Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 

At issue: The need for increased federal funding for special education services, mandated by IDEA, which at a minimum covers growth and cost-of-living and eventually makes good on a longstanding congressional promise that the federal government will pay 40 percent of the costs of educating students with special needs. In 2004, California school districts spent about $1.6 billion a year out of their regular budgets to augment inadequate funds for special education programs. California public schools serve about 700,000 students with learning disabilities and severe physical, emotional needs. The number of children with autism in California public schools is growing at an alarming rate, quadrupling between 1995 and 2003 to reach a total 21,666 students. Researchers are scrambling to find effective strategies for helping these students and possible causes for the skyrocketing numbers of children who are afflicted with this devastating condition.

CSBA’s position:

• The federal government needs to step up its commitment to special education students and pay its share of the costs of expensive mandates.

What California needs:

• More federal funds to address the specific and increasingly expensive challenges faced by the growing number of students with autism who are served by public schools.

Related link:

• Read more about the issue