Arizona Department of Education - Early Childhood Block Grant Program

Grant recipients spend the majority of their grant dollars on instruction—primarily for teachers’ or aides’ salaries. However, in choosing which grades to fund, large districts tend to fund preschool programs, while smaller grant recipients fund full-day kindergarten or kindergarten through third-grade programs. Further, a few grantees return large amounts of grant dollars to the State because they do not change their spending plans or monitor grant balances. The Department of Education should assist these grantees in reducing the amount of money returned, and should continue to develop policies to monitor compliance with legislative requirements.