HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

135

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

urging congress to pass LEGISLATION REQUIRING FULL FUNDING OF THE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 1965 AND THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, children are our nation's future and greatest treasure; and

 

     WHEREAS, high-quality education is the surest way for every child to reach his or her full potential; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), re-authorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was the most sweeping revision of education policy in a generation; and

 

     WHEREAS, despite the financial obligations that accompany implementation of the widespread changes required by NCLB, the measure was funded with only $23,510,000,000, $13,360,000,000 short of its 2006 authorized level, and resulting in 3,100,000 students not receiving the Title I help they were promised; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees children with disabilities a free and appropriate public education; and

 

     WHEREAS, although IDEA required Congress to provide 40 percent of the national current average per pupil expenditure for special education students, the measure was only funded with $10,700,000,000 in state grants, or only 18 percent; and

 

     WHEREAS, state and local budgets have been forced to absorb the funding shortfalls resulting from these partially-funded mandates; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2007, the 110th Congress introduced the Keep Our Promise to America's Children and Teachers Act (H.R. 627) to require full funding of ESEA and IDEA, but the measure did not pass; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, that Congress is urged to pass legislation requiring full funding of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, as provided by in H.R. 627; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to Hawaii's Congressional Delegation, the Governor, the Chairperson of the Board of Education, and the Superintendent of Education.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

ESEA; IDEA; Full Funding