ACE Act
Key claim: The ACE Act would require Targeted Grants to use only percentage weighting and EFIG grants to use only number weighting in their formula child counts, replacing the current higher-of-two approach starting in FY2026.
Abstract
(HR7989 · 119th Congress) All Children are Equal Act or the ACE Act This bill revises the funding formulas for distributing Targeted Grants and Education Finance Incentive Grants (EFIG) to local educational agencies (LEAs). Under current law, both the Targeted Grant and EFIG formulas use a weighted formula child count to increase aid to LEAs with the highest numbers or percentages of poor and other disadvantaged children (commonly referred to as formula children ). Generally, children counted in these formulas are assigned weights based on (1) each LEA’s percentage of formula children (commonly referred to as percentage weighting ), and (2) each LEA’s number of formula children (commonly referred to as number weighting ). The higher of the two weighted formula child counts is then used in the formula for determining grants for an LEA. Under this bill, beginning in FY2026 and for each succeeding fiscal year after, the weighted formula child count used to determine an LEA’s Targeted Grant must be based only on the percentage weighting. Additionally, the weighted formula child count used to determine an LEA’s EFIG must be based only on the number weighting. For additional information see CRS Report R48893, FY2024 State Grants Under Title I-A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) ; CRS Report R48890, Determining Grants Under Title I-A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) ; and CRS Report R48165, The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as Amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): An Analytical Review of the Allocation Formulas . Latest action (2026-03-18): Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Why this matters
Title I-A is the largest federal K-12 program, and the choice between percentage- and number-weighting in its formulas materially changes which districts receive more funding — percentage weighting favors districts with high poverty concentration, while number weighting favors districts with large absolute numbers of poor students. By ending the ‘higher of two’ rule and assigning one method to each grant stream, the ACE Act would redistribute existing Title I-A dollars rather than change total funding, affecting district budgets beginning FY2026 if enacted.