IDEA Stimulus Funds Create Options for LEAs; Early Intervention Services, Technology Top List

The extra $11.3 billion in Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) stimulus dollars will provide local districts with unprecedented opportunities to improve instructional quality and integrate new technologies, say school leaders.

Not only does the near doubling of IDEA funding in the 2009-10 school year offer additional flexibility in offering coordinated early intervening services (CEIS) and meeting "maintenance-of-effort" requirements, but the new resources can help districts integrate research-based strategies and break down educational silos.

At a July forum on Capital Hill, Judy Wurtzel, the U.S. Department of Education's(ED's) assistant secretary for planning, evaluation and policy development, called the IDEA stimulus money an "unheard-of opportunity" in building long-term capacity.

At the same time, however, the one-time nature of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding and the intricacies of the law's civil rights' mandates require that district leaders tread carefully in spending the new money. In addition, the slow distribution of stimulus funding by the states to local education agencies (LEAs) and some confusion about basic requirements such as reporting continue to pose challenges.