Funding Formula Utilized by Mars Area School District to determine Federal Funding Shortfall of Individuals with Disabilties Education Act which applies to special education students.

The IDEA Formula to find one's district's IDEA Funding Shortfall is this: Your district's IDEA funding shortfall = the number of children in the district as classified as in need of IDEA services multiplied by $1,735.00. In Pennsylvania, this figure is even less than the average estimate as can be clarified by clicking on the Congressional Funding of IDEA and Title 1 Letter dated January 30th, 2005. Furthermore, the formula is expanded on a spreadsheet and can be accessed by clicking on Federal Monies.

Under the 1997 reauthorization of IDEA, the federal government committed to provide 40% ($3266.00) of the national average, per pupil expenditure ($8,165.00) to educate children with disabilities. The $1,735.00 per student represents the federal funding shortfall per pupil. The federal government currently provides $1,531.00 per pupil, hence the difference is $1,735.00.

(The IDEA information above is based on National Averages and is only an estimate. While individual figures may vary based on state expenditures and local funding levels, the federal information may vary based on the state expenditures and local funding levels, the federal information (APPE) is based on data available from the Department of Education Budget Service.)

Under Title 1, the Congress promised funding levels of $20.5 billion for Title 1 in 2005. They only provided $12.7 billion. This amounts to roughly 60% of the promised funding level. Therefore, to estimate the federal shortfall to your district for Title 1, please add .40 cents for every Title 1 dollar you receive to estimate what your Title 1 allocation would be in the event Congress kept its original commitment.
Keep in mind, this is only an estimate, however it is useful in providing a rough estimate of what Congress should have provided if they funded Title 1 at the levels authorized in No Child Left Behind. Finally, to determine the Federal Education Tax within any given school district, add these two figures together:

IDEA Shortfall+Title 1 Shortfall=Federal Education Tax

The Title 1 figures are based on the FY2005 Authorized funding level included in the No Child Left Behind Law.