By Ryan

One of the most important investments schools can make is investing in their special education department. There are about six hundred and five thousand special education students in Texas alone from data collected in 2021. Even though this is a fairly populated portion of public schools, special education is not funded nearly enough. One special education student normally receives around one thousand and four hundred dollars. However, it is estimated that with more funding going towards IDEA that the number for one student in a special education program could rise to around one thousand and eight hundred dollars in lesser funded states.

Special education in the United States is primarily funded through IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), and ESSA (the Every Student Succeeds Act). Both of these acts are important for securing special education funding, but the bulk of the money comes from IDEA. Enacted into law in 1990, IDEA “… governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and related services to more than 7.5 million… eligible infants, toddlers, and youth with disabilities.” It is also worth noting that the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 also protects the rights of individuals with disabilities who receive federal funding. IDEA receives 16 billion dollars in the current education budget, which is a total of 235 billion dollars. Within IDEA, the State Formula Grants are specifically where the money for special education comes from. However, as with everything else that is federally funded in the United States, the states have the ultimate say in how the money from the act is spent and allocated. Unfortunately, it is not possible to see how much of the “Instruction” portion of the Texas education budget is allocated towards special education.

The IDEA act is one of the most underfunded parts of the education system, yet the part of the public school system it serves is one of the most important. While it is great that we have a piece of legislation that can be funded more than it already is over time, we must raise awareness of the legislation itself so that voters can let their school board and representatives know that they want more funding for IDEA.