State Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Antelope Valley, introduced a Senate Joint Resolution calling on Congress to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA.
The IDEA Act set a minimum 40 percent of federal fund-matching for the average money spent per-pupil in public elementary schools and secondary schools to pay for services used by children with disabilities, according to a news release from the office of Wilk.
“March is Disability Awareness Month. What a perfect time to remind Congress of its promise to children with disabilities,” said Wilk. “This resolution urges the federal government to provide what was promised; essential funding. Generations of children have gone without while the federal government looks the other way. It is time for the feds to provide what was promised.”
“(Between 2015-16), the federal government provided California a little over a billion dollars for special education costs that represented a little less than 10 percent of total special education expenditures in the state, so roughly speaking we would be talking about an increase along the lines of three to four billion dollars in federal special education aid in order to get up to the 40 percent,” according to Legislative Analyst’s Office.
“The IDEA Act was a promise, not a suggestion. I hope that this resolution will send a message to our federal counterparts that California and its children with disabilities rely on their help to fund educational opportunities,” concluded Wilk. “California’s message is clear today, if the federal government continues to break its promises it will continue to have real, harmful impacts on the lives of many of our children.”
The above information was obtained by The Signal via a news release from the office of State Senator Scott Wilk.Â
