In 1975, Congress passed an important new law to help assure that children with special needs would receive a quality education in our public schools. Unfortunately, in the 25 years since the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) became law, Congress has never fulfilled its promise to pay 40 percent of the cost of special education. That has forced local schools to pick up costs that rightfully should be paid by the federal government.

    Only in the past five years has Congress begun the long-overdue work of bridging the gap between federal promises and federal action on special education. In those five years, federal funding for special education increased 115 percent or $2.7 billion. The new federal budget for fiscal year 2001 would provide another increase of $2 billion - a 40 percent increase for the coming year.

    This week, the House also passed legislation to set a clear goal for meeting the full federal share of special education by the year 2010. All of these steps represent real progress and demonstrate the Congressional commitment to special education and to making elementary and secondary education our top national priority. There is no question about the benefits of this law, that has made it possible for many children with disabilities to receive a quality education, to get jobs, and to lead more productive lives. However, even with the largest funding increase in history, there is a long way to go in meeting the federal government’s responsibility to properly fund IDEA.

    Special education is a vital program, but the costs are high. The average cost of educating a special education student is about double the national average per pupil cost of $5,955. The difference between those numbers is a massive unfunded federal mandate on local schools. This year, the federal government will provide about $5 billion for IDEA. The full federal share should be nearly $15 billion.

   The disparity falls on local schools. For example, the Paramount Unified School District receives $1 million a year from the federal government for IDEA. If the school district received the full 40 percent promised by the federal government, the total would be $2.6 million a year. Downey Unified School District receives $1.6 million, if fully funded they would get $4.6 million. And Bellflower Schools receive $381,755 a year for IDEA when they should receive $2.3 million as promised by the federal government. That extra $6.6 million in federal funds would directly free an equal amount of local money for other needs such as teacher training, school repairs and construction, new textbooks, computers and other materials. Full funding of the federal mandate for special education would benefit every community in California in a similar way.

    However, there is a potentially serious roadblock in fully funding special education. The Administration does not appear to agree with this priority and instead has submitted a 2001 budget that calls for only a $333 million increase in IDEA funding. The Administration’s budget calls for a substantial increase in overall education funding but targets the money for more than 20 new federal education programs. In the coming months, Congress and the President will have to resolve this disagreement over whether to fund existing commitments such as special education or to instead create new programs.

    The Congressional commitment to increase IDEA funding is only one part of an overall effort to strengthen our local schools. This week, the Senate has been debating the Elementary and Secondary Education Act which provides $25 billion a year to the nation’s schools. The House already has approved major elements of this basic law by passing the Teacher Empowerment Act, giving states and local school districts the ability to provide quality training for teachers and reduce class size.

    As a former university president and professor, one of my top priorities is to ensure that all of our children receive a quality education. Increasing special education funding addresses an unfulfilled promise and begins to eliminate one of the largest unfunded federal mandates. It also returns decision making on education spending priorities to local schools. It is essential that we meet the federal commitment to special education and free local funds for other priorities. The fiscal year 2001 budget places education at the top of our national priorities list and makes clear that we will provide both funding and flexibility for local administrators, teachers, and students in the critical effort to strengthen our schools.

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