Shifting money around

As part of the rolling ESEA reauthorization, today the House Education and Workforce Committee approved a measure that would allow districts to move federal money from one program to another. This was proposed by their chair, Rep. Kline of Minnesota:

The legislation would allow schools to take money intended for one educational purpose, such as for poor or migrant children, and spend it on another school priority, such as teacher training or reading programs... The bill, criticized by Democrats, requires annual notification of how the money is used and continues to hold schools accountable for education outcomes, according to a fact sheet distributed by the committee.

One imagines that this has little chance of passing the Senate (and, actually, I've seen no bets on the House yet, either); however, it is worth looking at Rep. Miller's point:

"This back-door attempt at fulfilling campaign promises to dismantle the federal role in education will turn back the clock on civil rights and especially harm low-income and minority students," Miller said in a prepared statement.

My guess is that Miller's thinking particularly here of Title I, which makes up much federal education aid: it could be very tempting in some cases for people to "raid" that money for other things.