The Balance Sheet
From Transformational to Informational
As the Recovery Act turns one year old, we lament that our work has moved from reporting on a transformational opportunity for special education to an informational process of reporting on use of IDEA funds for such things as modular classrooms to ease district overcrowding.
In planning how to spend their IDEA Recovery Act funds, many districts seem to have lost sight of one simple rule: IDEA federal funds may only be used for the excess cost of special education.
Read The Balance Sheet for guiding questions to determine "excess costs" and see if your district's spending plan can pass the test!
|
U.S. ED Open Government
Vote for Our Idea for Transparency!
The U.S. Department of Education (USEd) has posted information about its .
The public is invited to submit ideas on how USEd can:
- Improve the availability and quality of information
- Work better with others inside & outside the government
- Be more efficient & innovative
Guess what! Our efforts to report on the use of IDEA funds provided by the Recovery Act have uncovered many ways that USEd could move toward more transparency and availability of information.
We've posted our suggestion (its Idea #88) as follows:
"Every state is required to make an annual determination regarding
implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
for every local educational agency (LEA) within the state. Based on
guidance from USED, states have not made these annual determinations
available to the public.USED should (1) instruct all states to
post annual LEA determinations on their state dept. of education web
sites - in an easy-to-find location - and (2) post all LEA
determinations to the Ed.gov web site using a common format. Until
this level of transparency is made available, LEA determinations are
available on www.IDEAmoneywatch.com -- a web site devoted to tracking
use of the $11.3 billion in IDEA Part B funds made available to LEAs
via the Recovery Act."
You can comment on and vote in favor of our idea. The more votes we get, the better our chances of getting this issue resolved!
|
IDEA Money Watch YouTube Debut
Florida Watchdog, Mark Halpert, shares his experiences in two large Florida school districts
In F ebruary, IDEA Money Watch presented a session at the national conference of the Learning Disabilities Association in Baltimore, Maryland. Watch as Mark Halpert - one of our Florida watchdogs - provides some details on his experiences in Broward and Palm Beach school districts - two of the largest districts in the country.
|
Jan. 29th Spending Report :: State Update
States report vast differences on "obligated" funds
The U.S.ED's latest report on Recovery Act funds "obligated" by LEAs goes from zero to 51 -- some jurisdictions (HI, OK) report as much as 51% of available IDEA Recovery Act funds already obligated, while others (DC, WY) report zero funds obligated. Across the states, the average is 18%. All Recovery Act funds must be obligated by Sept. 30, 2011. That's just 576 days away!
Find out where your state stands -- our state-by-state chart is here.
|
Spread the Word about Us
IDEA Money Watch makes it easy ...
|
IDEA Money Watch relies on the support of dedicated parents and advocates across the country.
Please forward this message to friends and colleagues by using the "Forward email" link below. And please contact us if you would like to become part of our nationwide network!
|
