Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

Thank you for the opportunity to present and discuss the President's fiscal year 2004 budget request for the Special Education and Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research accounts administered by the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS).

The fiscal year 2004 budget proposal is presented at a critical time in the history of several of our Nation's most important disability programs. During the next year, we face the important task of reauthorizing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Rehabilitation Act, both cornerstones of our Nation's commitment to serve millions of Americans with disabilities. Over the history of these two major laws, much has been accomplished for both children and adults with disabilities—millions of individuals who might otherwise have remained uneducated, unserved, and unemployed, despite their abilities and desires, are now active and productive participants in the American dream.

However, significant barriers still exist. People with disabilities continue to seek a high quality education; meaningful, competitive, and integrated employment; and active participation in all aspects of community life. Unfortunately, on average, Americans with disabilities still have lower levels of educational attainment, are poorer, and are more likely to be unemployed than individuals without disabilities. We must build on the commitments that we have made in ensuring that no child is left behind (including children with disabilities) and that adults with disabilities face a promise of meaningful employment and full participation in American society.

The 2004 Budget Request

The Administration's budget focuses resources on programs that will enhance opportunities for America's individuals with disabilities. Overall, the proposed budget of $13.7 billion represents a significant but targeted investment.

Special Education

The Administration is requesting $10.7 billion for Special Education to support all activities authorized by the IDEA. It is imperative that special education operate as an integral part of a system that expects high achievement of all children, rather than a means of avoiding accountability for children who are more challenging to educate or who have fallen behind. This is why it is so important that the IDEA be aligned with the principles and spirit of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation.

Grants to States

The IDEA Grants to States program is the Nation's primary program for ensuring that children with disabilities aged 3 through 21 receive the same educational and learning opportunities as their non-disabled peers. For fiscal year 2004, the Department is requesting $9.5 billion for the Grants to States program to assist States and schools in meeting the excess costs incurred in providing special education and related services to students with disabilities. The request represents almost a 50 percent increase in funding since the President took office, and reflects his continued commitment to increase assistance to States and schools to help them serve children with disabilities. This level of funding would provide an average of about $1,426 for each of the almost 6.7 million children with disabilities that are estimated to require special education services for 2004. In addition, the request would boost the Federal contribution to 19 percent of the national average per pupil expenditure (compared with 7 percent in 1996), the highest level of Federal contribution in the history of the program.

Preschool Grants

The budget request includes $390 million for Preschool Grants for fiscal year 2004. This funding supplements funds provided to States under the Grants to States program for services needed to prepare young children with disabilities, aged 3 through 5, to enter and succeed in school.

Grants for Infants and Families

The Administration requests $447 million for Grants for Infants and Families. The program provides assistance to States in implementing their statewide systems of early intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities from birth through age 2 and their families. These funds will be used to help States serve over 270,000 infants and toddlers and to improve early identification of these children with disabilities. We know from research that the earlier we can reach and serve children in this critical age group, the greater the educational results for those children in the years ahead.

National Activities

The six National Activities programs, for which we are requesting a total of $325 million, are integral and vital parts of the IDEA. These programs support a variety of coordinated research, demonstration, training, technical assistance, and other activities to help States, schools, teachers, and families improve results for children with disabilities. Scientifically based research is the cornerstone of our efforts to implement these programs, which are focused on identifying methods that have been proven to improve results and putting those methods into practice. The Research and Innovation program ($78.4 million requested) and the Technology and Media Services program ($32.7 million requested) are the primary resource for identifying what works in improving special education and early intervention services. Technical Assistance and Dissemination ($53.5 million requested) and Parent Information Centers ($26 million requested) are the primary programs for putting information on effective practices into the hands of people who are currently in the field working with children with disabilities. The Personnel Preparation program ($90 million requested) is the primary means of ensuring that new personnel have the research-proven skills needed to improve results for children with disabilities. The State Improvement program ($44.0 million requested) provides resources to States that they may use in a variety of ways to improve results based on their self-identified needs.

Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research

The $3.0 billion request for the Rehabilitation Services and Disability Research account supports a major goal of the Department and of the Administration to ensure that all Americans, including those with the most significant disabilities, have an opportunity to develop the skills necessary to actively and meaningfully participate in the workforce and to achieve independence in their communities throughout America.

Vocational Rehabilitation

The Administration is requesting $2.7 billion for Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) State Grants to assist State VR agencies to increase the participation of individuals with disabilities in meaningful, competitive, integrated employment. The request includes an increase in funding that satisfies the statutory requirement to increase funding by at least the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index.

With the fiscal year 2003 President's budget, the Administration launched a wide-ranging reform of the Federal Government's overlapping training and employment programs. The multi-year reform effort targets resources to programs with documented effectiveness, and eliminates funding for ineffective, duplicative, or overlapping programs. The proposal was designed to reduce the number of Federal training programs from 48 to 28. Consistent with this crosscutting reform, the 2004 President's budget request includes our proposal to consolidate funding for three secondary vocational rehabilitation programs in this account (Supported Employment State Grants, Projects With Industry (PWI), and the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Program) within the Vocational Rehabilitation State Grants Program. To assist in the transition of projects from Federal to State and local support, the Administration is proposing language to authorize State VR agencies to use their funds to cover the fiscal year 2004 continuation costs of PWI projects within their States.

The request for the Demonstration and Training program includes $7 million to establish transition mentoring projects that would enhance the capacity of State VR agencies to support transitioning students in pursuing careers that offer quality employment. This important new initiative links students with mentors who have disabilities and can serve as powerful role models. These mentors will provide students with disabilities examples of how to achieve their post-school goals based on informed choice, expressed interests, and identified abilities.

National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)

The Administration requests $110 million for the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. NIDRR conducts research and related activities to improve the lives of persons with disabilities. This work supports key elements of the President's New Freedom Initiative, which is committed to removing the remaining barriers to equality that continue to affect many Americans with disabilities. The NIDRR Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers (RERCs), for example, are working to develop new and improved assistive technologies that will enable persons with disabilities to participate more fully in society and the workplace. The Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program acts as a catalyst for the development of new rehabilitation technology by providing funds to small businesses with strong research capabilities. The Model Systems grants fund innovative projects designed to improve comprehensive medical, vocational, and other rehabilitative services for people with spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, or severe burns. NIDRR is also helping build capacity for future rehabilitation research through Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training grants, which support advanced training for engineers, medical personnel, and other professionals, and through its Fellowship program.

Assistive Technology

Funds are not requested for programs authorized under the Assistive Technology (AT) Act in fiscal year 2004. The Administration's request would eliminate funding for the Title I AT State grant program and its accompanying technical assistance program, shift funding for the Title I protection and advocacy activities to the Protection and Advocacy for Individual Rights Program, and postpone any additional funding requests for the Title III Alternative Financing program until current multi-year funds are spent and future funding needs can be determined.

The purpose of the AT State grant program, which began in fiscal year 1989, was to assist States in increasing the availability of, funding for, access to, and provision of AT devices and services through changes in laws, regulations, policies, practices, procedures, and organizational structures. The program was originally designed to be time-limited: States were to accomplish these activities within 10 years. The fiscal year 2003 appropriation continues the funding for all States. In fact, 31 States will have received at least 13 years of funding through this program.

Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)

To improve the practical use of performance information, the Office of Management and Budget, in collaboration with other Federal agencies including the Department of Education, has developed the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART), comprised of assessment criteria on program performance and management. We have assessed 4 OSERS' programs using the PART.

The PART assessment for the Special Education Grants to States program indicated that, while the IDEA statute has significant leverage on State and school behavior when it comes to educating students with disabilities, there is no evidence that large increases in funding in recent years have resulted in improved results for students with disabilities. To address this issue, we will be working with Congress during the upcoming reauthorization of the IDEA to strengthen the focus of IDEA on improving results, consistent with the principles reflected in the NCLB.

For Preschool Grants, the PART assessment highlighted problems related to the lack of performance data related to outcomes, and for Grants for Infants and Families it raised a concern that, while the Department has annual performance measures related to process goals, it does not have performance goals or measures related to results. For Vocational Rehabilitation, the PART assessment indicated that, while data were used for monitoring and directing technical assistance to States, they were not sufficiently timely to use for overall program management. We are currently working to address these problems.

Conclusion

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, we believe that this budget request is an important step forward in our continuing efforts to improve the lives of millions of Americans with disabilities and their families. The President is committed to ensuring that no child is left behind. We must continue to work together to enable people with disabilities to obtain an education, to find meaningful, competitive, integrated employment, and to lead fulfilling and independent lives. By focusing on scientifically based strategies, we will spend these funds on programs that are proven to work, thereby improving accountability for results throughout special education and rehabilitation programs.

My colleagues and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

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