What's New
Below is a summary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) final bill. Thanks to everyone who made calls to their Senators and Congresspeople to protect the rights of children with disabilities. If you did make calls, you may wish to follow-up with thank you notes to show your appreciation.
We’d like to thank Jessica Butler from COPAA (Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates) and Susan Henderson at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) for their updates on the ARRA that we have adapted for the summary below.
General Summary
Overall, the bill will provide a $12.2 billion increase for IDEA. This includes $11.2 billion for IDEA Part B, $400 million for IDEA preschool funding, and $500 million for Part C. This is in addition to the regular Part B and Part C allocations. This additional funding brings the federal share of special education funding to the highest level ever.
IDEA has been under-funded for many years, reducing the ability of states and districts to meet the needs of students with disabilities. During this recession, children with disabilities and their families are particularly vulnerable. Even before the recession, approximately 2/3 of children with disabilities lived in families that earned under $50,000 a year. Now many families are facing increased financial stress brought on my job loss, reduced hours, and cuts in retirement funds.
Congress recognized the needs of families of children with disabilities by providing additional IDEA funding and making sure that the funds directly benefit children. This funding includes providing appropriate special education and related services, equipment, assistive technology, training for teachers, access to nurses, etc.
Supplant/Supplement Issue
The Senate Stimulus bill would have allowed SEAs/LEAs to use all IDEA funds to supplant state and local special education funds. This would allow states and school districts to cut overall special education spending. Instead of an increase in special education funding, there would be a decrease in funding.
This provision applied to Part B and C funds, not just the additional stimulus funds. If this had passed, it would have changed a provision that has been a fundamental part of the IDEA since 1975. This would mean that school districts could use their entire Part B and C allocations (regular allocations plus stimulus money) to reduce the funds they have to spend on special education. This would mean real cuts, in the sense that districts could divert not only their stimulus funds, but could cut more funds because of the Part B and C funds they would be receiving through the regular process.
Thankfully, this provision was eliminated from the final bill. A special thanks goes to Congressman Miller, Congressman Obey, Senator Kennedy, and Senator Harkin (as well as their staffs) for helping ensure the supplant provision was removed. Thanks also to all the disability groups and individual parents and others who called and wrote letters in response to the language in the Senate version of the bill.
Two Sources of Funding and Maintenance of Effort
School districts will get 2 different kinds of money through the stimulus bill: additional IDEA funds for 2009-2010 and stabilization funds.
Stabilization funds can be used for a wide range of purposes, including special education and school modernization (such as making schools ADA-compliant). There is limited waiver authority of the Secretary of Education to count the stabilization funds as non-federal funds when calculating maintenance of effort. If a school district spends its stabilization funds on special education, the Secretary of Education can give a waiver so the district can count those stabilization funds as though the funds were the district's money. The district may cut its contribution to special education by a similar amount.
This waiver authority only applies to stabilization funds and requires approval by the Secretary of Education. The waiver does not apply to the Part B or Part C funding the school district receives every year, or to the additional IDEA funds in the stimulus bill.
This is a significant improvement over the language in the Senate bill. The Senate bill would have allowed waivers for all IDEA funding and allowed greater cuts in school district and state spending for special education.
IDEA Funds
There may be an impact on maintenance of effort requirements under IDEA. The stimulus bill includes $11.3 million in Part B funds for FY 2009 and 2010. These funds could be awarded as lump sums to the states, which will allocate the funds to school districts. According to IDEA, if a school district's allocation of Part B funds is greater than the past fiscal year, the district may reduce its spending by 50 percent of the increase. The additional IDEA funds in the Stimulus Bill may be affected by this provision.
Reporting and Compliance
The final bill also includes language regarding reporting requirements, including how the state stabilization funds were used, the state's progress in hiring highly-qualified teachers, and its progress in developing valid and reliable assessments for limited English proficient students and children with disabilities.
We will send more information when we have it regarding how you can be involved to ensure accountability on the spending of these additional funds to be sure they are used to provide needed services for children.
Read the ARRA Bill:
House Appropriations Committee website: http://appropriations.house.gov/The provisions relating to special education, IDEA, and the Stabilization fund are in the Document marked Bill Text, Division A: http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/Recovery_Bill_Div_A.pdf
White House Disability Policy Advisor
On February 12, Kareem Dale was named as Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy. Dale is from Chicago and served as the National Disability Director during President Obama’s campaign. Read more at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Vice-President-Joe-Biden-Announces-Kareem-Dale-As-Special-Assistant-to-the-President-for-Disability-Policy/
Feel free to contact Donna Fluke at 410-695-1910 or dkfluke@verizon.net.
Paid for with private funds.
