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November 1, 2002 - Issue 2.44  

INSIDE WASHINGTON

"Keeping our promise on special education,"By Sen. Jim Jeffords, The Hill, 09/04/2002

The year was 1975. There were 92 new members in the House of Representatives, and, in the wake of Watergate, I was one of only 17 Republicans. Having so few party colleagues gave me immediate seniority. I became the ranking Republican on the Select Education Subcommittee, charged with helping to write what would later become the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), also known as special education. Responding to court decisions and litigation in more than half the states, we set out to ensure that children with disabilities received a “free and appropriate education,” as the courts would define it. It was not a matter of if we should do it. It was the only thing to do. It was the right thing to do. It was only a question of how we should do it. We knew it would be costly but, as we wrote the legislation, we agreed that since special education was a federal constitutional guarantee, the federal government had the obligation to pay its fair share. In the end, we agreed that 40 percent of the additional costs of special education would be paid for by the federal government. That was 27 years ago, and we have not even come close to meeting our obligation. In 2002, the federal government is spending $7.4 billion on special education, or just 17 percent of the additional costs to educate children with disabilities. Our states, our towns and our local taxpayers are left to foot the bill for the federal government’s failure to keep its promise.[...]


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