WATERLOO, IOWA – The chairmen of two key House committees on Monday toured an Iowa school to highlight GOP support for increased special education funding as well as reforms that would ease the current paperwork burden for teachers and improve results for children with special needs. House Republicans recently approved a budget blueprint for the upcoming fiscal year that grants President Bush's request for a $1 billion increase for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and also calls for full funding of IDEA within 10 years -- contingent on reforms to help teachers and improve results for children and parents.
“Despite dramatic improvement over the years, too many children with special needs are being left behind academically. There are major problems in the special education system today affecting teachers, parents, and children that money alone won’t fix,” Boehner said. “Teachers want the special education paperwork burden reduced. Parents of students with special needs want better results and options. And too many children, particularly minorities, are being wrongly placed in special education classes they don’t belong in.” Special education has received a renewed emphasis from the federal government since 1995, when Republicans assumed control of the House. Since 1995, federal funding for special education has increased by 224 percent. Republicans commitment to IDEA funding continued this year, with President Bush's wartime budget including a dramatic $1 billion increase for IDEA aid to states and local schools. Congressional Democrats have not offered a budget this year. “No more excuses.
IDEA must be fully funded. While federal funding for IDEA has increased
by 224 percent, Boehner said the reform process in the House, which is being spearheaded by Education Reform Subcommittee Chairman Mike Castle (R-DE), will likely concentrate on focusing IDEA on the academic achievement of special education students; reducing the paperwork burden for teachers and school officials and supporting teachers; restoring trust and reducing litigation; improving early intervention strategies; encouraging innovative approaches to parental involvement; ensuring school safety; and reforming special education finance and funding.
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Education & the
Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH) and Budget Committee
Chairman Jim Nussle (R-IA) spent Monday touring the Cunningham School for
Excellence, speaking with educators and students on how to strengthen and
improve IDEA. 
the federal government is still failing to pay its promised
share of special education costs,” Nussle said. “We also must
ensure that significant improvements are made to the system along with new
funding. Iowa’s students deserve no less.”