Due to the temporary nature of the funding, schools were repeatedly advised by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the Pennsylvania Senate Education Committee, the Governor and the Pennsylvania School Board Association, to use the funds for one-time expenditures like acquiring equipment, making repairs to buildings, training teachers to provide more effective instruction or purchasing books and software. Central Columbia School District officials did not apply for the Race to the Top federal grant. When approved for the grant, the district would have received hundreds of thousands of additional federal dollars for improving student academic achievement. No Columbia County school district applied for funding. Participation required the administration, the school board and the local teachers' union to sign an agreement to prioritize improving student academic success. In Pennsylvania, 120 public school districts and 56 charter schools agreed to participate. Pennsylvania was not approved for the grant. According to former Governor Ed Rendell, failure of districts to agree to participate was cited as one reason that Pennsylvania was not approved. The Federal government provides annual grants to schools to be used to improve the quality of teacher instructions to pupils. The goal is provide each child in public schools with "Highly Quality" teachers and principals as defined by the state. The funds are sent to the state Department of Education which distributes them to each school district and charter school. Beginning in 2002, the federal funding committed to Title II was $3,175,000,000. Public school district administrations must apply to the state annually for the Title II funds. In 2012-13, Central Columbia School District received $68,586 in federal Title II funding. In 2014-15, Central Columbia School District applied for and received $64,751. The Federal government provides annual grants to schools to assist in educating immigrant children and children who are identified as limited English proficient. Upon registering for school a language survey is done for all new enrollment pupils, typically in kindergarten or preschool. They identify the primary language spoken at home. This data is collected and submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, which in turn notifies the federal government. In 2012-13, Central Columbia School District received $1,358 in Title III funding for English language learners. The Central Columbia School District School Board chose to not participate in the Pennsylvania Department of Education Common Cents program. The program called for the state to audit the district, at no cost to local taxpayers, to identify ways the district could save tax dollars. After the review of the information, the district was not required to implement the recommended cost savings changes. In 2017-18, Central Columbia School District set real estate taxes at 43.104 mills.