The President’s budget proposal for FY2020 (Oct. 1, 2019-Sept. 30, 2020) released March 11, 2019 recommends a 10 percent reduction to overall funding for the U.S. Dept. of Education (ED), from $71 billion to $64 billion.
However, the ED budget proposal recommends holding funding for special education at the amounts appropriated by Congress in FY2019.
Specifically, the budget proposal requests:
- $12,364.4 million for Grants to states
(To help states pay the additional costs of providing special education and related services to children with disabilities aged 3 through 21 years. While the dollar amount holds level, the per-child amount goes from $1,770 to $1,758 due to an increase in the number of students (ages 3-21) being served under the IDEA, or about 13 percent of the national average per pupil expenditure (APPE). The IDEA authorizes an amount equal to 40 percent of the APPE, an amount known as “full funding”. See how much your state is losing.) - $391.1 million for Preschool Grants to states
(An estimated $506 per child for the approximately 773,600 children with disabilities ages 3 through 5) - $470 million for Grants for Infants and Toddlers (to provide high-quality early intervention services to approximately 389,000 infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.)
- $225.6 million for National Activities (funds State Personnel Development, Technical Assistance & Dissemination, Personnel Preparation, Parent Information Centers, Educational Technology, Media, and Materials).
Note: As in the previous year, the budget recommends the elimination of $17.6 million for Special Olympics, which Congress reinstated. This is one of 29 programs recommended for elimination.
The Dept. of Education FY2020 budget is available here.
Watch U.S. Dept. of Ed Secy Betsy DeVos testify in Congress on the proposed budget:
- March 26, 2019: Hearing of the House Appropriations Committee. Watch it here at 10:15 AM EDT.
- March 28, 2019: Hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee.Watch it here at 10:00 AM EDT.