In 1975, Congress mandated that states provide a free appropriate public education to all children with disabilities.  In doing so, the federal government committed to provide 40 percent of the money to assist state and local government in the costs of educating students with disabilities.  Like most carrot and stick plans that come out of Washington, this one was long on stick and short on carrots.  In 25 years, Congress has never come close to meeting its 40 percent funding obligation.

 This year Kansas schools will spend $454 million meeting the federal special education mandate.  Of this total, only $38 million (about 8 percent) will come from the federal government. 

 This issue is very important to me.  In my previous service in the Kansas Senate, we struggled each and every year to adequately fund the education of Kansas children.  Forced to pay the federal government’s share of the special education mandate, other important programs and priorities were pushed aside.

 Since coming to Congress in 1996, I have made federal funding of IDEA a priority, and I am proud to say we have made some progress.  In just three years, IDEA funding has grown from $3 to $5 billion.  Legislation passed this week in the House of Representatives would keep us on a path to meeting the 40 percent commitment the federal government made 25 years ago.

 H.R. 4055, the Individuals With Disabilities Act Full Funding Act of 2000 would increase federal funding for special education by $2 billion per year until the federal share reaches the 40 percent level originally envisioned for the program.  Meeting our obligation would free up millions of dollars for the state of Kansas and local schools to hire and promote teachers, maintain buildings and equip our classrooms.  It would also reduce the pressure to increase property taxes in Kansas.

 Education is the cornerstone of our states’ future.  More than any other area of public policy, how well we educate our children today will have a profound effect on the quality of life in Kansas in the century to come.  I will continue to push to see that the IDEA Full Funding act becomes law so that we can provide our children with the tools they need to learn, grow and lead our state in the next century.  I think it is a good IDEA.