What Does the Sequestration Mean for Special Education?
The big news this week regarding education spending is the impending sequestration of federal funds set to take place today. What does this mean for special education? According to the Huffington Post, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) will lose $591 million in funding over the course of 10 years. This bears repeating. These cuts would add up to $591 million over the course of 10 years. This is substantial.
Children aged 3-21 served under IDEA in New York State alone accounted for 16.7 percent of public school enrollment in 2009/2010 according to NCES.Ed.gov. New York’s share of IDEA funding reductions from the sequester will result in a decrease of over $36 million for 2013 and 2014. The fear is that these enormous cuts will result in loss of programs and services for children eligible under IDEA.
Take a look at this balance sheet for more on state-by-state IDEA funding reductions resulting from the sequester: IDEA Money Watch Balance Sheet
Reblogged this on TheUniqueClassroom's Blog and commented:
This is very alarming…
Yes – it is quite unnerving to see such substantial cuts to education. Scary to think of what this will mean for many students.