District Equity Plans

Title I, Part A, Sec. 1112(b)(2) of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires all local educational agencies (LEAs) that receive Title I funds to create plans describing how the LEAs will decrease gaps as they relate to low-income students and students of color being taught at higher rates than other students by inexperienced, out-of-field, and ineffective teachers.  

For the 2022-2023 school year, LEAs will not be expected to submit new equity plans. LEAs should review their current plans locally, consider opportunities for revision, and implement the identified strategies accordingly. More details on equity planning, strategies, implementation, and state data can be found in the Texas Equity Plan Toolkit.  

For LEAs that prefer to use the Texas Education Agency’s template, please note that the agency has updated the Equity Plan Template and will also provide a new exemplar plan on the Texas Equity Plan Toolkit by September 2022.  

In addition to the Texas Equity Plan Toolkit, all education service centers (ESCs) have been trained on the Texas Equity Plan Toolkit and are ready to support LEAs with plan adjustments. Contacts for the Equity Leads can be found on the Texas Equity Plan Toolkit.  

Lastly, the agency will notify an LEA based on the identification of significant gaps in student growth for low-income students and students of color, by December 2022. Only LEAs with equity gaps greater than 10 percent will receive a notification. As a reminder, LEAs will not need to submit new Equity plans as a result of this notification. If your LEA receives a notification, that means that it has equity gaps greater than 10 percent and your LEA may be required to submit an Equity plan to the agency in 2023-2024 if equity gaps do not decrease.  

For questions or additional information on both the Equity Plan, please contact your local ESC equity lead listed on the Texas Equity Plan Toolkit.  

Sincerely,  

Deniann Grant
Assistant Director
Division of School Improvement