Comparability is a Title I, Part A fiscal requirement (ESEA Sec. 1118(c). A local school district may receive Title I, Part A funds only if it uses State and local funds to provide services in Title I schools that, taken as a whole, are at least comparable to the services provided in schools that are not receiving Title I funds. If the district serves all of its schools with Title I funds, the district must use State and local funds to provide services that, taken as a whole, are substantially comparable in each Title I school. In Mississippi, a district will meet the comparability requirement if it implements a district-wide salary schedule and has procedures that ensure equivalence among schools in the allocation of student enrollment and instructional staff or equivalence among schools in instructional staff salaries and student enrollment. A comparability study compares the distribution of state and local resources among the schools that include those grade spans providing Title I services.
