[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 27 (Thursday, February 13, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E264-E265]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         INTRODUCTION OF FULL FUNDING FOR IDEA NOW ACT OF 2003

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                          HON. JOHN B. LARSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 13, 2003

  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a 
bill that will put an end to the embarrassing legacy that the federal 
government has created for itself in failing to fully fund our 
children's education and saddling the states with tens of billions in 
unfunded mandates. I refer of course to the failure of the federal 
government to provide for mandatory full funding for the special 
education program--or IDEA.
  Currently, the federal government does not meet the financial 
obligations for special education it committed to in 1975 when the 
``Education for all Handicapped Children Act'' (renamed Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act in 1990) was first passed by Congress. 
This shortfall places an onerous financial burden on local communities 
who must find alternate resources, such as higher property taxes, to 
fund special education.
  The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a civil 
rights statute that provides funding to states and helps states fulfill 
their constitutional obligation to provide a public education for all 
children with disabilities. IDEA serves more than six and a half 
million children today. Underlying IDEA is the basic principle that 
states and school districts must make available a free and appropriate 
public education (FAPE) to children with disabilities between the ages 
of 3 and 21, and must be educated with children who are not disabled 
``to the maximum extent appropriate.''
  Since 1975, Congress has authorized a federal commitment to special 
education funding at a level of 40 percent of the average per pupil 
expenditure (APPE) on special education services. However, Congress has 
only appropriated funds to meet between 5 and 16 percent of the APPE, 
with FY2002 appropriations setting a record at 16.5 percent, or about 
$7.5 billion. But that is still only little more than a third of the so 
far embarrassingly unfulfilled, Federal commitment to our children. 
This has resulted in great burdens being placed on our school 
districts. For example, in the 2001-02 school year, the last completed 
school year, the town of Berlin, Connecticut spent $4,721,372 on 
special education, with all but $361,543 locally funded. This is 
outrageously short of the oft-stated goal of 40 percent federal 
financing. One can only begin to imagine the burden IDEA requirements, 
in the absence of federal funding, impose on our local school 
districts. We are literally forcing our schools to rob from Peter's 
education to pay for Paul's when we should fully fund both.
  And now with passage of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for Fiscal 
Year 2003, funding will go up about $1.4 billion. There will be a

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lot of congratulatory backslapping because of this great increase. And 
it truly is a commendable step for Congress, but sadly one which 
fulfills less than half of the promise. Even with this increase, the 
federal share rises to only 18.2 percent of the 40 percent. I am sure 
the people of Berlin will appreciate the few thousand extra dollars 
they will get as a result of this increase. But the reality is that 
they need is the hundreds of thousands of extra dollars that is owed to 
them.
  As a former teacher, member of a school board, State Senator, and now 
Congressman, I have constantly heard a clear message from local 
educators and administrators that more resources must be committed to 
provide fair and adequate educational opportunities to children with 
special needs, and that the federal government must meet its commitment 
under IDEA. In the past, ``fully funding'' IDEA has generally been a 
theme for a handful of others who purport to fully fund IDEA but would 
take ten long years to do so. My bill recognizes that 25 years is 
enough to wait and mandates this federal funding now.
  Let us be clear, this is a constitutional right. Local school 
districts do not have the discretion to not fulfill their obligations 
to children with special needs. Where does the approximately $10 
billion in unfulfilled Federal pledges to the States come from? It has 
to be made up somewhere and will most likely come from other important, 
but not constitutionally mandated, priorities. This is the real cost of 
our inaction. It is either a tradeoff in spending or a property tax 
increase. Ultimately, the Federal Government must choose: either to 
support it's commitments or stop making them. We cannot afford to 
continue down this path of broken promises any longer. It does not have 
to be this way, of course. And I believe our local educational 
districts, the states and the American people deserve better from us.

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