CEC Leads Meetings on Capitol Hill to Discuss IDEA Funding

As a co-chair of the IDEA Full Funding Coalition, CEC and partner co-chairs, the National Center for Learning Disabilities and AASA, the School Superintendents Association, organized and led nearly a dozen meetings with Republican and Democratic appropriators, the Members of Congress who make decisions about federal funding. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides services and supports to nearly 15 percent of public school students (7.9 million students). When Congress passed the law, they recognized that providing every eligible student with a free and appropriate public education would be expensive, and intended to pick up 40 percent of the excess cost (what is referred to as “full funding”) to ensure states and local school districts did not take on an outsized financial burden. Currently, Congress is only providing 10.7 percent of the excess cost to educate a child with a disability. CEC and coalition members urge appropriators to increase funding for IDEA to get closer to that full funding goal. In addition to meetings on Capitol Hill, a letter from the Coalition was sent to all appropriators.

To view the IDEA Full Funding Coalition letter to Congress, go here.