Congress may cut 2007 IDEA funding: advocacy needed to stop the "downward spiral" expected next year.(PEOPLE)(Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act)

In coming weeks, the House and Senate will vote on the budget for the federal government for 2007. If Congress follows the President Bush's budget on funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), the federal share of special education funding will go into a downward spiral, leaving an even smaller portion for the services that speech-language pathologists provide.

The proposed budget reverses progress made over the last five years. Thanks to the coalition efforts of education-related organizations convened by ASHA in 1999, the federal share of ...

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