[Dec-advocacy] new update

[Sarah Hadden]

Welcome to the DEC Advocacy List. The Division for Early Childhood  
(DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children is a non-profit  
membership organization advocating for individuals who work with or on  
behalf of children with special needs, birth through age eight, and  
their families. For more information about DEC, please contact the DEC  
Office at: The Division for Early Childhood, 27 Fort Missoula Road,  
Suite 2, Missoula, MT 59804. Phone: 406-543-0872, Fax: 406-543-0887,  
e-mail: dec at dec-sped.org. If you would like to either join or be  
removed from the DEC Advocacy List, email Sarah Hadden at  
dsh5gn at virginia.edu. Additional information about governmental  
relations activities can be obtained by visiting the DEC website:  
http://www.dec-sped.org/

2/9/06

Good afternoon. The President released his proposed FY2007 budget  
recommendations on February 6. All in all, the budget is not very  
favorable to education. While there is an overall increase of $100  
million for Part B, this still represents only 17% of the costs of  
IDEA. Among other things, the President's budget level funds Section  
619 & Part C and eliminates funds for State Personnel Development  
Grants, Jacob Javits Grants for Gifted and Even Start. Below you will  
find detailed information from CEC.

Sarah Hadden
DEC Governmental Relations Committee

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  Information on President's Proposed Budget from CEC

Yesterday, in an about face maneuver, President Bush proposed cutting  
$3.1 billion in education programs in 2007, just days after he  
emphasized the critical role education plays in competing in the global  
marketplace in his State of the Union address. In what can be viewed as  
a series of contradictions, President Bush has proposed cutting,  
under-funding, level funding or eliminating, vital education programs  
while simultaneously touting their importance and necessity for  
America’s future. Funding for IDEA and the Javits program for students  
with gifts and talents have both fallen victim to President Bush’s  
irresponsible budget proposal.

In 2004, President Bush signed into law IDEA 2004, which mandated  
incremental funding levels to ensure that full funding – 40 percent per  
pupil expenditure – is reached by 2011. In his budget proposal on  
Monday, President Bush called to fund IDEA at 17 percent, a decrease  
from last year and a far cry from the promised 40 percent. While the  
President’s budget does include a $100 million increase for IDEA Part  
B, it misguides the public into believing the federal commitment to  
IDEA will increase. Irresponsibly, the President does not account for  
the necessary annual adjustments (e.g. increase of students entering  
the program, etc.), that results in the declining federal commitment to  
a paltry 17 percent. This misrepresentation of IDEA Part B funding is  
an injustice to all students with disabilities, their families and  
professionals who work on their behalf. As the federal government  
weakens the funding commitment to IDEA, states and localities are  
forced to pay the balance.

In addition, IDEA programs designed to provide early interventions and  
special education to infants, toddlers and preschoolers were also  
under-funded. The President has proposed level funding for IDEA Part B  
Section 619 and Part C – addressing the needs of preschool children  
(ages three - five) and infants and toddlers (ages birth – three),  
respectively – despite increased enrollment. In fact, this  
level-funding amount is a decrease from 2005. The President’s own  
proposal states that Part C, “…helps State and local agencies identify  
and service children with disabilities early in life when interventions  
can be most effective in improving educational outcomes.” It is  
baffling that the President would acknowledge the clear benefits to  
this program, and yet leave it drastically under-funded.

As the President continues to stress capacity building within programs,  
his budget proposal eliminates, decreases, or level-funds programs  
included under IDEA Part D. IDEA Part D provides funding for programs  
that are the catalyst for IDEA implementation in the field – including  
state personnel development, technical assistance, personnel  
preparation, parent information centers, and technology and media  
services. These programs have been critical to ensuring that personnel,  
parents, states and localities have the proper tools to carry out the  
goals of IDEA.

In another blatant contradiction, President Bush called for the  
elimination of the Javits program for students with gifts and talents.  
The Javits program is the only federal program dedicated to conducting  
gifted and talented research and providing instruction for America’s  
three million students with gifts and talents. As the President  
emphasized in his State of the Union address, one of America’s greatest  
assets is its commitment to educating the best minds in the world. By  
proposing to eliminate the Javits program – as he has for several years  
– President Bush is stripping away this vital resource for students  
with gifts and talents.

Yet again, President Bush has included $100 million dollars for  
private-school vouchers in his budget proposal at the expense of  
students in public schools. CEC has regularly spoken out on its  
opposition to vouchers, believing that public funding should be  
dedicated to the students and personnel in the public school system.   
Read CEC's position on vouchers.

The President’s budget proposal marks the beginning of the  
Congressional appropriations process – a process by which members of  
Congress will accept, reject and alter the President’s budget to  
reflect the needs of their constituents. CEC is always actively  
involved in every step of the appropriations process by advocating on  
behalf of students with disabilities and/or gifts and talents. It is  
critical that members of Congress hear from their constituents of the  
impact under-funding IDEA and the Javits program has on students. To  
email your member of Congress on the latest issues concerning students  
with disabilities and/or gifts and talents visit CEC's Legislative  
Action Center.


Education programs the President proposed to eliminate/under-fund,  
include (in millions):

	▪ 	IDEA Part B 	
$10,683.0 (increase of $100million over FY 2006 appropriation.)

	▪ 	Section 619 Preschool Grants

380.8 (no change from FY 2006 appropriation)

	▪ 	IDEA Part C

436.4 (no change from FY 2006 appropriation)

	▪ 	IDEA Part D

State Personnel Development Grants...................0 (decrease of  
$50.1 million from FY 2006 appropriation)

Technical Assistance and Dissemination ..........48.9 (no change from  
FY 2006 appropriation)

Personnel Preparation...................................89.7 (no change  
from FY 2006 appropriation)

Parent Information Centers...........................25.7 (no change  
from FY 2006 appropriation)

Technology and Media Services.....................31.1 (decrease of  
$7.3 million from FY 2006 appropriation)

Voc. Rehab. Transition Inititive.......................2.0 (increase of  
$2 million from FY 2006 appropriation)

	▪ 	Javits Grants for Gifted

0 (decrease of $9.6 million from FY 2006 appropriation)

	▪ 	Research in Special Education
71.8 (no change from FY 2006 appropriation)

	▪ 	NCLB

24,399.2 (increase of $1.6 billion over FY 2006 appropriation)

	▪ 	Title I
12,713.0 (no change from FY 2006 appropriation)

	▪ 	TRIO
0 (decrease of $311 million from FY 2006 appropriation)

	▪ 	GEAR UP
0 (decrease of $303.4 million from FY 2006 appropriation)

	▪ 	Vocational Education State Grants
0 (decrease of $1.1 billion from FY 2006 appropriation)

	▪ 	Even Start
0 (decrease of $99 million from FY 2006 appropriation)

	▪ 	Elementary and Secondary School Counseling............0 (decrease  
of $34.7 million from FY 2006 appropriation)

	▪ 	Parental Information and Resources Centers
0 (decrease of $39.6 million from FY 2006 appropriation)

	▪ 	Safe and Drug-Free
0 (decrease of $346.5 million from FY 2006 appropriation)

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