Title III Waiver Approved for Ohio: What Changes for English Learner Funds

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

On October 30, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education approved a Title III waiver for Ohio as part of the state’s Returning Education to the States (RES) waiver. Ohio districts may now spend their Title III, Part A subgrant on one or more of the three activities the law requires, instead of spreading it across all three. They must still provide all three services to English Learners; what changes is which budget pays for them.

Executive Summary

Ohio became the eighth state to receive an RES waiver, after Iowa, Louisiana, Indiana, Vermont, Arkansas, South Dakota and Mississippi. According to the Department’s October 30 press release, the Ohio waiver lets the state consolidate more than $38 million in federal funds through 2029, and the eight approved states together now consolidate more than $158 million.

Two parts of the package touch English Learner programs. First, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) may pool its state-level activity funds from Title II-A, Title III-A, Title IV-A and Title IV-B for federal fiscal years 2026 through 2029. Second, and more important for districts, the Secretary waived the local spending requirement in ESEA section 3115(c)(1) to (3), the rule that makes each district use its Title III subgrant on language instruction, professional development and family engagement.

For EL coordinators, the practical result is a budgeting decision, not a reduction in obligations. A district can now concentrate a small Title III allocation where it will do the most good in a given year, as long as the other two activities are still delivered and paid for some other way. Districts outside Ohio are not covered, but the approval shows what a state can ask for.

Key Takeaways

• The Title III waiver was approved on October 30, 2026, in response to a request ODEW filed on July 30, 2026.
• It applies only to Ohio districts and community schools that receive Title III, Part A subgrants.
• Districts may fund one, two or all three required activities with Title III, instead of all three.
• All three activities remain required: the state will still require districts to carry them out.
• Civil rights duties to English Learners, supplement not supplant and equitable services for private schools cannot be waived under the ESEA waiver statute.
• ODEW may also consolidate state-level Title III activity funds with three other programs from FFY 2026 to FFY 2029.
• ODEW owes an amended consolidated state plan within 60 calendar days and a first annual waiver report by October 30, 2027.

What District Leaders Need to Know

• In Ohio: the next Title III budget you submit can weight spending toward a single activity, but expect ODEW to ask how the other two activities are delivered.
• Documentation matters more, not less: if professional development or family engagement leaves the Title III budget, you need a record showing which fund pays for it.
• Supplement not supplant still applies: concentrating Title III on instruction does not allow it to pay for the core language program the district already owes every English Learner.
• Consortium members: Ohio districts with allocations under $10,000 participate through a consortium, so the spending choice will likely be a consortium decision.
• Outside Ohio: nothing changes for your district unless your own state requests and receives a similar waiver.
• State-level funds: pooling of the state set-aside can make it harder to see how much state support targets English Learners. Watch your state’s amended plan.

What the Title III Waiver Changes

Under ESEA section 3115(c), every district that receives a Title III subgrant must use the funds for three required activities. The Ohio approval letter waives that requirement for Ohio subgrantees and replaces it with a “one or more” rule.

The approval letter signed by Secretary Linda McMahon spells out the condition plainly: funds must go to at least one of the activities, and the state will continue to require its districts to carry out all three. In other words, the waiver removes a spending formula, not a service obligation.

Why Ohio Asked for It

The Department’s stated reason is size. Many district Title III allocations are small, and splitting a small grant three ways can leave each activity with too little to matter. Under ESEA section 3114, states cannot award a Title III subgrant below $10,000, which is why ODEW requires districts with smaller allocations to join or form a consortium.

District Benchmark: What the Math Looks Like

Take a hypothetical Ohio district with a $24,000 Title III allocation. Before the waiver, a simple even split would give about $8,000 each to supplemental instruction, professional development and family engagement. Eight thousand dollars buys a limited amount of any one of them.

Under the waiver, the same district could put the full $24,000 into supplemental language instruction for the year, as long as it shows that professional development and family engagement are funded and delivered another way, for example through Title II-A, Title I family engagement funds or local dollars. The next year, it could shift the weight toward professional development if a new curriculum rollout makes that the priority.

The total amount of money does not change. What changes is the ability to reach a meaningful level of service in one area instead of three thin ones.

What Does Not Change

The waiver statute, ESEA section 8401, lists requirements the Secretary cannot waive. Several matter directly for English Learner programs:

1. Civil rights obligations. Districts must still identify English Learners and provide an adequate language program under federal civil rights law, whatever fund pays for it.
2. Supplement not supplant. Title III still has to add to the services a district would provide anyway.
3. Allocation of funds. How much each district receives is not changed by the waiver.
4. Equitable services. Private school English Learners remain eligible for equitable participation.
5. Parent and family involvement requirements. These cannot be waived, which is one reason the state still requires family engagement activities.

Section 8401 also limits a waiver to four years, with the possibility of an extension if the state shows results. The approval letter does not state a separate end date for the Title III spending flexibility, so districts should look for ODEW’s implementation guidance.

Timeline of the Ohio RES Waiver

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Reading the waiver as “family engagement is optional.” It is still required; only the funding source is flexible.
2. Moving core instruction into Title III. Concentrating funds on instruction does not lift the supplement not supplant test.
3. Changing the budget without a written plan for the other two activities. Monitors will look for evidence that all three still happen.
4. Assuming the flexibility applies outside Ohio. Each state needs its own approval.
5. Deciding alone inside a consortium. Consortium members share one subgrant and should agree on the year’s focus together.

Recommended Actions

Immediate (this month)

• Ohio districts: read the approval letter and watch for ODEW guidance on the next consolidated application cycle.
• List where each of the three required activities is funded today.

Medium-Term (this school year)

• Use ACCESS or OELPA results and program data to choose the activity where concentrated Title III dollars would move outcomes most.
• Identify alternative funding for the activities you take out of Title III.

Long-Term (strategy)

• Set measures for the focused activity (for example, growth on the ELP test or reclassification rate) so you can show results in the state’s annual waiver report.
• Outside Ohio: share the approval letter with your state Title III director if your district’s allocation is too small to split well.

Questions District Leaders Should Ask

• How much of our Title III subgrant went to each required activity last year, and what did each portion buy?
• Which activity is most underfunded relative to need?
• Which other funds could carry professional development or family engagement if Title III steps back?
• How will we document that all three activities still happen?
• What English Learner outcome will we track to judge whether the focus paid off?

FAQ

What is the Ohio Title III waiver?

It is part of Ohio’s RES waiver, approved on October 30, 2026. It lets Ohio districts use Title III, Part A funds on one or more of the three activities required by ESEA section 3115(c), rather than all three.

Do Ohio districts still have to offer family engagement and professional development?

Yes. The approval letter says the state will still require districts to carry out all three activities. Only the obligation to pay for each of them with Title III is lifted.

Does the Title III waiver apply to other states?

No. This flexibility was granted to Ohio. Other states would need to request and receive their own waiver under ESEA section 8401.

Does the waiver reduce Ohio’s Title III funding?

No. ESEA section 8401 does not allow the Secretary to waive how funds are allocated, so district allocations are unchanged. The waiver changes how the money can be spent.

What is a Returning Education to the States waiver?

It is the Department’s name for packages of ESEA waivers that let a state consolidate federal funds and relax specific requirements. As of October 30, 2026, eight states had one.

Related Resources

• Complete Guide to Title III Funding
• What Can Title III Funds Be Used For?
• Best Uses of Title III Funding
• How Much Title III Funding Do Schools Receive?
• Title I vs Title III for English Learners
• OELPA Practice Test and 2027 Dates

Conclusion

Ohio’s Title III waiver does not add money and does not remove a single obligation to English Learners. What it removes is a formula that forced small grants to be split three ways. For districts that use it well, that means choosing one priority each year, funding it at a level that can change outcomes, and proving that the other two activities still reach students. The districts that benefit most will be the ones that decide based on their own English Learner data, not on habit.

Sources: U.S. Department of Education, press release, October 30, 2026; Approval letter to ODEW, October 30, 2026; 20 U.S.C. 6825 (ESEA section 3115); 20 U.S.C. 6824 (ESEA section 3114); 20 U.S.C. 7861 (ESEA section 8401); ODEW, Title III, Part A program page.

Putting a Focused Title III Budget to Work

We ask a lot of a Title III budget, and in many districts the instruction share ends up too small to change what a student does on an ordinary school day. The hardest part to fund is often the simplest: regular, individual speaking practice. Even an excellent ESL teacher with a full caseload cannot listen to every student speak one on one several times a week.

Some districts are starting to use concentrated supplemental funds for tools that add practice time without adding teacher workload. Telo AI is one example: students hold short speaking conversations with a conversational AI, 5 minutes at a time, three times a week, for up to an extra hour of speaking practice a month, on the devices schools already have or on a screen-free robot, while teachers follow progress on a dashboard. See how Telo works.

The teacher stays at the center; the tool simply gives each student more chances to speak and be heard. If a district can now choose one Title III priority for the year, it is worth asking which choice would give every English Learner more time to use the language.