20 U.S.C. § 7901
Section 7901 · Maintenance of effort
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case Rice v. Cayetano (1997)
Most recently applied in John Doe, a Minor, by His Mother and Next Friend, Jane Doe, and Josephine Helelani Pauahi Rabago, Intervenor, Kamehameha Schools/bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate Constance H. Lau, Nainoa Thompson, Diane J. Plotts, Robert K.U. Kihune, J. Douglasing, in Their Capacities as Trustees of the Kamehameha Schools/bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate (December 2006)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
A local educational agency may receive funds under a covered program for any fiscal year only if the State educational agency finds that either the combined fiscal effort per student or the aggregate expenditures of the agency and the State with respect to the provision of free public education by the agency for the preceding fiscal year was not less than 90 percent of the combined fiscal effort or aggregate expenditures for the second preceding fiscal year, subject to the requirements of subsection (b).
The State educational agency shall reduce the amount of the allocation of funds under a covered program in any fiscal year in the exact proportion by which a local educational agency fails to meet the requirement of subsection (a) of this section by falling below 90 percent of both the combined fiscal effort per student and aggregate expenditures (using the measure most favorable to the local agency), if such local educational agency has also failed to meet such requirement (as determined using the measure most favorable to the local agency) for 1 or more of the 5 immediately preceding fiscal years.
No such lesser amount shall be used for computing the effort required under subsection (a) of this section for subsequent years.
The Secretary may waive the requirements of this section if the Secretary determines that a waiver would be equitable due to—
exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances, such as a natural disaster or a change in the organizational structure of the local educational agency; or
a precipitous decline in the financial resources of the local educational agency.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
A prior section 7901, Pub. L. 89–10, title IX, § 9201, as added Pub. L. 103–382, title I, § 101, Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 3794, set forth short title of the Native Hawaiian Education Act, prior to the general amendment of former subchapter IX of this chapter by Pub. L. 107–110.
Amendments
2015—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 114–95, § 8019(1), inserted “, subject to the requirements of subsection (b)” after “for the second preceding fiscal year”.
Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 114–95, § 8019(2), inserted before period at end “, if such local educational agency has also failed to meet such requirement (as determined using the measure most favorable to the local agency) for 1 or more of the 5 immediately preceding fiscal years”.
Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 114–95, § 8019(3), inserted “or a change in the organizational structure of the local educational agency” after “such as a natural disaster”.
Effective Date of 2015 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 114–95 effective Dec. 10, 2015, except with respect to certain noncompetitive programs and competitive programs, see section 5 of Pub. L. 114–95, set out as a note under section 6301 of this title.