A resolution (H. Con. Res. 135) recognizing the 25th anniversary of a law designed to provide education for students with disabilities was approved, 259-2, by the House on September 25. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (P.L. 94-142), approved by Congress in 1975, mandates that states provide education for disabled students.
Although the federal government is supposed to provide 40 percent of IDEA funding, the federal contribution has not exceeded 12.6 percent in any year since the IDEA’s approval. The House has approved a bill (H.R. 4055) that would authorize the full federal share for IDEA programs, starting with $7 billion in FY2001. A companion measure (S. 2341) has been approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (see The Source, 9/22/00, p. 2).
