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In the coming weeks, the House and Senate will vote on the budget for the federal government for 2007. If Congress follows President Bush's budget on funding for the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) the federal share of special education funding would decline substantially and reverse progress made over the last 5 years.
Thanks to the coalition efforts of education-related organizations convened by ASHA in 1999, the federal share of special education funding has increased from 11% to almost 19%, or over $6 billion, in 2005. If Congress follows the President's budget as blue print, the federal share of IDEA funding will decline to just 17% for fiscal year 2007.
IDEA Part B funds special education and related services, which include services provided by school-based speech language pathologists (SLPs) and audiologists, to children with disabilities. In the President's fiscal year 2007 budget, there is a nominal increase of $100 million over the fiscal year 2006 appropriated funding level. However, in order for the same level of services to be provided in 2007, the funding for IDEA Part B must increase by at least $600 million (17.8% APPE). Over $1.9 billion would be needed to get the federal share up to just 20%.
Roughly 25 percent of all federal IDEA funds go to the provision of related services. Therefore, for every new federal dollar spent on IDEA, 25 cents goes to the provision of related services. School-based SLPs are the largest group of professionals providing related services conservatively serving 30-50% of students identified with disabilities. For example, the President's 2007 proposed budget for IDEA would provide $25 million more for related services to students with disabilities. However, due to population growth and inflation that $25 million does nothing to maintain the quality or quantity of services provided, let alone, expand services to students with disabilities.
Although IDEA authorizes the federal government to pay 40 percent of the cost of services for educating children with disabilities, school districts have waited for over 30 years for this promise to be fulfilled. The reauthorized IDEA 2004 law (P.L. 108-446) also contained specific funding levels so that the federal share of special education funding would grow from 18% in 2004 to 40% by 2011. But far from the 40 percent authorized amount, Congress appropriates less than half that amount. Unfortunately, the federal share appears to be headed downward for years to come, unless ASHA members and like-minded organizations can again become a counter force to those who would cut IDEA funding.
ASHA's Capitol Hill staff has reconvened the IDEA Funding Coalition which comprised of a dozen organizations representing school boards, administrators, principals, teachers, related services professionals, special educators and parents. The objective of the coalition is to promote the mandatory funding of IDEA in response to the recent backsliding of congressional appropriations.
ASHA members have a role to play in this debate and can quickly send (in less than 5 minutes) their federal legislators letters, e-mails, or faxes to promote IDEA funding by going to ASHA's Take Action Web site. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your federal lawmaker's Capitol Hill offices to urge their support of S. 2185 or H.R. 3145 that would make full funding of IDEA mandatory. For more information, please contact Neil Snyder, ASHA's Director of Federal Advocacy, via e-mail at nsnyder@asha.org.
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