Fully Fund the Idea

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or what we call IDEA, is a landmark civil rights law in our country, offering a promise of equal education for all of our students living with disabilities.

We continue as a country to fall short on this promise, a 50-year-old law that is now chronically underfunded. Teachers and parents in my district repeatedly tell me how we are not doing enough to meet the demands and requirements for IDEA.

The Federal Government promised to cover 40 percent of the extra costs of special education with the passage of IDEA in 1975. That pledge has never been met. Federal funding covers just under 15 percent, creating a shortfall of billions for many of our districts across the country.

My colleagues have been introducing a bill over and over again for almost 25 years to get it fully funded, and we haven't seen it yet.

We must follow on the promise of IDEA. That is why I cosponsored the IDEA Full Funding Act.

The problems today are real for our children. When we fail to fully fund these services, school districts are stuck and end up providing less than the law requires, cuts are made, and children are turned away.

Mr. Speaker, let's fund the IDEA.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source