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Special-education leaders warn cuts to IDEA would strain districts' budgets and services
Summary
Superintendents and advocates told the committee that IDEA funding has never met statutory expectations, that many districts are underfunded under state formulas, and that losing or reducing federal IDEA dollars would force districts to cut services or shift local funds.
Superintendents, business administrators and advocates told the Joint Committee on the Public Schools that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a central federal support for students with disabilities and that the state lacks resilience to absorb deep federal reductions.
Julie Borst, executive director of Save Our Schools New Jersey, reviewed IDEA’s history and funding levels. She said the law’s original funding goal (often characterized as 40 percent of excess costs) has never been met; recent federal funding for IDEA nationwide has been in the mid-teens percentage range (she cited roughly 14.7 percent as a recent…
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