"This injection of funding for special education will bring much-needed relief to Maine schools that are struggling to meet special education costs. Congress has ordered schools to meet special education requirements dictated by law, but we have not given them the tools to do so, leaving them with an unfunded mandate and an unfair burden," said Senator Collins. "As a result of our amendment, IDEA will see one of the largest increases in funding for any education program this year. It is the right step toward finally meeting our obligation to fully fund special education for our children."
Senator Collins is also an original sponsor of a bill that would fully fund IDEA in eight years, which will be offered as an amendment to the IDEA reauthorization bill that is expected to reach the Senate floor later this year.
IDEA guarantees a free and appropriate public education to students with special needs. When Congress passed IDEA in 1975, it pledged to provide states and local school districts with 40% of the funding needed to support this mandate. However, despite large increases in funding over the last seven years - from $3.1 billion in 1997 to $8.9 billion in 2003 - federal funds for IDEA have not exceeded 18%. This leaves state governments and local school districts to pick up the tab for this federally mandated program, taking away funds for other local education needs.