Van Hollen Introduces Bill to "Keep Our Promise" to American Schoolchildren
Van Hollen Introduces Bill to "Keep Our Promise" to American Schoolchildren
"Keep Our PACT" Act would fully fund No Child Left Behind, Special Education
Washington, D.C. - United States Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) today introduced the "Keep Our Promise to America's Children and Teachers (PACT)" Act, which would provide full funding for No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) programs and special education programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) on a mandatory basis.
President Bush signed the bipartisan No Child Left Behind law in January of 2002 - legislation that mandated new testing of schoolchildren, required schools to meet standards in a short time frame and increased funding to achieve those goals. While the testing is being implemented, the fiscal year 2005 Omnibus Appropriations bill funded No Child Left Behind at $24.5 billion - $9.8 billion below its authorized level and $27 billion less cumulatively than the bipartisan agreement reached four years ago. As a result, over 2.4 million students are currently not getting the extra Title I help they were promised under NCLB.
Furthermore, the recently enacted Omnibus Bill continued underfunding IDEA at $10.7 billion - less than half the 40% average per pupil expenditure the federal government originally promised the states thirty years ago. An estimated 6.7 million students with disabilities are currently being shortchanged as a result of this abdication.
In 1975, when Congress first passed the legislation that would later become the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), it called for the federal government to pay for 40% of special education costs. Despite recent increases in special education funding, the federal government now funds less than 19% of cost.
"It's time to keep our promises to the children of America," said Van Hollen. "Over the years, there's been lots of talk about giving schoolchildren the resources they need to succeed; now it is time for reality to match the rhetoric. We need to send a message right now to our children and future generations that we will give them our full support."
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/md08_vanhollen/keepourpromisesrelease.html