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.