Paul Ryan: “Mr. Chairman, in short, my amendment that I bring forward is an amendment to make special education a priority by…”

“Mr. Chairman, in short, my amendment that I bring forward is an amendment to make special education a priority by increasing the funding for IDEA by $300 million and by reducing the 21st Century Learning Centers by the same amount, an appropriation which is $600 million at this time. My reason for offering this amendment really comes down to the promise made to special education students and their parents and teachers by the Federal government. When Congress passed the IDEA law in 1975, we did so with the stipulation that the Federal government would fund 40 percent of special education and the State governments would fund 60 percent of special education. Sadly, that is not the case today. This new law from 1975 on amounts to an unfunded mandate being placed upon our local school districts. It is a law where every single dollar in local school districts being chased to fund this unfunded mandate comes at the expense of every other local resource decision allocation made in our local school districts. This funding formula right now stands at 12.6 percent, meaning the Federal government is funding 12.6 percent of IDEA, where it promised in 1975 to fund 40 percent. It is a huge funding shortfall, which is a large unfunded mandate being placed on our local schools.”