In 1975, Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, which provides a free and appropriate public education to students with a disability.
With passage of IDEA, the federal government committed to pay 40% of the average per-pupil expenditure for special education. That pledge has never been met, and from a current estimate, funding is at just 15.7%. According to the National Education Association, last year’s shortfall for funding nationwide was $23.58 billion. Every dollar the federal government falls short of spending leaves local education agencies having to pay more than their fair share.Over the years since IDEA was passed, there have been proposals to fully fund special education. Last year, there was the reintroduction of federal legislation to fully fund special education.
By fully funding IDEA, school districts would no longer have to pull as much money from their general education budgets to meet the law’s mandates. Also, school districts would no longer have to combine special education and general education money to offset the shortfall of funding from the state’s base student allocation formula.
What does this mean for education if IDEA is fully funded? School districts would be able to fund special education and general education programs at a more proportionate level. School districts would have the opportunity to develop and increase needed school programs, decrease class sizes while increasing the ratio of teachers to students in the classroom by competitively attracting and retaining qualified school personnel.
What does this mean for special education if IDEA were fully funded? Special education teacher caseloads could be reduced. A student’s individualized education program, or IEP, could be appropriately formed to meet their needs. The type and number of services special education students receive would not be based on the availability of personnel, programs or resources.
In short, fully funding IDEA would provide a free and appropriate public education to all our special education students. If Congress were to fully fund IDEA as stated, it would increase educational funding at a local level and help our educators continue providing a quality education to their students, no matter what hurdles may arise for them in the future.
— Michael Ripke
Palmer
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