Learn about MOE in just 10 minutes with this MOE Primer. 

For a Local Educational Agency ("LEA") to receive Federal Special Education funds, it must meet a Maintenance of Effort ("MOE") requirement.

To meet the requirement, the LEA must spend the same amount or more in the test year as it did in the comparison year. As an example, if the LEA had expenditures of $126,000 in the test year, and had $120,000 in the comparison year, it met its MOE requirement (as $126,000 is greater than $120,000):

There are some particulars to the MOE test: 

• The expenditures tested are for special education and related services. 
• The expenditures tested were charged to state and local funds, or local only funds. 
• There are exceptions to the test. 

LEA Requirement

LEAs test MOE when they prepare their year-end reports. The LEA will test both the year that it is closing (for compliance) and the new budget year (for eligibility).

For example, if the LEA is closing the 2023-24 fiscal year, the test years will be the 2023-24 actual expenditures (for compliance), and the 2024-25 budgeted expenditures (for eligibility): 

The Fresno County SELPA also requires that LEAs test MOE when they prepare their second interim reports.