00                      SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 13                                                                    
01 Urging the President of the United States and the United States Congress to fulfill the                                 
02 federal obligation to provide adequate funding for special education in public schools.                                 
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
04       WHEREAS the Constitution of the State of Alaska and other laws and policies of the                              
05 state require educational opportunities for all children, including children with disabilities;                         
06 and                                                                                                                     
07       WHEREAS enactment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act by the                                     
08 United States Congress transferred from the states to the federal government decisions                                  
09 pertaining to the provision of education and related services to students with disabilities; and                        
10       WHEREAS the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires the provision of                               
11 a "free appropriate public education" for students with disabilities; and                                               
12       WHEREAS the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act authorized the federal                                  
13 appropriation of a sum equal to 40 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure for general                             
14 education students under 34 C.F.R. 300.701(a)(1); and                                                                   
15       WHEREAS the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-4, March 22,                                         
16 1995) provides that "the federal government should not shift certain costs to the States, and                           

01 States should end the practice of shifting costs to local governments"; and                                             
02       WHEREAS, according to recent estimates, Alaska received approximately 16 percent                              
03 of the total cost of providing a free appropriate public education for students with disabilities                       
04 from the Congress for Part B services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act;                            
05 and                                                                                                                     
06       WHEREAS the lack of adequate federal funding for students with disabilities has                                 
07 forced states and local school districts to make up the difference through payments made for                            
08 other critical education programs; and                                                                                  
09       WHEREAS the lack of adequate federal funding for federally mandated services                                    
10 under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act places a tremendous strain on all Alaska                          
11 public school districts and on the ability of the districts to provide quality education for all                        
12 students; and                                                                                                           
13       WHEREAS Alaska shares with every other state a chronic shortage of qualified                                    
14 special education teachers; and                                                                                         
15       WHEREAS teacher preparation programs would benefit from full federal funding of                                 
16 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act by attracting prospective applicants interested                         
17 in a career of teaching special education; and                                                                          
18       WHEREAS the underfunding of special education programs affects the depth of                                     
19 services provided to students with disabilities; and                                                                    
20       WHEREAS, despite significant strides made in increasing and enhancing public                                  
21 education for students with disabilities, many of those students still do not receive the services                      
22 and assistance they need to succeed in public schools; and                                                              
23       WHEREAS the federal No Child Left Behind Act requires that 100 percent of                                       
24 students with disabilities attain proficiency in meeting state education standards by the end of                        
25 the 2013 - 2014 school year; and                                                                                        
26       WHEREAS improvement in the rate of proficiency of students in meeting state                                     
27 education standards is a primary indicator of school success under the No Child Left Behind                             
28 Act, creating the need for public school districts to provide greater access to and progress in                         
29 the general curriculum for students with disabilities; and                                                              
30       WHEREAS the task of meeting the rising costs associated with attaining proficiency                              
31 in the general curriculum for students with disabilities requires a strong partnership between                          

01 local, state, and federal government agencies;                                                                          
02       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature strongly urges the President of                                
03 the United States and the United States Congress to fulfill their obligation to provide adequate                        
04 funding of educational services for students with disabilities by providing 40 percent of the                           
05 average per-pupil expenditure for general education students in Alaska as authorized in the                             
06 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.                                                                            
07       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President                              
08 of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States                              
09 and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of                              
10 Representatives; the Honorable Margaret Spellings, United States Secretary of Education; and                            
11 the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the                                      
12 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.