Session of 2000
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 1644
By Committee on Education
3-14
10 A
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION urging the President and the Con-
11 gress of the United
States to increase funding for special education
12 from an average
federal share of 12% nationwide to the 40% level
13 authorized by the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
14
15 WHEREAS, In
Brown v. Board of Education, a unanimous Supreme
16 Court of the United States recognized that
education is perhaps the most
17 important function of state and local
governments; in Wisconsin v. Yoder,
18 the Supreme Court recognized that the
provision of public schools ranks
19 at the very apex of the function of a
state; in San Antonio Independent
20 School District v. Rodriquez, the Supreme
Court refused to invalidate
21 the Texas system of financing its public
schools opining that education is
22 one of the most important services
performed by the state and declining
23 to intrude in an area which traditionally
has been reserved for state leg-
24 islatures; and
25 WHEREAS, The
architects of America's Constitution and Bill of
26 Rights constructed a unique form of
federalism under which the people
27 delegated to the national government
certain limited powers while re-
28 serving all other authority to the states
and the people; the powers of the
29 two government levels were carefully
balanced and each had distinct roles
30 with most day-to-day functions being left
at the level closest to the people;
31 the founders expected state power to rival
national power; and
32 WHEREAS,
America's unique form of federalism worked for a while,
33 but has been severely eroded over the
years; the states have become
34 enfeebled while the federal government has
consolidated power and now
35 involves itself in every conceivable area
of governance, including the most
36 local of concerns; nowhere is encroachment
by the federal government
37 on states' rights more apparent than in the
area of education, specifically
38 special education; and
39 WHEREAS, The
states were and are well aware of the constitutional
40 obligation to provide public education for
children with disabilities; many
41 of the states enacted constitutionally
sound special education laws prior
42 to enactment in 1975 by Congress of Public
Law 94-142, the Education
43 for All Handicapped Children Act, known
since 1990 as the Individuals
2
1 with Disabilities Education Act or
IDEA; nearly six million American
2 children receive special education
services provided by the states at a cost
3 of almost $40 billion, only about
$5.7 billion of which is federal money;
4 and
5 WHEREAS,
Enactment of the IDEA transferred decisions about the
6 ways in which special education
services would be provided from state
7 capitals to Washington, D.C.; in an
effort to alleviate the intrusion that
8 transfer of control over special
education had upon an area traditionally
9 reserved to the states, the Act
authorized appropriation of a sum equal
10 to 40% of the average per pupil expenditure
for general education pupils;
11 Congressional appropriations have never
come near the authorization
12 level; and
13 WHEREAS, A
recent report by the Kansas State Department of Ed-
14 ucation provided the Kansas Legislature
with the estimated special edu-
15 cation expenditures in Kansas for fiscal
year 2001; the report estimated
16 expenditures for special education in the
amount of $483,300,437, and
17 was broken down by anticipated state,
local, and federal aid percentages;
18 the report revealed that federal aid,
including medicaid reimbursement
19 of approximately $16 million, would
comprise only 11.7% of the total
20 expenditures for special education; if
increased to the authorized 40%
21 level, federal aid would increase from
$56,500,000 to $193,320,175; and
22 WHEREAS, The
National Council on Disability recently reported
23 that many children with disabilities are
receiving substandard schooling
24 because the states are not complying with
federal rules on special edu-
25 cation; the response of officials at the
U.S. Department of Education, the
26 federal agency responsible for overseeing
compliance with the IDEA, was
27 predictable, not an assertion that the
agency would make an intense effort
28 to get Congress to provide assistance to
the states in the form of increased
29 dollars, at least to a level more nearly
approaching the 40% level of ex-
30 penditures authorized for special
education, but with a threat to be more
31 aggressive in monitoring and enforcing
compliance; and
32 WHEREAS, In
1998, the Kansas Legislature adopted a concurrent
33 resolution memorializing the Congress to
assume its fair share of the costs
34 of special education services by increasing
funding to a level more nearly
35 approaching the level authorized by the
Individuals with Disabilities Ed-
36 ucation Act; and
37 WHEREAS, Kansas
Congressman Jerry Moran took heed of the Kan-
38 sas Legislature's resolution and wrote a
letter to President Clinton. The
39 letter, dated January 20, 2000, and fully
endorsed by the Kansas Legis-
40 lature, contained the following
excerpts:
41 ``Dear Mr.
President:
42 As you prepare
for the State of the Union address and your budget
43 submission to
Congress, I encourage you to place a high priority on
3
1 funding special
education. The greatest issue facing Kansas Governor
2 Bill Graves and
the Kansas Legislature is finding the necessary re-
3 sources to meet
the needs of Kansas students.
4 ``Congress
first mandated special education in 1975 and pledged to
5 assist state and
local governments by paying 40 percent of the costs of
6 educating
students with disabilities. Unfortunately, the federal govern-
7 ment has never
met its obligation.
8 ``Mr.
President, I share your goals of improving school facilities,
9 hiring and
training more teachers and making better technology avail-
10 able to students, but
rather than rolling out a list of expensive new
11 federal programs,
let's go back and fulfill a commitment made 25 years
12 ago to fund special
education. Doing so would free up billions of dollars
13 nationwide that states
could use to address their own unique education
14 needs.
15 ``As you prepare
your budget and as you prepare to address the
16 nation, I hope you
will make special education your priority. It is im-
17 portant, not only to
those children who participate in special education
18 programs, but to every
child whose education is so important to the
19 future of our
country.''; and
20 WHEREAS, The
Kansas Legislature has devoted considerable effort
21 and a great amount of time during the 2000
session in an attempt to
22 address concerns regarding delivery of
special education services and to
23 find some solution to the rapidly
escalating costs of providing such serv-
24 ices; in the course of its study of the
matter, the Legislature received
25 reports from the Kansas State Department of
Education and from em-
26 battled providers of special education
services in the field; the reports
27 were overwhelmingly disturbing and revealed
that from 1990 through
28 1998, Kansas realized a 29% increase in the
number of pupils with disa-
29 bilities, a 32% increase in the number of
professionals, and a 150% in-
30 crease in the number of paraprofessionals;
one special education coop-
31 erative reported a 48% increase in
expenditures for special education
32 from the 1990-91 school year through the
1999-2000 school year; school
33 districts are experiencing continuing
growth in the population of children
34 with severe disabilities, in the number of
behavior disordered pupils and
35 in other high need populations of children,
such as children with autism
36 or traumatic brain injury, who require high
cost programs; the 1997 IDEA
37 amendments added several new specific
disabling conditions; the quality
38 and quantity of special education teachers
is a major concern as the
39 growth in numbers of pupils and severity of
disabilities increase and the
40 pool of trained teachers decreases; special
education professionals face
41 stress, burnout and increased paperwork
even though the 1997 amend-
42 ments to the IDEA were supposed to reduce
paperwork; one director of
43 special education services stated that he
had been a special education
4
1 professional since 1972 and was more
worried than in his whole career
2 about the increasing demands on the
system to serve more pupils, with
3 more severe disabilities, to higher
standards than ever before, with fewer
4 trained, skilled teachers and
decreasing financial resources; and
5 WHEREAS,
On February 7, 2000, President Clinton sent Congress a
6 $1.84 trillion budget proposal that
devotes more than $300 billion to more
7 than 100 new programs; while many of
the centerpieces of the budget
8 proposal may be praiseworthy,
legislators and school officials in Kansas
9 would rather the Congress, in
drafting its own spending proposals, honor
10 the commitment to fully fund the federal
share of special education costs
11 before adopting any spending proposal that
is dedicated to new programs:
12 Now, therefore,
13 Be it resolved by
the Senate of the State of Kansas, the House of Rep-
14 resentatives concurring
therein: That the Legislature, in recognition
15 that children with disabilities have a
fundamental right to be provided
16 with a free and appropriate public
education and that the Congress of
17 the United States has enacted a federal law
for the purpose of assisting
18 the states in honoring that fundamental
right and in the belief that pro-
19 jected federal budget surpluses present the
federal government with the
20 tremendous opportunity to assume its fair
share of the costs of providing
21 special education services, hereby strongly
urges the President and the
22 Congress of the United States to put a new
twist on the old joke about
23 federal officials appearing in a state and
saying ``we're here to help'' by
24 increasing funding for the provision of
special education services for chil-
25 dren with disabilities from the average
federal share of 12% nationwide
26 to the 40% level authorized by the
Individuals with Disabilities Education
27 Act; and
28 Be it further
resolved: That the Secretary of State is hereby
directed
29 to send enrolled copies of this resolution
to The Hon. William Clinton at
30 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C.
20500; The Hon. Richard Ri-
31 ley at U.S. Dept. of Education, 400
Maryland Ave. NW, Washington,
32 D.C. 20202; The Hon. Pat Roberts at 302
Hart Senate O.B., Washington,
33 D.C. 20510; The Hon. Sam Brownback at 303
Hart Senate O.B., Wash-
34 ington, D.C. 20510; The Hon. Jerry Moran at
1519 Longworth House
35 O.B., Washington, D.C. 20515; The Hon. Jim
Ryun at 330 Cannon House
36 O.B., Washington D.C. 20515; The Hon.
Dennis Moore at 506 Cannon
37 House O.B., Washington, D.C. 20515; The
Hon. Todd Tiahrt at 428
38 Cannon House O.B., Washington, D.C. 20515;
The Hon. James Jeffords
39 at 728 Hart Senate O.B., Washington, D.C.
20510; The Hon. Edward
40 Kennedy at 315 Russell Senate O.B.,
Washington, D.C. 20510; The Hon.
41 Ted Stevens at 522 Hart Senate O.B.,
Washington, D.C. 20510; The Hon.
42 Robert Byrd at 311 Hart Senate O.B.,
Washington, D.C. 20510; The Hon.
43 Arlen Specter at 711 Hart Senate O.B.,
Washington, D.C. 20510; The
5
1 Hon. Tom Harkin at 731 Hart Senate
O.B., Washington, D.C. 20510;
2 The Hon. William Goodling at 2107
Rayburn House O.B., Washington,
3 D.C. 20510; The Hon. William Clay at
2306 Rayburn House O.B., Wash-
4 ington, D.C. 20515; The Hon. Bill
Young at 2407 Rayburn House O.B.,
5 Washington, D.C., 20515; The Hon.
David R. Obey at 2314 Rayburn
6 House O.B., Washington, D.C. 20515;
Gore 2000 Incorporated at P.O.
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for President Incorporated at
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Austin, TX 78701; National Conference
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11 American Legislative Exchange Council at
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State Governments at Hall of
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20001; National Governors' As-
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Capitol Street, Washington, D.C.
15 20001.
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