By law, America's public schools are required to educate all children who enter them. Whether students have 20/20 vision or no eyesight, whether they are in perfect health or suffer from muscular dystrophy, whether their behavior is polite or problematic, the public schools must open their doors to all.
This is as it should be in an inclusive, democratic society committed to the well-being of every child. But it was not always so. As recently as the early 1970s, it was documented that two million children were getting no education whatsoever, many because of physical or learning disabilities.
Responding to this intolerable injustice, Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975. President Gerald Ford signed this landmark legislation into law.
Later renamed the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), the law guarantees equal educational opportunity for children with disabilities. It mandates that all public schools will be responsible for the education of all children. It means that six million children with disabilities between the ages of three and twenty-one receive a free, appropriate education today. And it commits the federal government to establishing a vital partnership with the states and school districts in providing the resources for special education.
Through IDEA, the federal government is continuing its historic and essential role as the protector of the most vulnerable and the ensurer of equal opportunity. But while IDEA in principle is a vital step forward for education and for the Nation, in practice it has posed two major problems:
First and foremost, IDEA is a broken federal promise. When the Education
for All Handicapped Act was enacted, the federal government pledged to pay
states
40 percent of the average per pupil expenditure (APPE),
multiplied by the number of students with disabilities. Today, federal IDEA
appropriations account for 15 percent of APPE, higher than the historic
average of less than 10 percent, but still a fraction of the federal
commitment. As a result, IDEA has become one of the most egregious examples of
an underfunded federal mandate. This harms students with and without
disabilities.
Even after being amended by Congress in 1997, IDEA still reflects its origins in a very different time. In 1975, it was assumed that most special education students would be taught in their own separate schools or institutions. Since then, changes in educational approaches and medical advances mean that three of every four students with disabilities are taught in regular public school classrooms. This is beneficial for all students, but it also requires significant additional resources. Many costs are for medical or other related services, as students with severe physical disabilities often require nursing services while they are in school. The funding has not changed to reflect today's reality.
The needs of children with disabilities should never be pitted against the needs of other children. Giving all children the opportunity to excel means precisely that -- no exceptions.
It is time for the federal government to live up to its word.
I. The Problem: The Underfunded Federal Mandate's Burden on School Districts
A. High costs
Educating children with disabilities is essential work. It is also expensive. The average per pupil expenditure for students with disabilities is more than twice the expenditure for all students, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
The national median expenditure for all students is $6,439 per pupil. The 40 percent share the federal government pledged to fund amounts to $2,576 per special education student. This would make an enormous difference to school districts, which currently spend an average of $13,973 for each student with disabilities.
However, because the federal government only provides $996 per special education student (and because state governments rarely provide sufficient funding either), school districts are frequently forced either to increase taxes or to cut other programs. This is a massive burden that can prevent school administrators and school boards from modernizing dilapidated schools and antiquated classrooms, reducing class sizes, raising salaries to attract and retain quality teachers, and making other improvements necessary to ensure opportunity for all children.
B. Inadequate funding undermines the purpose of IDEA
The shortfall of federal funding often prevents schools from providing the full spectrum of critical special education services mandated under IDEA. Its impact is to undermine the intent of Congress by denying students with disabilities their right to the same quality of education provided to all other students.
C. Inadequate funding pits special education against regular education
IDEA's underfunded mandate has meant that special education accounted for 20 percent of school district budgets in 1996, up from 3 percent prior to the enactment of the Education for All Handicapped Act. As this figure has increased, the percentage of funds invested in regular education has decreased. In fact, approximately 40 percent of all new funds provided to schools since 1967 have gone to serve the 11 percent of students who have disabilities.1
In response, school districts have had to either increase tax revenues or cut critical services to meet their IDEA mandate. When the former approach is not politically possible, special education and regular education are effectively forced to compete for a pot of funds that is too small to meet both needs effectively. This type of "competition" is most assuredly not beneficial. Indeed, it is destructive. The needs of students with and without disabilities must both be met.
D. Inadequate funding also disables education "reform"
Improving student performance, especially in schools serving lower-income populations, usually requires substantial additional resources. Yet investing in urgently needed reforms often must take a back seat to providing mandatory IDEA services. Full funding of IDEA would put both essential objectives in the driver's seat. Thus, it is indispensable to improving the performance of all students.
II. The Solution: Fulfilling the Promise of Full Funding
A. Making the needed investment -- and making it automatic
IDEA'S federal funding in fiscal year 2000 was $4.99 billion. The 106th Congress approved a $1.35 billion increase in IDEA appropriations for fiscal year 2001, bringing the total federal contribution to $6.34 billion.
This represents a major improvement. Yet it is still a fraction of what is needed.
To meet the needs of the nearly 6.4 million children with some form of disability in the public schools by fulfilling its promise to pay 40 percent of APPE for each special education student, the federal government must invest $17.5 billion in IDEA this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That is an increase of just over $11 billion from current levels. Full funding of IDEA would rise to $22.1 billion by fiscal year 2006 under CBO's projections, largely because of increases in the student population.
Taking into account the current economic climate and the budgetary impact, the National Education Association (NEA) strongly recommends that the 107th Congress' fiscal year 2002 appropriations start the process of "ramping up" to full funding of IDEA within five years. Adding $3.15 billion in IDEA appropriations each year for the next five years would put the federal government on target for full funding by fiscal year 2006.
Once reached, full funding should be made automatic. It is the fulfillment of a commitment and should not be subject to the unpredictability of the annual appropriations process.
Meeting its pledge and living up to the terms of its partnership with the states is not only the federal government's solemn obligation. It is also fiscally responsible. The appropriation of $3.15 billion, to be added annually over five years to meet the federal responsibility for students with disabilities, would:
Give state and local officials more authority to implement local priorities;
Move America closer to the goal of ensuring that every child has an equal opportunity to excel; and
Account for just 0.16 percent of the Congressional Budget Office's
projected
non-Social Security surplus over the next 10 years.
There are no more excuses for IDEA's broken promise.
B. Maintenance of effort
Full federal funding of IDEA must enhance schools' existing efforts to ensure high levels of achievement for all students, rather than resulting in a shift from one area to another. Federal law now requires states to abide by "maintenance of effort" standards, but the same standard does not apply to the federal government's own efforts.
The 107th Congress and the Bush Administration should adopt the same principle of fairness and commitment to improving opportunities for all students by ensuring that additional IDEA funding comes from the budget surplus or from other programs -- but not from education.
Moreover, current law states that when federal IDEA appropriations exceed $4.1 billion, as they do today, school districts may use up to 20 percent of the new excess funds for local general education purposes. However, the wording of the law is sufficiently vague that many educators are concerned the money could be spent on non-education functions. Congress should ensure that all new IDEA funds reaching the school districts be earmarked solely for education-related activities.
C. Other needed provisions that will increase the benefits to students
Legislation to provide full funding for IDEA should be structured to provide
incentives
for school districts to improve the achievement of students with
disabilities. These efforts include:
Class size reductions. Smaller class size has been proven to make a positive difference in the achievement of students without disabilities. Therefore, it stands to reason that smaller classes would matter even more to students facing greater barriers to learning. While special education classes usually are smaller than those in which other students are taught, pupils with disabilities would benefit from further reductions.
Enhanced training. Teaching children with disabilities presents extraordinary challenges and places an even greater premium on professional development. The most beneficial forms of training include pre-service, in-the-classroom, mentoring and assistance from others. Appropriate professional development should be provided not only for special education teachers but for all teachers, considering that three of every four students with disabilities learn in regular classrooms. Full IDEA funding should be used in part to ensure the level and type of training all teachers of children with disabilities most need.
Collaborative approaches to placement decisions involving parents and teachers. The decision about whether a child should be placed in special education is obviously of enormous consequence, with lifetime implications. In addition, it is often fraught with controversy and sometimes subject to litigation. It is essential that every school district ensure that parents or guardians, teachers and service providers are directly involved in all of these decisions from the beginning to make sure they are taking the right course of action for every child.
Steps to ensure accurate assignment to special education. Safeguards must be built in to ensure that every child who truly belongs in special education is there and every child who does not belong is not erroneously assigned.
Increased funding for IDEA preschool grants. Children with disabilities have an even greater need than their peers for developmental education opportunities before they enter kindergarten. With full funding of IDEA, an appropriate portion of the additional resources should be allocated for all-important early childhood education.
The National Education Association urges the White House to propose, Congress to pass and the President to sign legislation ramping up to automatic full funding of IDEA within five years. It should include an ironclad maintenance of effort statute and incentives for schools to use the new funds for class size reductions, training, parent/teacher collaboration in placement decisions, accurate assignment, and preschool programs for young children with disabilities. These steps will restore a true federal/state partnership for the education of children with disabilities and make sure that no child with disabilities is left behind.
III. SUMMARY OF NEA'S SPECIAL EDUCATION RECOMMENDATIONSThe Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) is a landmark law in advancing the cause of equal opportunity in education. But it has been undermined by the federal government's broken promise. Rather than providing 40 percent of the average per pupil expenditure for each student with disabilities, the cornerstone of IDEA's federal/state/local partnership, the federal government has never appropriated more than 15 percent. This imposes extraordinary burdens on school districts and harms the education of children with and without disabilities.
The National Education Association recommends that the 107th Congress enact and President Bush sign legislation that would:
End this underfunded federal mandate by appropriating an additional $3.15 billion each year over the next five years for IDEA, reaching full funding by fiscal year 2006 and making full funding automatic in all subsequent years;
Ensure full maintenance of effort so the additional funds enhance learning; and
Maximize the benefits to students by encouraging states and school districts to use the additional funds for class size reductions, enhanced professional development, parent and teacher involvement in placement decisions, accurate assignment and preschool for children with disabilities.
Copyright © February 2001 by the National Education
Association
All Rights Reserved
1 Richard Rothstein, "Where's the Money Going? Changes in the Level and Composition of Education Spending, 1991-96," Economic Policy Institute, 1997.