Understanding the President's Proposed Education Budget

President Donald Trump’s administration on May 30 revealed the full details of their sweeping proposal to slash federal education spending, eliminate grant programs worth billions of dollars, and rewrite special education law in unprecedented ways.

Overall, the proposal would reduce the U.S. Department of Education’s budget by 15 percent, to $66.7 billion from $79.6 billion.

The proposal document frames the changes as an “increased investment” in core funding for special education, but the proposal actually amounts to flat funding for IDEA as a whole. However, significant changes in how this funding would be allocated are complicated, including program consolidations and giving states more flexibility to spend IDEA funds.

A recent article in EducationWeek does a good job of breaking down these proposed changes and explaining their implications on states, parent centers, and students with disabilities. To read the article, click here.

How Medicaid Cuts Could Impact Early Intervention for Young Children

About half the children under age 3 who receive screening and intervention for disabilities under IDEA’s part C rely on Medicaid for health care.

Medicaid helps fund part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which provides early intervention screening and services. Established by Congress in 2004, the program is designed “to enhance the development of infants and toddlers with disabilities, to minimize their potential for developmental delay and to recognize the significant brain development that occurs during a child’s first three years of life.” The program provides early intervention screening and services with resources that vary by state.

To learn more about how Part C early intervention programs are funded, and how states can be severely impacted by the proposed Medicaid cuts, click here to read an informative, impactful article by The74.