[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 30, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5531-S5532]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           IDEA FULL FUNDING

  Mr. ROBERTS. Mr. President, today I am proud to cosponsor the Hagel

[[Page S5532]]

IDEA bill, S. 939, which will finally make Congress pay its promised 
share of special education funding. I have long been a supporter of 
fully funding IDEA and I am pleased today to support this important 
piece of legislation.
  Nearly 30 years ago, Congress made a promise to our schools to share 
the cost of special education. The promise was simple--the Federal 
Government pays 40 percent of the excess cost of educating a special 
needs child. Sadly, we have yet to fulfill that promise and I believe 
it is well beyond time that Congress relieves our State and local 
governments of the financial burden they have been forced to shoulder. 
This bill will fully fund IDEA in 8 years by increasing funding by $2 
billion annually for 7 years and $1.8 billion in 2011. This funding 
will have a tremendous impact in my home State of Kansas. The Kansas 
Department of Education estimates that this legislation will provide 
the State an increase of $19 million in overall funding for IDEA each 
year. Kansas schools may then spend these newly freed-up dollars in 
areas where they need it the most, such as professional development, 
title I programs, or technology.
  In the State of Kansas, special education costs have skyrocketed to 
over $530 million for 2002. Unfortunately, the Federal Government only 
picks up about 16 percent of that figure, leaving 84 percent of the 
funding to State and local governments. In dollar amounts, the State of 
Kansas pays over $251 million in special education costs, while local 
schools must fork out an additional $200 million to cover the costs of 
special education. This is unacceptable. IDEA is the ``granddaddy'' of 
all unfunded mandates and I can assure my colleagues that funding IDEA 
at the promised level of 40 percent would not only relieve schools in 
my home State of Kansas, but would also relieve schools in each and 
every State in our great Nation. I stress to my colleagues that there 
is no better time than now to help our local schools by fully funding 
IDEA.
  I would like to share with my colleagues the current budget situation 
in Kansas. Like many other States, Kansas is facing ominous cuts in the 
State budget, and schools across the State are worried about shortfalls 
in their own budgets. Rural schools all over Kansas are considering 
consolidation to alleviate budget woes. Schools in western Kansas are 
cutting the school week to 4 days in order to save money. Schools in 
eastern Kansas are cutting academic programs in order to cut costs. If 
Congress would pay its promised share of special education funding, 
then our schools would be able to use those freed-up dollars for other 
educational needs. We are talking about real dollars for real people. 
Fully funding IDEA is not just something that Congress should do, it is 
something we promised to do.
  I would like to thank my colleagues for the commitment to education 
funding. I do believe that Congress is on the right path to fully 
funding IDEA, and I am pleased that education funding has been a top 
priority over the last few years. Since 2000, Federal special education 
funding has increased by approximately 58 percent and title I funding 
has increased by nearly 45 percent.
  I am proud of this support for education funding, and I urge my 
colleagues to continue on the course to fully funding IDEA. It is our 
duty to once and for all meet the promise we made nearly 30 years ago.

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