Erik Paulsen: “we need a stimulus bill that will put people back to work and create jobs. We don't need a big government spending bill…”

“we need a stimulus bill that will put people back to work and create jobs. We don't need a big government spending bill that has become a grab bag of special interest spending. I have several concerns about the bill, but I would like to speak today about a specific issue involving special education funding. Like most of my colleagues I'm sure, I hear all the time from educators--teachers, parents, superintendents--about special education funding. When the federal government enacted the special ed mandate back in 1974, it promised to provide 40 percent of the funds. But it has only provided about 17 percent annually, which means local school districts have to make up this shortfall. This is patently unfair to our local school districts. But now this bill contains a particularly troubling provision that would further exacerbate the problem. The stimulus bill contains restrictions on special education funding that would not provide the needed relief to local schools because it would only allow them to use the funds for specified programs and services--not give local school districts the flexibility they need to make up for the current shortfall in funding. Even worse, the ``maintenance of effort'' provision in the stimulus would force states and local schools to sustain spending in these tight budget times or lose their federal funding. And the conference report extends this mandate from two years to three years--through 2011.”