Supreme Court ruled in favor of a quadriplegic boy in Iowa in 1999, who could not attend school without a trained aide to monitor his ventilator and other medical equipment. The ruling requires public schools to pay for the aide, but, naturally, doesn't say how they would afford it. Congress is working on it. Sen. Susan Collins, a member of the House-Senate conference on an education reform bill that give states more flexibility on federal requirements, has one such proposal. Her bill would give elementary and secondary schools the option of using money to reduce class sizes on special education. That plan would make an additional $5.6 million available in Maine. The individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), allows additional federal money to supplement but not replace previous funding unless the state obtains a waiver. To get a waiver, a state must provide "clear and convincing evidence that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education," according to IDEA (www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/IDEA). Depending on what the government thinks is clear and convincing, Congress intends by meeting the federal obligation to relieve state and local taxpayers of some of their burden. I think they should also seek an expedited waiver process to simplify the disbursement. IDEA is a just and humane plan for providing children with an appropriate education, but it becomes a divisive tool when Congress fails to send the proper amount of money along with its mandates.The GOP also wants Congress to fully fund its share of the IDEA, which was passed in 1975. Congress has only been paying around 12% of disabled-students' costs, instead of the 40% mandated by the law. This would mean about $10.3 billion a year, up from $4.3 billion now (http://www.ed.gov). The Supreme Court dealt a wild card to school districts in 1999 as well, when they ruled that public schools have to provide full-time nurses for severely disabled stud...
