WASHINGTON, May 3, 2000 – Calling it a bright IDEA, U.S. Rep. Phil English said the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act will not only help disabled students but free up funding to improve education overall.

English was a co-sponsor of the legislation which passed the House Wednesday. He voted in favor of the bill which sets a schedule for full funding of the federal government’s commitment to IDEA by 2010.

“When this legislation was originally signed into law 25 years ago, Congress made a commitment to children and families with special education needs,” English said. “That promise was to provide children with disabilities access to a quality public education by contributing 40 percent of the average per pupil expenditure to assist states and local schools with the extra costs of providing for the educational needs of children with disabilities.”

In the years following the law’s passage, Congress has not met the commitment it pledged to meet. But since English was elected to Congress, the House has increased funding for Part B of IDEA by 115 percent or $2.6 billion for the federal share. Even with the increase, the funding equals only 12.6 percent of the average per pupil expenditure to assist children with disabilities.

The bill authorizes increases of $2 billion a year to meet the federal commitment of 40 percent by 2010. The Congressional Research Service estimates that more than $15 billion would be needed to fully fund Part B of IDEA. The Fiscal Year 2000 appropriation for IDEA was $4.9 billion, leaving states and local school districts with an unfunded mandate of more than $10 billion.

English has been a strong supporter of this legislation since coming to Congress. He has written appropriators each year asking them to meet the 40 percent federal government obligation.

“By committing the federal dollars originally intended to education children with disabilities, we are freeing up thousands of local dollars that can be used to build new schools, hire more teachers and connect schools to the Internet or even lower property taxes,” English said. “It’s a very important commitment that was made long ago and something that we must ensure takes place.”