely through local taxes and fees, and because Federal land is exempt from taxation, districts containing Federal property are at a financial disadvantage in funding their schools. Impact Aid (Title VII of the Every Student Succeeds Act, ESSA) recognizes the Federal government’s obligation to help finance public education and support students in areas where it holds land, though it hasn’t been fully funded since 1969.
“Impact Aid is a critical source of funding for many Oklahoma school districts, helping pay for teacher salaries, student transportation, instructional materials, social emotional supports and other programs and services,” said Billie Jordan, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Association Serving Impacted Schools (OASIS). “Districts depend on Impact Aid to give all students access to a quality education.”
“Impact Aid plays an important role in school districts’ efforts to provide all students with the opportunities they need to meet their full potential,” said NAFIS Executive Director Hilary Goldmann. “These publications highlight the diversity of federally impacted school districts, and they make clear that some school districts and the students they serve are being shortchanged hundreds of thousands of dollars because the program is not fully funded.”
The reports aim to raise the awareness of Federal, state and local policymakers of the importance of Impact Aid to individual school districts and states. The publications, along with an infographic offering a national snapshot of the program, can be found on the NAFIS website.
The National Association of Federally Impacted Schools (NAFIS) represents the 1,200-plus federally impacted public school districts that together educate more than 10 million students across the nation. Federally impacted school districts are those located on or near nontaxable Federal propertyincluding military installations; Indian Trust, Treaty and Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act lands; Federal low- income housing facilities; and national parks, national laboratories and other Federal buildings and property. These school districts, which are demographically and geographically diverse, receive Impact Aid, a Federal education program that reimburses school districts for the lost local revenue and additional costs associated with the presence of Federal property. To learn more, visit www.nafisdc.org.