January 15, 2003

Laurie Matzke, State Director
Title I
Department of Public Instruction
600 E Boulevard Avenue, Dept. 201
Bismarck, North Dakota 58505

Dear Ms. Matzke:

This is in response to your letter asking about allowable uses of Title I funds set aside for professional development activities to help teachers become highly-qualified by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. Specifically, you asked if these funds could be used to help non-Title I teachers in Title I targeted assistance schools become highly qualified.

Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires States to ensure that all teachers teaching core academic subjects be highly qualified by the end of the 2005-06 school year. The statute further requires that local educational agencies that receive Title I funds to reserve a specified amount of Title I funds to ensure that teachers who are not highly qualified become highly qualified by the statutory deadline. You indicate that in North Dakota most Title I teachers who are not new to the profession are highly qualified as required by NCLB. However, there are other teachers of core academic subjects in targeted assistance schools who do not meet the definition of highly qualified.

Title I funds may be used to help teachers of core academic subjects who teach in targeted assistance schools but do not work in the Title I program become highly qualified under the following conditions:

1. All Title I teachers in the targeted assistance schools are "highly qualified" or given first priority in obtaining professional development services paid for with set aside funds;
2. The funds are used only to help teachers of core academic subjects in the targeted assistance school become highly qualified; and
3. The funds will not be used to help teachers of core academic subjects in non-Title I schools.

I hope this clarification is helpful to you.

Sincerely,
Jacquelyn C. Jackson, Ed.D.
Acting Director
Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

OF/RF/SWILHELM/JK/1/16/2003

SEA Policy Letters