LD Blog

Full funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is again before the US Congress. Pretty much bi-annually since the landmark law was passed over 30 years ago, there have been efforts to make the US federal government live up to its promise to fund 40% of the special education costs. This year, there are a few active; here’s a sampling:

• H.R. 526: Full Funding for IDEA Now Act; a bill to amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide full funding for assistance for education of all children with disabilities.
• H.R.627: Keep Our PACT Act, a bill to require full funding of the Elementary and
  Secondary Education Act of 1965 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
• H.R.684: Keeping Our Promises to America’s Children Act, a bill to require full funding of part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
• H.R.821: Everyone Deserves Unconditional Access to Education Act, a bill to amend part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide full funding for special education.

Over on SpedPro about a year ago, Jeannie Kleinhammer-Tramill posted notes about how the costs of preparing teachers for special education have risen regularly over the years, but the appropriations have stayed flat. I suspect that an analysis of the cost of special education would look pretty dismal, too. Who’s got the data (and the time to order those data so that they could be shown graphically)? I could make the figures and we could publish ‘em right here.