Lafayette Elementary School in Clairemont. (File photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)
The San Diego Unified School District announced Monday that it has launched a petition calling on Congress to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
The district said that it is doing so in response to concerns from families and community members.
The petition,”Demand Congress Fully Fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,” can be signed here. It urges Congress to meet its long-standing obligation to fully fund IDEA.
“This petition is a tool for collective action — a way for us to walk arm-in-arm into conversations with legislators backed by thousands of voices,” San Diego Unified Superintendent Fabiola Bagula said in a statement. “Please join us in this critical fight to secure the federal support promised nearly fifty years ago.”
The district said that officials were contacted by concerned parents within hours after they shared their plan to strengthen special education services and step up federal advocacy.
“This effort is quickly growing into a powerful coalition of parents, educators, and community members united in the belief that every student deserves fully funded, high-quality special education services,” Bagula said.
The district said that when Congress passed IDEA in 1975, it committed to covering 40% of the additional cost of educating students with disabilities.
That commitment has never been fulfilled.
Federal IDEA funding covers only 6% of special education expenditures at SDUSD. The district spends more than $400 million each year on special education, but receives just $28 million from IDEA.
Members of San Diego Unified’s Congressional Delegation have co-sponsored the IDEA Full Funding Act, which would establish a 10-year path toward meeting the original 40% federal funding level. The petition calls on Congress to pass this legislation immediately.
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