Assessment of the Impact Aid Program

The impact aid program, school assistance in Federally Affected areas, is assessed in terms of its purpose of reducing fiscal inequities caused by the presence of tax-exempt Federal lands and the burden on local educational agencies of providing free education to children whose parents are connected with the Federal government. One hundred local educational agencies were reviewed concerning applications and claims, and fiscal 1973 data were analyzed for 1,671 local agencies. Local agencies were overpaid by a net total of $212,133. Office of Education regulations and instructions for determining eligibility need to be defined and better enforced. The Office does not require sufficient information concerning the relationship between dependent child and parent nor on children having civilian parents. Ranges of criteria to assist State and local education agencies in determining comparability have not been established. Without impact aid entitlements, 48 percent of the local agencies would need tax increases of less than 5 percent.