Archived: Statement by Judith E. Heumann, Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Speeches and Testimony

Statement by
Judith E. Heumann
Assistant Secretary for
Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
on
Fiscal Year 1997 Request for
Special Education and
Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research

April 16, 1996

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

I am pleased to appear before you this afternoon to present the 1997 budget request for the Special Education and the Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research accounts, which are administered by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS).

Mr. Chairman, this is the third time I have appeared before this Committee. In my previous testimony, I stated that my vision for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services is that we will work aggressively and collaboratively as an OSERS-wide team to create a society in which all disabled people can obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve the goals they set for themselves. I remain committed to this vision, and believe that the budget request that you have before you will help make that vision a reality.

We have worked hard over the last three years to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities in effective and meaningful ways. But to move forward, it is essential that there continue to be strong bipartisan support for Federal efforts that provide assistance to State and local agencies through formula grant programs, and that provide leadership and support for program improvement through competitive grant programs. We recognize that the Federal Government alone cannot ensure that disabled individuals will achieve meaningful educational and vocational goals. We must continue to build partnerships with State and local educators, parents of children with disabilities, vocational rehabilitation providers, and leading researchers in order to form a seamless network of experience, expertise, and program capacity to meet the needs of disabled individuals in America. Such partnerships must work together for a common goal of improving the lives and livelihoods of all disabled people within our society. These are the kinds of partnerships we have begun to build. Throughout our work on reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), we have talked with and listened to many individuals, organizations, educational institutions, State and local officials, and to you, the Congress, to ensure that this landmark legislation is strengthened through cooperative effort. We have begun a strong OSERS-wide strategic planning and performance measurement process that will reach out to constituents and to our partners at the State and local levels to help us improve the programs which we administer. We have worked through our partnerships with State and local entities to provide information and technical assistance on best practices and model programs that have assisted our non-Federal partners to improve the outcomes and efficiency of their service programs.

What we have learned from talking with our constituents and partners is that there is a clear need for a Federal partnership that assists State and local governments in educating children and youth with disabilities, and in providing effective vocational rehabilitation services leading to employment and independent living. We believe this Federal role is a critical one -- one that calls for strengthening, not lessening, our Nation's investment in the futures of the disabled individuals within our society.

FISCAL YEAR 1997 REQUEST

The 1997 budget request for OSERS' programs under the Special Education and the Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research accounts will help millions of disabled individuals share in the American dream. The Special Education request includes an increase of $307.5 million over the 1996 tentative conference level. This increase will help improve educational results for children with disabilities at a time when we are involved with you, the Congress, in an effort to renew this Nation's commitment to serving children with disabilities through the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

The request for the Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research account includes an increase of $57.5 million above the 1996 tentative conference level to increase employment and independent living opportunities for over 1 million individuals with disabilities.

SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS

The fiscal year 1997 budget proposal for the Office of Special Education Programs will be the first to fully reflect the new directions envisioned in the Administration's proposal for reauthorization of IDEA (H.R.1986), which is designed to strengthen its focus on improving educational results for children with disabilities, and to eliminate unnecessary administrative burdens and disincentives to best practices. This legislative proposal would build on 21 years of successful experience in implementing IDEA. Its development was guided by six key principles: enable students with disabilities to benefit from State and local education reform efforts by aligning IDEA with those efforts; promote high expectations for students with disabilities and access to the general curriculum in the regular classroom, whenever appropriate; address individual student needs in the least restrictive environment; ensure that those who are closest to students have the knowledge and training they need to work effectively with students and with each other; focus on teaching and learning to enable States, districts, and schools to use resources more effectively; and strengthen early intervention to help ensure that every child starts school ready to learn.

Our proposal would ensure greater accountability for results. For the first time, State educational agencies would be required to establish goals and indicators and regularly report on the performance of students with disabilities.

Grants to States

We are requesting $2.6 billion for the Grants to States program, an increase of 12 percent or $279 million over the 1996 tentative conference level and $280 million over fiscal year 1995. This would restore the Federal contribution to 7 percent of excess costs based on our estimates of the number of children that would be served in 1997. This request will provide $448 per child, compared with an estimated $413 in 1996, and will assist States and districts in serving an estimated 169,000 children over the 1996 level. The request would provide significant support to State and local education agencies that could be used to address critical issues in improving results for children with disabilities, such as providing these children with the accommodations necessary to enable them to participate in State and district-wide assessments, and developing alternate tests for those who cannot participate in the general assessments.

Preschool Grants

Additionally, $380 million is requested for the Preschool Grants program, an increase of approximately $20 million or 5.5 percent over the 1996 tentative conference level and the fiscal year 1995 appropriation. This increase will help offset the effect of 2 years of inflation in the costs of providing special education services to children ages 3 through 5. These funds are in addition to funds provided under the Grants to States program.

Grants for Infants and Families

The request includes $316 million for the Grants for Infants and Families program, the same level as the fiscal year 1995 appropriation. These funds help States support comprehensive, coordinated systems of early-intervention services for infants and toddlers from birth through age two and their families. Funding continues to be needed to help States to improve the quality of their statewide systems, provide critical services that otherwise would not be available, and encourage States to expand services to more children.

Program Support and Improvement

For Program Support and Improvement, $254 million is requested, the same level provided in 1995 for the current Special Purpose Fund programs. The request is based on our reauthorization proposal to consolidate the 14 categorical programs into 5 comprehensive and coordinated programs that would increase the impact and relevance of the Federal activities in relation to the key challenges that classrooms, schools, and States face in implementing Part B.

Through our Research to Practice program, we will concentrate on developing meaningful and timely information and putting it into the hands of those who need it -- States, school districts, educators, and parents -- to improve results for children with disabilities. We would support the kinds of activities carried out under ten of the existing programs, including research, demonstrations, technical assistance, and dissemination. By providing States with flexible resources, our request for State Improvement grants is intended to enhance the ability of State agencies to carry out their own plans for program improvement and to address critical compliance issues, such as shortages of adequately trained teachers. Funding for Professional Development would enable us to support activities in which States are unlikely to invest, such as preparing personnel to work with children with low-incidence disabilities such as blindness. The Parent Training and Information program would ensure that parents have the information they need to help their children with disabilities reach challenging standards. Finally, Technology Development and Educational Media funding would support the application of new technologies for children with disabilities and other activities carried out under the two existing technology and media programs such as captioning of television programs and films.

REHABILITATION SERVICES AND DISABILITY RESEARCH

The Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research account supports comprehensive and coordinated programs of vocational rehabilitation and independent living for individuals with disabilities through formula grants to States for vocational rehabilitation services, and a variety of research, demonstration, training, and service programs. The $2.5 billion request for this account targets increases to programs that provide direct services to assist individuals with disabilities in obtaining employment and pursuing independent living goals.

Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants

For the Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants program, the Administration requests a $61.7 million or 2.9 percent increase over the 1996 tentative conference level. The request is $2.5 million more than is needed to satisfy the statutory requirement to provide an increase in funding at least equal to the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers. The $2.2 billion request would assist State VR agencies to respond to the increase in eligible individuals in the VR system and to offset the increased costs of providing vocational rehabilitation services to a more significantly disabled population.

In 1995, the VR program provided services to over 1 million individuals with disabilities and assisted more than 209,000 individuals to achieve an employment outcome. The Rehabilitation Act requires a State VR agency to implement an order of selection if it cannot serve all eligible individuals and first serve those individuals with the most severe disabilities. In 1996, 52 percent of State VR agencies are operating under an order of selection compared to 30 percent in 1993.

The Administration is committed to closely monitoring program outcomes to improve program performance and is in the process of developing evaluation standards and performance indicators for the VR program. In addition, we are conducting a major longitudinal study to examine the success of the VR program in assisting individuals with disabilities to achieve sustainable improvement in employment, earnings, and independence. Initial results of the study will be available late Spring 1996, in time to influence discussion of the 1998 reauthorization of the Rehabilitation Act.

Program Improvement Activities

$2.4 million, an increase of $1.4 million over the 1996 amount for technical assistance, is requested for Program Improvement activities. These funds would help achieve the goals of the Rehabilitation Act by promoting broad-based planning and coordination, improved accountability, and by enhancing the Department's ability to address critical areas of national significance.

Increases for Other Rehabilitation and Independent Living Service Programs

Increases are proposed for the Client Assistance, Protection and Advocacy of Individual Rights, Migratory Workers, Centers for Independent Living and Independent Living Services for Older Blind Individuals programs, as well as the Helen Keller National Center to expand services or to meet rising costs associated with the provision of services to people with disabilities.

Decrease for Special Demonstration Programs

The Department is proposing a reduction of $5 million for the Special Demonstration Programs in order to redirect funds to higher priority direct-service programs such as the Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants program.

National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)

The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research provides an important link between research and practice in the delivery of services to individuals with disabilities. NIDRR supports research, training, and dissemination of information directed at facilitating the effective implementation of all titles of the Rehabilitation Act. The $70 million request for NIDRR maintains funding at the 1996 tentative conference level and would provide support for 61 research centers, including 12 new centers, as well as other activities such as technical assistance to businesses and State and local governments to facilitate implementation of the Americans With Disabilities Act, and model systems for the rehabilitation of persons with spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury that develop interventions from the point of injury through return to the community.

NIDRR also administers the Assistive Technology program and requests an increase of $3.1 million to restore this program to its fiscal year 1995 level. This program is designed to improve the access of individuals with disabilities to assistive technology services and devices.

The Department proposes to fund the remaining programs in this account at the 1996 tentative conference level; a level sufficient to support activities in these programs.

Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee, we believe that the President's 1997 budget request for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services is a positive step forward in fulfilling the Federal role in forging partnerships that provide meaningful services and opportunities to individuals with disabilities.

My colleagues and I will be happy to respond to any questions you may have.
-###-

[ Return to FY97 Budget Statements Page ] [Return to ED Homepage]

Last Updated -- April 20, 1996, (pjk)