H.R. 7989 · Where this bill is now
In committee
Introduced in the House, sent to the Committee on Education and Workforce, Mar 18, 2026
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summaryChanges how federal school funding gets divided
The federal government gives money to schools based on how many disadvantaged students they serve. Right now, there are two ways to count and weight those students, and schools get the bigger amount. This bill would change that starting in 2026: for one type of grant, schools would be counted only by the percentage of disadvantaged students they have, and for another type of grant, schools would be counted only by the total number of disadvantaged students.
How it affects you
If you have school-age children, this could affect how much federal funding your local school district receives, though which districts gain or lose money depends on how the new formula works in practice. School administrators and educators will need to understand how the changes alter their funding in 2026 and beyond.
Read the official summary (Introduced in House, Mar 18, 2026)
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 .
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
2nd SessionH. R. 7989
A BILL
ACE Act
Sponsor: Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA-15) · Introduced Mar 18, 2026 · Education · 1 version of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Mar 18, 2026: “Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.”