Lynn C. Woolsey: “I was pleased to join my Subcommittee Chairman, Mr. Castle, and many other Republicans and Democrats, in introducing…”

“I was pleased to join my Subcommittee Chairman, Mr. Castle, and many other Republicans and Democrats, in introducing this resolution to commemorate the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. In 1975, when what we now call IDEA was passed as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, educating children with disabilities was an afterthought at best. IDEA marked a critical turning point in the lives of people with disabilities, by ensuring that all children, regardless of their disability, have available to them a free appropriate public education. IDEA currently serves 269,000 infants and toddlers, 679,000 preschoolers, and 6,000,000 children aged 6 to 21. It has assisted in a dramatic reduction in the number of children with developmental disabilities who must live in State institutions away from their families. Under IDEA, the number of students with disabilities who graduate from high school has grown significantly, and the number of students with disabilities who enroll in college has more than tripled. Unfortunately, as this resolution recognizes, the Federal Government has not met even half of its commitment to fund IDEA at 40 percent of the average per pupil expenditure. Today, 30 years later, we provide States and school districts with only 18.6 percent of that amount.…”