IDEA Full Funding Coalition Holds Briefing, Features CEC Member
On Monday, the IDEA Full Funding Coalition, of which CEC is a co-chair along with AASA the School Superintendents Association, and the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD), hosted a virtual briefing to discuss funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants to states program.
Panel members, including CEC’s Senior Policy and Advocacy Advisor Kuna Tavalin and past president Dr. Danielle Kovach discussed the need for Congress to fulfill its promise to fund forty percent of the estimated excess cost to educate children with disabilities, a figure known as “full funding.”
Currently, Congress only funds an estimated 10 percent of excess costs. Dr. Kovach discussed the importance of special education from her perspective as a special educator, and discussed both the challenges and successes of the students in her classroom. Additional panelists spoke from the perspectives of administrators and researchers.
Brian Arata, Legislative Director for Congressman Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, a leader of the IDEA Full Funding Act, discussed the importance of enacting that bill, which would create a 10-year glidepath to get IDEA fully funded. NCLD CEO Jacqueline Rodriguez moderated the discussion.