WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts again called on Congress to pay its promised share of special education funding in an effort to improve the education of all students.

“Nearly 30 years ago,” Senator Roberts said, “Congress made a promise to our schools and our children to share the cost of special education. The promise was simple - the federal government pays 40 percent of the excess cost of educating a special needs child. Sadly, we have yet to fulfill that promise. It’s time that Congress relieve our state and local governments of the financial burden they have been forced to shoulder.”

The bipartisan bill, authored by Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Tom Harkin (D-IA), will fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) by increasing federal funding by over $2 billion each year for five years until full funding is reached in 2011.

“This significant new federal contribution will allow local school districts the flexibility to spend these newly freed up dollars on local priorities and in areas where they need it the most, such as professional development, Title I programs, or after-school programs,” Senator Roberts said.

In Kansas, special education costs have skyrocketed to over $600 million, noted Senator Roberts. Unfortunately, the federal government only picks up about 18 percent of that figure, leaving over 82 percent of the funding to state and local governments.

“This is unacceptable,” Senator Roberts said. “IDEA is the ‘granddaddy’ of all unfunded mandates and I can assure my colleagues that funding IDEA at the promised level of 40 percent would not only relieve schools in my home state of Kansas, but would also relieve schools in each and every state in the nation.”

Senator Roberts, a key member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has repeatedly been an outspoken advocate of the need to fully fund IDEA since his years as a U.S. Representative.