Hawaii’s Title I public schools, which serve a disproportionate number of students living in poverty, will get $73 million in added federal funding for the 2023-2024 school year — an increase of $15 million over 2022.

The funding will be divided geographically:

>> $3,107,773 for Title I schools in Kauai County

>> $46,760,813 for Title I schools in the City and County of Honolulu

>> $7,408,395 for Title I schools in Maui County

>> $15,853,286 for Title I schools in Hawaii County

“Hawaii public schools are getting a big boost in federal funding,” U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a news release. “This new money will help hire more teachers and offer more academic support programs for students in need.”

The money should be received locally by July 1 and will benefit nearly 85,000 students in Hawaii, Schatz said. It will be used to hire more educators and support teacher professional development, new technology and other academic needs.

More than 170 of Hawaii’s 258 regular public schools are classified as Title I schools. Two dozen of the state’s 37 public charter schools are Title I schools.

Title I schools are those with a minimum poverty threshold of 47.2%, meaning roughly half the student population comes from low- income families. Authorized under Title I Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title I funding is the largest source of federal funding for elementary and secondary education in the country, according to Schatz’s office.

That is separate from the $330.5 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, federal funds appropriated for the state Department of Education to address effects of the coronavirus pandemic, such as learning loss and social-emotional effects.