Each year, the U.S. Congress must engage in the Federal Appropriations process to keep the Federal Government up and running. The U.S. Constitution requires all government Appropriations bills to originate in the U.S. House of Representatives. These House appropriations bills generally respond to proposals from the current Administration - the President – known as the President’s Budget Proposal. The U.S. Senate appropriations bills then respond to those originated in the House.

It is not enough for Congress to enact legislation (such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA). Congress, through the appropriations process, must also fund legislation so that various programs and projects can continue to operate. While the authorizing legislation provides a funding level for a particular program, it is the annual appropriations bills that determine the amount of funding the program will actually receive. Funding for programs subject to the appropriations process is referred to as Discretionary Spending. The only exception to this is legislation that obligates the government to spend money, called Mandatory Spending, which is not subject to the yearly appropriations process. The Social Security program is an example of mandatory spending, also called “entitlements.”

Each year, federal funding for education is bundled with two other federal agencies in the form of a Labor/Health and Human Services/Education appropriations bill. An appropriation that aligns with the authorized amount is frequently referred to as “full funding.” In the case of IDEA, full funding means that the U.S. Congress needs to appropriate an amount equal to 40 percent of the national average per-pupil expenditure (in public elementary and secondary schools) to help states offset the excess costs of providing special education to eligible students with disabilities. However, every year the IDEA receives funding far below the level designated in the authorizing legislation. The latest appropriations for IDEA – contained in the 2008 Omnibus bill which consolidated all federal appropriates for Fiscal Year 2008 - puts the level of federal funding at just 17.2 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure   – a shortfall of more than half of the authorized level (see Figure 1).

Despite the lack of federal funding for IDEA, states are still obligated to provide the special education and related supports and services as stipulated by the Act. Therefore, this persistent funding shortfall exacerbates the education funding process at the state and local school district level – requiring more state and local funds to be expended to provide special education services than would be needed if the full federal funding was in place. Parents involved in special education advocacy at the state or local level have most likely heard from school leaders about the lack of federal funding.

While the current version of IDEA is in place until its next reauthorization, scheduled for 2010, the IDEA appropriations process occurs annually and can be influenced by advocacy efforts in support of more funding for states. The annual budget and appropriations process typically begins the first Monday of February with the release of the President’s budget proposal.

Specifics about the IDEA funding shortfall for each state and Congressional District are available from the National Education Association (www.NEA.org). Parents of students with disabilities are encouraged to learn more about the funding side of IDEA and consider becoming active in advocating for funding levels more closely aligned with those authorized by the law.