Rashida Tlaib: “The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, is often hailed as landmark civil rights law or the most…”

“The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, is often hailed as landmark civil rights law or the most important civil rights laws in our country offering a promise of equal education for all of our children with disabilities. We continue to fall short though in this promise. The 50-year-old law is underfunded to this day. We passed it in 1975, and we promised to pay 40 percent of the cost of the Federal mandate on our school districts, and we are only reaching about 14 to sometimes 17 percent. We are not doing enough. Paraprofessionals alone in Detroit are working without a contract right now. Our Federal Government needs to cover 40 percent of the extra costs of special education. ____________________”