IDEA Money Watch
 Action Alert November 2013
Sequestration Updates

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of Congress 

Use Contacting the Congress to find your members of Congress and send them your message to stop sequestration.
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New Report on Impact of Sequestration 

Under sequestration, discretionary programs - including both defense and nondefense programs (or NDD) - will face more than $700 billion in cuts over the next eight years.

In two years, NDD spending will equal a smaller percentage of our economy than ever before - if lawmakers do not act to replace sequestration with a more meaningful and comprehensive deficit reduction strategy.  

The Advocacy Institute - sponsor of IDEA Money Watch - has joined with thousands of organizations to form NDD United and to create a new report on the impact of sequestration across programs that rely on discretionary federal funding, including federal funds to support the provision of special education services as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The report,
Faces of Austerity: How Budget Cuts Have Made Us Sicker, Poorer, and Less Secure
is available at NDD United.

Now, here's what you can do:
  • Send your members of Congress a message asking for a balanced approach to spending reductions and to avoid any reductions to federal funding for IDEA.           

Use Contacting the Congress to find your members of Congress and send them your message to end sequestration.

Our nation's 6 million students with disabilities are counting on you! 
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US Department of Education Clarifies IDEA Maintenance of Effort

The US Department of Education has issued proposed amendments to the federal IDEA regulations regarding local maintenance of effort. The amendments seek to clarify existing policy and make other related changes.

A summary of the proposed amendments is available here. Public comment is invited until December 2, 2013.

IDEA Money Watch urges you to support these proposed amendments, which will provide needed guidance on several provisions of IDEA maintenance of effort requirements for local school districts. See suggested comments at the end of our summary.