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Wilk IDEA Act For Disabled Students Passes Both Houses Of The Legislature

Senator Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, announces Senate Joint Resolution 19 (SJR 19) has been adopted to fully fund a program focusing on disabled students has been adopted.


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SJR 19 calls on Congress to uphold its end of the bargain and fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

“There is no more important service that the state provides than education,” said Wilk.

“When it comes to our students with disabilities, the federal government has completely failed in its partnership with the states by not keeping its promised funding levels. School districts are forced to make up the shortfall which hinders our ability to provide a high quality education to all students – those with and without disabilities.”

In 1975, Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act with the purpose of ensuring all children with disabilities have available to them a free and appropriate public education, emphasizing services designed to meet their unique needs.

It set up a mechanism to fund a matching program that would help us pay for these costly, specialized educational services.

Related: Wilk’s Call For Federal Stop To Soledad Canyon CEMEX Mine Headed To President Trump

In 2004, Congress went even further and enacted the IDEA Act, which set a minimum of 40 percent federal fund-matching for the average per-pupil expenditure in public elementary schools and secondary schools to pay for services for children with disabilities. That Act has yet to be fully funded.

According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, between 2015 to 2016 “the federal government provided California a little over a billion dollars for special education costs that represented a little less than 10 percent of total special education expenditures in the state, so roughly speaking we would be talking about an increase along the lines of three to four billion dollars in federal special education aid in order to get up to the 40%.”

“The IDEA Act was a promise, not a suggestion. This resolution sends a message to our federal counterparts that California and its children with disabilities rely on their help to fund educational opportunities,” concluded Wilk. “California’s message is clear today – if the federal government continues to break its promises it will continue to have real, harmful impacts on the lives of many of our children.”

The Secretary of the Senate will now transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to the Chairs of the Senate Committees on the Budget and Appropriations, to the Chairs of the House Committees on the Budget and Appropriations, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the United States Secretary of Education.

Ed. Note: This above information was provided to KHTS by the Office of Senator Scott Wilk.

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Wilk IDEA Act For Disabled Students Passes Both Houses Of The Legislature

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About Lorena Mejia

Lorena was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. She attended California State University Northridge where she double majored in Journalism and Chicano Studies and minored in Spanish Language Journalism. While at CSUN, she worked for the university's television and radio newscast. Through her journalistic work, she earned membership to Kappa Tau Alpha, a national honor society for selected journalists. Her passion for the community has introduced her to new people, ideas, and issues that have helped shape the person she is today. Lorena’s skills include using cameras as a tool to empower people by informing them and creating change in their communities. Some of her hobbies include reading the news, exploring the outdoors, and being an avid animal lover. To contact Lorena, send your messages to lorena@hometownstation.com.