Budget Cuts: Is IDEA in Danger?
"The population of students served under IDEA has grown at nearly twice the rate of the general education population. During the twenty-five year period between 1980 and 2005, the IDEA population increased by 37 percent, while the general education population grew by only 20 percent. Moreover, students served under IDEA today account for about 13 percent of the total education population..." - New America Foundation
"Primarily because of the quickly expanding population of children with disabilities, special education spending has increased at a much faster rate than general elementary and secondary education spending. During the 1999-2000 school year, the United States spent $50 billion on special education "support" services and an additional $27.3 billion on regular education for disabled students ($77.3 billion in total). Special education support costs accounted for 12.4 percent of the $404.4 billion total spending on elementary and secondary education. With regular education expenses included, students with disabilities accounted for 19.1 percent of total national elementary and secondary education spending in 1999-2000, an increase of 13 percent from the 1977-78 school year." - New America Foundation
"In general, state contributions to special education spending have not kept pace with escalating special education expenditures. In 1987, state funding accounted for 56 percent of special education spending and local funding accounted for only 36 percent. In 1999-2000, the average state share of special education spending had dropped to 45 percent, and the average local contribution had risen to 46 percent, based on data from 39 states." - New America Foundation
"Local school districts have had trouble covering such a high percentage of the $50 billion spent on special education services. Heavily impacted districts with a disproportionate number of high-need, high-cost disabled students struggle the most, particularly if the district is small or rural. Of all disabled students, approximately one-half of one percent, or around 330,000 students, require more than $100,000 in special education services per year. Given that federal and state funding formulas do not take the distribution of high-cost disabilities into account, districts with concentrations of these high-need students have much more substantial spending obligations." - New America Foundation
Budget Cuts...How is it Affecting IDEA in Schools?
"In this school year, 2013-14, sequestration cut $2.5 billion from federal education funding. This is five percent of the federal education budget. Here’s a quick rundown of what education programs got cut:
"[This] means that many schools have eliminated resource rooms where children can go to get help in areas such as math, reading, writing and organizational skills. Many schools will have fewer speech, occupational or physical therapists, along with social workers and school psychologists, which means students who previously received speech therapy twice a week might only receive it once week, for example. And in some general education classrooms that had two teachers—one for the whole class and one specifically to support students with special needs—the special education teacher has been eliminated." - National Center for Learning Disabilities
- "US Department of Education–Cut by $2.5 Billion
- "Title I (economically disadvantaged kids)–Cut by $725 Million
- "IDEA Part B Grants to States (special education)–Cut by $579 Million
- "Head Start (early childhood education)–Cut by $398 Million"
"[This] means that many schools have eliminated resource rooms where children can go to get help in areas such as math, reading, writing and organizational skills. Many schools will have fewer speech, occupational or physical therapists, along with social workers and school psychologists, which means students who previously received speech therapy twice a week might only receive it once week, for example. And in some general education classrooms that had two teachers—one for the whole class and one specifically to support students with special needs—the special education teacher has been eliminated." - National Center for Learning Disabilities
"Sequestration has caused cuts to federal education funding for each state in fiscal year 2013. With respect to special education funding, the chart below shows estimated reductions...for the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) Part B Grants, as well as estimated staff losses [for some states]." - National Center for Learning Disabilities
"Sequestration is causing schools across the country to cut staff, professional development and student support. According to a survey of 541 school districts from the Association of School Superintendents Association, districts are responding to sequestration in the following ways:
- National Center for Learning Disabilities
- "59 percent are cutting professional development;
- "53 percent are eliminating staff;
- "48 percent are increasing class size; and
- "46 percent are delaying technology purchases."
- National Center for Learning Disabilities
What's Being Done?
"The 2004 reauthorization of IDEA tried to alleviate the local fiscal strains associated with IDEA by allowing states to reserve 10 percent of their Part B "other state activities" funds (around 1 to 1.05 percent of the total grant) for "risk pools," or pools of funding specifically set aside for the services of high-need children. States can distribute funding from these risk pools to districts with high-cost students. In addition, some states have created their own "extraordinary cost" accounts with state funding to provide additional support to heavily impacted districts, although funding of those accounts is unsteady and often cut or eliminated in the case of a budget shortfall." - New America Foundation
"It doesn’t matter what the feds send down to the locals and the states in federal support, the law requires that states and local school districts identify and serve every student that they deem to be eligible and in need of special education." - Candace Cortiella, director of The Advocacy Institute.
"Federal funding aside, local school systems are obligated by law to provide children with disabilities with a free appropriate education." - National Center of Learning Disabilities
Despite the dangers present, there is hope for the future as IDEA continues to protect the rights of children with disabilities everywhere.