On April 10, the House Education and the Workforce Committee approved, 29-19, legislation (H.R. 1350) that would reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a measure that guarantees disabled students free public education in the “least restrictive environment.” On April 2, the Education Reform Subcommittee approved the measure by voice vote (see The Source, 4/4/03).
Early in the full committee debate, Chair John Boehner (R-OH) warned the Committee that any bill guaranteeing mandatory funding would never make it to the House floor. “That is not a threat, it’s a fact,” said Rep. Boehner.
The committee rejected, 22-26, an amendment by Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) that would have switched federal aid from the discretionary budget to the mandatory budget, and made Congress guarantee it would contribute 40 percent of the funds needed for special education programs within six years. The federal contribution stands now at 18 percent ($8.9 billion), which means states and school districts have to come up with the difference; full funding would require federal funding for 40 percent of the costs of the program.
The committee approved an amendment by Rep. John Porter (R-NV) that would authorize an increase of $2.2 billion in IDEA spending in FY2004 and another $2.5 billion increase in FY2005 21 and 25 percent of the total cost of special education programs.
“Since 1995, Congress has nearly tripled federal spending for special education. This is a significant achievement, yet we continue to build on this impressive record,” said Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE), who authored the legislation. “The legislation forwarded today will ensure than children with special needs are getting the education results that they need and that they deserve.”
Committee Ranking Member George Miller (D-CA) took issue with the committee’s refusal to support full funding. “Almost every member of the House is on record in support of full funding either as a cosponsor of a bill, as a ‘yea’ vote on non-binding resolutions, or as a speaker on special orders, and on all of the other vehicles members of this body can use to give their impression of their support for one issue or another,” said Rep. Miller. “But now the moment of truth has arrived. Suddenly the past supporters of full funding, under pressure from their leadership, are running for cover.”
