yon I [| Vid d padi ads dd \boobbdbaddbaoaabbdadani News Special Education: An Underfunded Success (NAPSA)—Here’s good news, for a change, about education in America. Since its inception in 1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has given millions of children with disabilities access to education and the opportunity to achieve their potential. In the past 10 years, the number of students with disabilities who graduate from high school has increased more than 30 percent while the number of students with special needs going into postsecondary education has doubled. More than half the students with disabilities who enroll in postsecondary education stay with it, according to a 1994 analysis by the U.S. Department of Education. Students with disabilities who have a bachelor’s degree are doing almost as well in the job market as those whoare not disabled, 67 percent to 73 percent, respectively. Special education has achieved these gains despite chronic underfunding and the resulting lack of resources and qualified teachers. When the IDEA was passed, Congress authorized the federal government to pay 40 percent of each state’s “excess costs” of educating children with disabilities. To date, however, the highest federal contribution to state and local special education programs has been only 17 percent. Full funding for IDEAis essential, says the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). “Congress’s breach of promise hurts our nation’s most vulnerable children,” says Deb Ziegler, CEC’s executive director of public policy. IDEA Funding For FY 2002 $17,800,000,000 $8,600,000,000 Funds Approved for FY 2002 Funds Promised for FY 2002 @ FULL FUNDING for special education by the federal govern- ment is needed to help ease the strains of communities now forced to pay a higher proportion of special education costs. “Many children with disabilities do not have the materials and resources they need to reach their full potential.” In addition, communities and states have been forced to pay a higher proportion of special education costs. This has resulted in budget strains in states and districts and, in somecases, pitted the parents of students in general education against those of children with disabilities. Congress should enact legislation that guarantees the federal governmentwill pay 40 percent of special education costs within six years and make IDEA funding mandatory. With full funding, children with disabilities will have an even better chance to achieve the success they deserve. For more information, visit www.cec.sped.org.
