Using Technology to Uncover New Funding Opportunities

edCircuit note: Stephanie Jones and Mary Schlegelmilch wrote this 2018 piece on using Title I funding for school technology, including Oklahoma’s Wi-Fi school buses. An update at the end covers federal funding levels, the spending rules and a 2025 federal change affecting bus Wi-Fi.

Using Title I Part A funds to expand the classroom in new and inventive ways

by Stephanie Jones & Mary Schlegelmilch

It’s true that many at-risk students struggle to meet academic expectations, but it’s lesser known that external factors – such as discipline issues, structure at home and socioeconomic status – are often at the root of this issue. To address this gap, many schools leverage funding programs such as Title I Part A, which provide more attention to at-risk learners and are designed to keep students from falling behind.

Title I Part A funds are crucial to the education system; they enable school districts across the country to improve access and resources for disadvantaged students. In recent years, both rural and urban school districts have started to use Title I Part A funds to expand the classroom in new and inventive ways that go above and beyond: with technology.

More than 25 million students in high-poverty schools benefit from Title I funds.

Ensuring that all children have the opportunity to receive a high-quality education is more attainable than ever as schools implement technologies that enable and extend learning far beyond the classroom.  

This is evident in the Howe Public School District in Oklahoma. The school district uses Title I Part A funding to engage students during hours typically spent without educational engagement – through connected school transportation.

Within the Howe school district, a bus ride can last almost an hour or more. Since many students lack Wi-Fi access at home, connected school buses offer the opportunity to learn, study and complete homework while on the bus – all thanks to Internet access. Howe implemented Wi-Fi and GPS enabled busses, increasing equal access to education, and a better use of student time. In addition, connected buses, especially with video, improve student safety and well-being.

However, not all school districts have the resources or expertise when it comes to utilizing Title I Part A funds in new and innovative ways. This is where a public funding partner can be a critical connecting thread. For example, we often experience firsthand how much school districts value assistance and guidance when it comes to prioritizing Title I Part A funding.

Here are some simple steps that can make a crucial difference

• Step one – work with a partner to identify major needs and problems affecting students
• Step two – educate the entire academic community on how to use those funds for technology
• Step three – craft a plan to implement technology in alignment with education priorities

There are many ways to utilize these steps and engage Title I Part A funds more fully. Large school districts often have dedicated personnel to determine the best use of Title I Part A funding. However, small districts can be left with limited resources and faculty.

13 million students pay for college or career school annually – without Title I funding many of them would not have the opportunity to embark on a collegiate journey.

A public funding partner can be especially useful here in identifying smart and unforeseen ways to utilize Title I Part A funding. For example, within the first step, it’s crucial not to leave dollars on the table, or to continue prior habits – school districts often look to past years for inspiration, and can overlook new types of technology.

In addition to resourceful and beneficial programs like connected busing, there are several other beneficial types of technology programs that have been identified by our public funding officers:

• Converting student devices into learning and response tools
• Using networks to communicate to parents
• Adding video to conference calls for language instruction and cross-district resource sharing

When it comes to these new types of programs, professional development and access to outside experts is critical. Providing teachers and faculty with new and innovative tools enables them to engage students like never before, but needs to be managed thoughtfully, and seeded well in advance of classroom introduction.

Some of the benefits we’ve seen when it comes to innovative Title I Part A funding include access to online college courses, “office hours” with teachers, mentoring with advanced students and dual-enrollment. To make this happen, school districts must begin to understand their needs, their funding options and how Title I Part A funding aligns with their challenges.

Title I Part A funding has the power to transform the education landscape for disadvantaged students across the country, and for many school districts, the advantage lies in looking to technology for answers.

Title I funding for technology in 2026: what has changed

Title I funding is still the largest federal source of extra money for schools that serve many students from low-income families, and the approach Stephanie Jones and Mary Schlegelmilch describe above, which starts from student needs and only then chooses technology, still matches what the law expects. Several things have changed since 2018, and district leaders should weigh them before writing technology into a Title I plan.

Funding has stayed close to flat

Title I, Part A has come through recent budget fights at roughly level funding. In its fiscal 2026 bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee funded Title I at $18.5 billion, $50 million above the 2025 level, and rejected an administration plan to merge 18 K-12 grant programs into a single $2 billion grant, K-12 Dive reported in July 2025. The budget Congress finalized in February 2026 gave Title I a $20 million increase, which the Texas educator association ATPE described as symbolic, with most other programs held level. With costs rising, flat Title I funds mean every technology purchase competes directly with tutoring, intervention staff and family engagement.

The spending rules have not changed

Title I money must supplement, not supplant, state and local funds. In practice, a district cannot use Title I to pay for something it would otherwise buy with its own money. Each purchase should also trace back to a need named in the school’s comprehensive needs assessment, which section 1114(b)(6) of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires for schoolwide programs. Published district guidance shows how this works on the ground. Chula Vista Elementary School District in California, for example, lists laptops, interactive boards and technology supplies as allowable when they upgrade the educational program of a schoolwide site, and lists non-instructional electronics as not allowable. Rules are interpreted by each state, so the state Title I office is the right place to confirm any purchase that is not routine.

The school bus Wi-Fi example needs an update

The Howe connected-bus example above predates two federal decisions. In 2023 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made Wi-Fi on school buses eligible for E-Rate, the federal program that discounts internet service for schools and libraries, and in 2024 it added Wi-Fi hotspots that students borrow. On September 30, 2025, the FCC voted 2-1 to reverse both decisions and directed the program’s administrator to deny pending requests for fiscal year 2025. K-12 Dive reported that those requests totaled $15.3 million for school bus Wi-Fi and $42.6 million for hotspots. Districts that relied on E-Rate for bus connectivity now have to find other money for it. Title I may be one option where bus Wi-Fi meets an identified need for students in a Title I school, but whether a particular contract is allowable is a question for the state Title I office, and the cost comes out of an allocation that has stayed flat.

Plan for how students will use the technology

The U.S. Department of Education’s 2024 National Educational Technology Plan, summarized by THE Journal, describes three gaps. The access divide concerns devices, connectivity and digital content. The design divide concerns whether teachers have the professional learning to design good technology-rich lessons. The use divide concerns whether students use technology to explore, create and analyze, or only to complete passive tasks. Where devices and connectivity are already in place, the design and use gaps are often the better target for Title I dollars. The authors’ advice that new tools be “seeded well in advance of classroom introduction” fits the plan’s emphasis on teacher preparation, and the Chula Vista guidance cited above lists substitutes for teachers attending professional development as an allowable Title I cost.

Checklist for a Title I technology plan

1. Start from the needs assessment and state the need in terms of students, not devices.
2. Test every item against supplement-not-supplant before it goes into the budget.
3. Budget training and coaching alongside each device or software purchase.
4. Review any service that relied on E-Rate support for bus Wi-Fi or hotspots.
5. Decide before buying how student use will be measured, and check it at the end of the year.

Further Reading

1. Baltimore Sun – Free lunch program cost some local schools federal funding
   
2. Ed Week – Title I and the issues
   
3. NCES.gov – Title I Fast Facts
   

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