00                 CS FOR SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 26(HES)                                                              
01 Urging the President and the Congress to provide additional funding for special                                         
02 education services.                                                                                                     
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS the budget submitted to the United States Congress in 2001 by President                                 
05 Bush includes increased funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; and                              
06       WHEREAS, in 1975, the Congress passed P.L. 94-142, which is part of the                                         
07 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and provided a national framework for providing                            
08 free, appropriate public education to all students regardless of the level or severity of                               
09 disability; and                                                                                                         
10       WHEREAS the Congress, in its initial passage of the Individuals with Disabilities                               
11 Education Act, declared its intent to fund 40 percent of special education costs; and                                   
12       WHEREAS, since the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the                              
13 states have been primarily responsible for providing funding for special education services;                            
14 and                                                                                                                     
15       WHEREAS special education services are being provided to all eligible children in                               
16 Alaska; and                                                                                                             
01       WHEREAS many states, including Alaska, must provide substantial state funding to                                
02 fill the gaps left by the Congress's unfunded promise; and                                                              
03       WHEREAS the recent increases in federal funds for schools, including the increases                              
04 in special education funding, have come with substantial mandates and limitations on the use                            
05 of funds; and                                                                                                           
06       WHEREAS the Congress is presently debating the most effective ways to improve                                   
07 education within the states; and                                                                                        
08       WHEREAS the federal government is now estimating a surplus of                                                   
09 $5,600,000,000,000 the next 10 years;                                                                                   
10       BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that the United States Congress                                  
11 should speedily adhere to the goal set out in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act                           
12 and appropriate to the states significant, genuine assistance to meet the needs of students with                        
13 disabilities and to relieve schools of the necessity of cross-subsidizing special education                             
14 revenue with general education revenue.                                                                                 
15       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President                              
16 of the United States; the Honorable James M. Jeffords, Chair, U.S. Senate Committee on                                  
17 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; the Honorable John A. Boehner, Chair, U.S. House                                
18 Committee on Education and the Workforce; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the                                      
19 Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S.                                             
20 Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.