Historically, special education has been one of the most burdensome costs for school districts. Although the federal government has committed to contributing 40% of the average per pupil expenditure for each special education student, Ā Congress has never come close to making that promise a reality. In fact, federal support for funding IDEA has been consistently in the neighborhood of only 15%, thus leaving states and LEAs to make up the difference.
PAPSA is urging all of its members to call on Congress to fulfill its promise to fully fund IDEA. H.R.1878, the IDEA Full Funding Act, is a bipartisan proposal introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would require regular increases in special education funding to get IDEA funding to its original promise of 40% by 2028. To date, nine members of the Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation have already signed on as co-sponsors of the legislation. They are:Ā Ā Rep. Brian K. Fitzpatrick (original co-sponsor); Rep. Glenn Thompson (original co-sponsor); Rep. Brendan F. Boyle (original co-sponsor); Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon; Rep. Chrissy Houlahan; Rep. Madeleine Dean; Rep. Susan Wild; Rep. Conor Lamb; and Rep. Matt Cartwright.
Many thanks to PSBA for information contained in this article.