PRINTER'S NO. 2173
No. 212 Session of 2000
INTRODUCED BY RHOADES, TOMLINSON, JUBELIRER, PICCOLA, EARLL,
CONTI, MURPHY, MOWERY, SCHWARTZ, KUKOVICH, LAVALLE, LOEPER,
BRIGHTBILL, TILGHMAN, WENGER, ROBBINS, SALVATORE, MADIGAN,
KITCHEN, WHITE, COSTA, GERLACH, HELFRICK, TARTAGLIONE, DENT,
GREENLEAF, HOLL, BOSCOLA, STOUT, WAGNER, WOZNIAK, ARMSTRONG,
BELL, CORMAN, PUNT, WAUGH, O'PAKE, MELLOW, THOMPSON, HART AND
LEMMOND, OCTOBER 2, 2000
REFERRED TO INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, OCTOBER 2, 2000
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
1 Urging the President and Congress to increase funding for
2 special education programs provided by the states to the
3 level authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities
4 Education Act.
5 WHEREAS, In the interest of ensuring that children with
6 disabilities in the United States receive a free appropriate
7 public education, the Individuals with Disabilities Education
8 Act (Public Law 91-230, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et. seq.) encroached
9 upon the states' traditional domain over education and
10 established certain mandates that all state and local
11 governments must observe in the education of children with
12 special needs; and
13 WHEREAS, In recognition of the high cost of these Federal
14 mandates, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act allows
15 the Congress to provide each state with a maximum Federal grant
16 equal to the number of children with disabilities in the state
1 multiplied by 40% of the average per pupil expenditure for all
2 special education students in the United States; and
3 WHEREAS, Although the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has
4 endeavored to serve its students with special needs by
5 implementing the costly mandates imposed by the Individuals with
6 Disabilities Education Act, the Federal Government has not
7 provided sufficient funding to pay for these mandates; and
8 WHEREAS, The Federal funding the Commonwealth receives for
9 each student with special needs is only the equivalent of 12% of
10 the national average per pupil expenditure; and
11 WHEREAS, By this measure, the Federal Government contributes
12 only 19% of the total cost of special education in this
13 Commonwealth even though the Commonwealth and its school
14 districts must comply with 100% of the costly mandates imposed
15 by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; and
16 WHEREAS, These costs have been increasing rapidly in recent
17 years; and
18 WHEREAS, In this Commonwealth, even though the population of
19 students with special needs has increased by less than 1% since
20 1995, the number of special education instructors has increased
21 by 14% to 14,547; and
22 WHEREAS, In the same period, the Commonwealth's
23 appropriations for special education have increased by 25% in
24 order to keep pace; and
25 WHEREAS, If the Federal Government would provide the level of
26 funding that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
27 allows, the Commonwealth would have sufficient resources to meet
28 these growing needs, because it would receive $605,000,000 in
29 fiscal year 2001-2002, an increase of $421,544,956, or 229.78%,
30 over the Federal funding the Commonwealth received in fiscal
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1 year 2000-2001; and
2 WHEREAS, Because the Federal Government has failed to provide
3 the level of funding that the Individuals with Disabilities
4 Education Act allows, it has placed a disproportionate financial
5 burden on the Commonwealth and its school districts; and
6 WHEREAS, If the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
7 is to fully accomplish its mission to provide a free appropriate
8 public education to children with disabilities, the Federal
9 Government must provide State and local governments with the
10 funding they need to successfully implement the act's mandates;
11 therefore be it
12 RESOLVED, (the House of Representatives concurring), That the
13 General Assembly urge Congress and the President of the United
14 States to fulfill the commitment of the Individuals with
15 Disabilities Education Act to provide resources equal to 40% of
16 the national average per pupil expenditure for special education
17 students for each Pennsylvania student with special needs; and
18 be it further
19 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be sent to the
20 President and Vice President of the United States, to the
21 presiding officers of each house of Congress, to each member of
22 Congress from Pennsylvania, to the National Conference of State
23 Legislatures, to the State Board of Education and to the
24 Secretary of Education.
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