Bill Barrett: “Mr. Speaker, ask any school official to identify the one program in their school in which costs have increased…”

“Mr. Speaker, ask any school official to identify the one program in their school in which costs have increased dramatically and that person will probably identify the special education program. Ask any parents of a disabled child the greatest source of their frustrations in the school system and they will probably point to the school's special education program. This bill presents schools and parents with needed changes to Federal mandates that have gone underfunded. The bill would reduce paperwork and process costs without jeopardizing the educational services needed by our disabled children. It gives parents and schools the opportunity to seek mediation of their disputes before heading to costly court action. But one particular provision will take an unprecedented step in Federal education law, by allowing local schools to actually cut back on their special education spending, once Federal appropriations reach $4.1 billion, which is $1 billion more than the current appropriations. I think it is proper to allow schools to relieve themselves somewhat from the burden of shouldering the cost of an underfunded Federal mandate.”