Lujan Grisham: Our Schools Deserve Federal Funding for Special Education in Any Budget

Press Release

Today, Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham delivered the following statement in supporting funding for the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act in the Republican budget proposal at the House Budget Committee.

"Today is World Autism Awareness Day, and many members are wearing these blue pins to raise awareness about this disorder that affects so many of our citizens.

According to a recent CDC study, 1 in 68 children in the United States is living with autism. That number jumps to 1 in 42 when you look at boys only.

And in this environment, Congress is not living up to its commitment to fund special education. Federal funding for fiscal year 2014 will cover only about 16 percent of the average per pupil expenditure for special education. By not providing enough federal support for IDEA, we are placing a heavy financial burden on local educational agencies that are still trying to recover from the effects of the economic recession.

Without support from the federal government, school districts are forced to pull from other parts of their budget in order to meet the needs of students with disabilities, often resulting in cuts to other services.

It is imperative that we fully fund IDEA and provide much needed support to the more than 40,000 students in New Mexico and 6.6 million students nationwide that are served under IDEA. Our students deserve it, our teachers deserve it, and our schools deserve it.

I encourage my colleagues to support the amendment."

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