Milpitas Unified board adopts resolution urging full federal funding for IDEA

Milpitas Unified School District on Dec. 9, 2025 adopted Resolution 2026.20 urging the federal government to provide full funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Prithi Jiari, executive director of learning and innovation and co-leader of the district's learning and development department, presented the measure to the board and read the resolution into the record.

The resolution says IDEA was enacted to ensure that children with disabilities receive a free, appropriate public education designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment and independent living. It states that federal contributions have been "far below the 40% federal share originally promised," and that that shortfall has increased the financial burden on local education agencies.

According to the resolution text read by Jiari, the district and other California education agencies now rely more heavily on unrestricted general fund dollars to cover federally mandated special education costs, a shift the resolution says impedes the district's ability to reduce caseloads, worsens staffing shortages and limits expansion of specialized services for students with disabilities. "The lack of full federal funding for IDEA as originally promised impedes the district's ability to reduce case loads, staffing shortages, and strain on the educators, students with disabilities, and their families," Jiari said as she read the resolution.

The text also notes that state and national education experts emphasize policy advocacy to secure adequate, stable and predictable IDEA funding, and that special educators play a critical role in implementing the law by providing specialized instruction, accommodations and support services.

The resolution, number 2026.20, declares that Milpitas Unified supports full federal funding of IDEA "as originally promised" so that students with disabilities "receive the specialized instruction, services, and supports to which they are legally entitled." Jiari said the measure was "passed and adopted by the Milpitas Unified School District Board of Education at a meeting held this 9th day of December, 2025," and referenced a roll call; the transcript does not provide a vote tally.

The board's action is declaratory policy support; the resolution urges federal action but does not itself alter district budgets or statutory obligations. The meeting transcript contains the full text as read; it does not record motions, who moved or seconded the resolution, or the roll call vote counts, all of which are noted as not specified in the record.

The district did not detail next procedural steps in the transcript. The resolution frames the district's intent to continue policy advocacy for increased federal funding as the primary response to the funding shortfall.