Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; NPEFS 2016-2018: Common Core of Data (CCD) National Public Education Financial Survey

AGENCY:

Department of Education (ED), National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

ACTION:

Notice

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ED is proposing a revision of an existing information collection.

DATES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before December 13, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

To access and review all the documents related to the information collection listed in this notice, please use http://www.regulations.gov by searching the Docket ID number ED-2016-ICCD-0111. Comments submitted in response to this notice should be submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov by selecting the Docket ID number or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. Please note that comments submitted by fax or email and those submitted after the comment period will not be accepted. Written requests for information or comments submitted by postal mail or delivery should be addressed to the Director of the Information Collection Clearance Division, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., LBJ, Room 2E-347, Washington, DC 20202-4537.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For specific questions related to collection activities, please contact NCES Information Collections at NCES.Information.Collections@ed.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Department of Education (ED), in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's information collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired format. ED is soliciting comments on the proposed information collection request (ICR) that is described below. The Department of Education is especially interested in public comment addressing the following issues: (1) Is this collection necessary to the proper functions of the Department; (2) will this information be processed and used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden accurate; (4) how might the Department enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (5) how might the Department minimize the burden of this collection on the respondents, including through the use of information technology. Please note that written comments received in response to this notice will be considered public records.

Title of Collection: NPEFS 2016-2018: Common Core of Data (CCD) National Public Education Financial Survey.

OMB Control Number: 1850-0067.

Type of Review: A revision of an existing information collection.

Respondents/Affected Public: State, Local, and Tribal Governments.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 56.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 5,334.

Abstract: The National Public Education Financial Survey (NPEFS) is an annual collection of state-level finance data that has been included in the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) since FY 1982 (school year 1981-82). NPEFS provides function expenditures by salaries, benefits, purchased services, and supplies, and includes federal, state, and local revenues by source. The NPEFS collection includes data on all state-run schools from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. NPEFS data are used for a wide variety of purposes, including to calculate federal program allocations such as states' “average per-pupil expenditure” (SPPE) for elementary and secondary education, certain formula grant programs (e.g. Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) as amended, Impact Aid, and Indian Education programs). Furthermore, other federal programs, such as the Educational Technology State Grants program (Title II Part D of the ESEA), the Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program under Title VII of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, and the Teacher Quality State Grants program (Title II Part A of the ESEA) make use of SPPE data indirectly because their formulas are based, in whole or in part, on State Title I Part A allocations. On December 10, 2015, an amendment to ESEA, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), was signed into law. This request is to add two new items to the NPEFS data collection (to report current expenditures disaggregated by source of funds and to align with the State and LEA report cards required by ESSA) and to conduct the annual NPEFS collection of state-level finance data for FY 2016-2018.