Bush Plan Could Undermine Education For Schoolchildren with Special Needs

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Bush Plan Could Undermine Education For Schoolchildren with Special Needs, Say House Democrats

House Democrats today warned that a Bush Administration plan to eliminate some forms of Medicaid funding for schoolchildren with disabilities could seriously undermine the ability of those children to get an appropriate education, as the law requires. Representatives George Miller (D-CA) and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) first expressed their concerns to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt in a letter last month in which they requested additional information about the Bush Administration’s plan, which was included in the Administration’s budget request for fiscal year 2007.

In that letter, the lawmakers noted that all children with disabilities are entitled to a “free appropriate public education” under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which now serves 7 million schoolchildren nationwide. Since 1988, Medicaid – which provides health coverage to low-income Americans – has covered the cost of medical and health-related services that many schoolchildren with disabilities require. The Bush budget for 2007 appears to eliminate some of that key Medicaid funding. The Administration estimates that this change will generate $3.6 billion in savings over the next five years.

Representatives Miller and Woolsey noted today that these savings come at the expense of children and schools. The funding serves a variety of purposes, like providing medical equipment for buses for specific children’s needs, providing transportation for children to their medical appointments, and covering the administrative costs of identifying children who need special medical and learning services. The Administration’s proposal closely follows last year’s budget package, which included other changes to the program that also limited the services for students with disabilities that can be reimbursed by Medicaid .

“The Bush Administration continues to break its promise to the children of this nation, and particularly to children who need the most help,” said Miller, the senior Democrat on the Education and the Workforce Committee. “Eliminating funding for these services for disabled children only serves to deny them access to medical services they need to fully participate in school and learn to their greatest abilities.”

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ed31_democrats/rel3206.html
:mad:

[MichiganVote]

1. For those of you who need a translation, what this means is...

Special Education Dept's across the country seek reimbursement for school services, materials or equipment that are utilized as a part of a student's Individualized Education Plan. In addition to equipment, school services for special education (counseling, evaluations,community referrals, planning meetings) such as those performed by School Psychologists or School Social Workers are submitted for reimbursement. Services by Speech and Language personnel, Visually Impaired, Hearing Impaired, OT and PT also currently recieve reimbursement. This is not 100% reimbursement.

The changes endorsed by the * creature, will eliminate this.

Meaning: School and special education budgets will have to make up the difference, taking away from regular education funds. Special education or IDEA is a federally mandated program and schools must provide free and appropriate services to disabled students. Yet, the Federal Gov't has not ever fully IDEA and its implementation.