select a page . . . Home What's New Sitemap Press Topics **Advocacy** Articles FAQ's Tips Newsletters **Law** Articles Caselaw Pleadings Regs **Topics** Advocacy ADD/ADHD Autism Damages Discipline Discriminations Due Process Eligilibity Evaluations FAPE High Stakes Tests IDEA IDEA 2002 IEPs LRE/Inclusion Mediation No Child Left NCLB Info NCLB Directories Report Cards&Stats Research Based Inst. Private Schools Letter Writing Placement Safe Guards Related Services Retain & Promote Retaliation Sct 504&ADA School Personnel Teacher & Principal Transition **Pubs** Spec. Ed. Law FETA Newsletter Flyers **Services** Orders Our Seminars Consults Communities Headline News Updates **Resources** Free Pubs Free Newsletters Disability Groups State DOEs PTI Centers Legal&Advocacy International State Yellow Pgs Best School Sites Asmnt Terms Sped&Legal Terms **Book Store** Best Of Disabilities Special Ed Test & Eval IEPs Legal Strategy Negotiate Parents Kids Updates **Other** Search Subscribe About Us Privacy Policy Disclaimer Link to Us Home
Wrightslaw
Home
What's New
Sitemap
Press
Topics
Advocacy Library
Doing Your Homework
Articles
FAQ's
Tips
Newsletters
Law Library
Articles
Caselaw
Statute & Regs
Topics
Advocacy
ADD/ADHD
Autism
Damages
Behavior & Discipline
Discrimination
Due Process
Eligibility
ESY
Evaluations
FAPE
High-Stakes Tests
IDEA
IDEA 2002
IEPs
Letters & Paper Trails
LRE/Inclusion
Mediation
No Child Left Behind
NCLB Information
NCLB Directories
NCLB Law & Regs
Privacy & Records
Reading
Related Services
Report Cards & Statistics
Research-Based Instruction
Retain & Promote
Retaliation
Section 504 & ADA
Teachers & Principals
States Send Millions Back to Feds!
Lack of Federal Funds? Not Really.
by Suzanne Heath, Research Editor, Wrightslaw
Print this page
One complaint we frequently hear in discussions about improving educational outcomes is the "lack of federal funding" complaint. We hear that states are doing the best they can with the meager federal education funds they receive.
This argument assumes that:
running a successful educational system is inefficient; and
it is cheaper to do ineffective things that leave many children behind.
Now we learn that the inadequate federal funding complaint is a myth.
In an article that received far less attention than it deserves, Associated Press reporter Nancy Zuckerbrod found that every state returned federal education funds to the U.S. Treasury last year, rather than spend these funds on education.
Some states returned millions of dollars. Check your state
Are you a
Teacher,
Parent,
Superintendent,
School board member,
Principal, or
Special education director?
Could your school or school district have used that federal education money?
Are you a taxpayer who must now pay additional state taxes to make up for the federal dollars your state sent back to Washington?
Do you want this to happen again?
If the answer is "no," contact the people in your state who are responsible for these decisions. Tell them that:
their complaints about inadequate federal funding are not credible, and
you expect them to spend the federal funds they receive on programs that benefit children in your state.
State Funds Returned
Alabama $1,517,152
Alaska $396,396
American Samoa $901,109
Arizona $3,013,975
Arkansas $56,241
California $1,680,554
Colorado $912,933
Connecticut $915,805
Delaware $522,817
District of Columbia $3,077,389
Florida $3,525,865
Georgia $3,643,267
Guam $968,860
Hawaii $229,132
Idaho $241,109
Illinois $1,052,991
Indiana $1,485,081
Iowa $337,920
Kansas $79,947
Kentucky $374,989
Louisiana $6,060,902
Maine $31,579
Mariana Islands $77,922
Maryland $1,772,645
Massachusetts $126,313
Michigan $5,093,607
Micronesia $364,604
Minnesota $116,408
Mississippi $793,899
Missouri $4,696,297
Montana $279,013
Nebraska $271,161
Nevada $685,696
New Hampshire $233,702
New Jersey $3,447,871
New Mexico $6,215,135
New York $1,653,779
North Carolina $80,381
North Dakota $1,062,722
Ohio $580,218
Oklahoma $451,311
Oregon $692,200
Palau $65,488
Pennsylvania $3,457,847
Puerto Rico $38,636,034
Rhode Island $37,488
South Carolina $372,997
South Dakota $131,527
Tennessee $3,869,768
Texas $11,007,911
Utah $108,715
Vermont $18,258
Virginia $3,452,832
Virgin Islands $2,038,587
Washington $424,657
West Virginia $118,118
Wisconsin $465,247
Wyoming $386,579
Source: U. S. Department of Education
Links
Article by AP reporter Nancy Zuckerbrod in the Detroit News
State contacts and accountability information for all states
See also NCLB Information Directories
Meet Sue Heath
Sue Heath of Hollis, New Hampshire, is the research editor for Wrightslaw.
In addition to writing about creative advocacy strategies in Doing Your Homework, Sue is co-author of Wrightslaw: No Child Left Behind (ISBN: 1-892320-12-6) that is published by Harbor House Law Press.
Sue is also webmaster for the New Hampshire Branch of the International Dyslexia Association and membership chair of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA).
Local Parents Learn About New Law (Hampton Union)
Copyright © 2002-2004 by Suzanne Heath.
Here is a copy of that report. Hope this helps.
Renee