§ 280.1 What is the Magnet Schools Assistance Program?

The Magnet Schools Assistance Program provides grants to eligible local educational agencies (LEAs) or consortia of LEAs for use in magnet schools that are part of an approved desegregation plan and that are designed to bring students from different social, economic, ethnic and racial backgrounds together. The purposes of the program are to support, through financial assistance to eligible LEAs or consortia of LEAs— (a) The elimination, reduction, or prevention of minority group isolation in elementary and secondary schools with substantial portions of minority students, which shall include assisting in the efforts of the United States to achieve voluntary desegregation in public schools; (b) The development and implementation of magnet school projects that will assist LEAs in achieving systemic reforms and providing all students the opportunity to meet challenging State academic content standards and student academic achievement standards; (c) The development and design of innovative educational methods and practices that promote diversity and increase choices in public elementary schools and public secondary schools and public educational programs; (d) Courses of instruction within magnet schools that will substantially strengthen the knowledge of academic subjects and the attainment of tangible and marketable vocational, technological, and professional skills of students attending such schools; (e) Improvement of the capacity of LEAs, including through professional development, to continue operating magnet schools at a high performance level after Federal funding for the magnet schools is terminated; and (f) Ensuring that all students enrolled in the magnet school programs have equitable access to high quality education that will enable the students to succeed academically and continue with postsecondary education or productive employment.