The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was crafted to meet the needs of infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities and to support families and educators. Now that continuum is at risk. The President's budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2026 proposes to streamline IDEA by eliminating Part D funds for personnel, parent training, research and technical assistance (accessible materials, technology etc.) and eliminating the preschool grants. IDEA programs have been woefully and consistently underfunded, creating immense challenges that impact learners, educators, schools, and districts. IDEA was carefully designed to provide a suite of formula and grant funding streams to meet the needs of all infants, toddlers, children, and youth, families, and personnel. Congress has funded all parts of IDEA- please encourage them to ensure IDEA remains funded in a final deal.
Call on your legislators to get this right and protect all education funding for IDEA.