	Introduction to the IDEA

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides federal funding for the education of children with disabilities and requires, as a condition for the receipt of such funds, the provision of a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for children with disabilities. The most recent reauthorization was P.L. Funding for Part C, Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities, and Part D, National Activities, was authorized through FY2011. Part B—Assistance for Education of All Children with Disabilities

Part B provides federal funding to states for the education of children with disabilities and requires, as a condition for the receipt of such funds, the provision of a FAPE to children with disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21. Current IDEA Funding

Part B is the largest part of the IDEA, and it received nearly 95%, $12.7 billion, of the act's total funding in FY2018. Section 611, which covers children between the ages of 3 and 21 receiving special education and related services in public schools, received $12.3 billion in FY2018. Despite recent fluctuations in Part B appropriations, funding for the Part B grants-to-states program increased steadily for most of its first four decades ( Figure 1 ). For the past five years, appropriations for the Part C program have fluctuated. 94-142 . Part B formula grants to states are calculated based on one of two scenarios: (1) the appropriated amount available to states for the current fiscal year is greater than or equal to the amount that was available to states in the previous year, or (2) the amount available to states in the current year is less than the amount available to states the previous year. The following two sections of this report will examine how IDEA allocations are calculated in years when funding increases or remains the same, and in years when funding decreases. The maximum grant calculation is a unique component of the Part B formula. First, calculate the amount of new money provided to each state the previous year:
After totaling the new money available to all states in the previous year, calculate each state's ratably reduced funding amount for the current year:
Determine the final grant amount for each state by adding the state's ratably reduced new money grant amount to the state's FY1999 grant amount. Grants for IDEA Early Childhood Programs

			Preschool Grants Program (Part B, Section 619)

Section 619 of IDEA Part B authorizes grants to states for preschool programs serving children with disabilities ages three to five. When Congress enacted the predecessor legislation to the IDEA in 1975, they strove to ensure that (1) states would provide every eligible child FAPE in the least restrictive environment, and (2) states would not take on an untenable financial burden by agreeing to provide special education and related services. Beginning in FY2007 and used for all subsequent fiscal years, the maximum amount of state grants for the purposes of full funding has been calculated as 40% of APPE multiplied by the number of children with disabilities the state served in school year 2004-2005, and then adjusted by the annual rates of change in the state's population in the age range comparable to ages for which the state provides FAPE for children with disabilities (85% of the adjustment) and in the state's population of children living in poverty in the same age range (15% of the adjustment). 108-446 , the IDEA authorized "such sums as may be necessary" for the Part B grants-to-states program. The Part B grants-to-states program was not appropriated the amounts authorized by P.L.
Since the enactment of P.L. 94-142, the predecessor legislation to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), in 1975, the federal government has played a prominent role in encouraging the principle of educational equality for children with disabilities through a permanent, broad-scale federal assistance program. The IDEA is a grants statute that provides federal funding for the education of children with disabilities and requires, as a condition for the receipt of such funds, that states agree to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE; i.e., specially designed instruction provided at no cost to the parents that meets the needs of a child with a disability) to every eligible child.
The IDEA, most recently reauthorized by P.L. 108-446 in 2004, was appropriated approximately $13.4 billion in FY2018. The largest part of the IDEA is Part B, Assistance for Education of all Children with Disabilities, which covers special education for children and youth with disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21. Approximately 92% of total IDEA appropriations fund the Part B, Section 611, grants-to-states program. Part B was funded at $12.7 billion in FY2018, and in the 2016-2017 school year, 6.8 million children ages 3 through 21 received educational services under it.
In addition to the Part B grants-to-states program, the IDEA contains two programs for young children with disabilities. Part C authorizes federal funding for early intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities ages birth to three years, and Part B, Section 619 authorizes supplementary grants to states for preschool programs serving children with disabilities ages three to five.
Each IDEA program serving children and youth with disabilities has followed a similar funding pattern. Appropriations for IDEA Part B (Sections 611 and 619) and Part C increased steadily from each program's inception until the early 2000s. Since the IDEA's most recent reauthorization in FY2004, the funding for both Part B and Part C programs has fluctuated.
The IDEA has two formulas for determining Part B grants to states: one for years when the appropriated amount available to states is greater than or equal to the amount available to states in the previous year, and one for years when the amount available to states is less than the amount available to states the previous year. In years when the appropriated amount for Part B increases or remains the same, each state receives its base-year (FY1999) grant amount plus a share of the "new money" (i.e., the amount above the FY1999 appropriation), based on the state's share of the national child population and national population of children living in poverty, adjusted according to one maximum and three minimum grant calculations, and ratably reduced when necessary. In years when the appropriated amount for Part B decreases, each state receives its base-year grant amount plus a share of the new money the state received the previous year, which has been ratably reduced in proportion to the total new money available for the current year.
This report will examine the development of the allocation formula for the Part B grants-to-states program, the major changes to the formula over the past 40 years, current funding levels and trends, and how allocations are currently calculated. Issues concerning the funding of special education and related services will also be discussed.