IDEA Full Funding Act Mandates Federal Special Education Spending Floor, Reaching 40% Target by 2035

The IDEA Full Funding Act is straightforward: it forces the federal government to finally start paying its long-promised share of special education costs. Starting in fiscal year 2026, this bill locks in mandatory funding levels for special education programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), ensuring that the federal contribution steadily increases until it hits the historic 40% target by 2035.

The Check That Finally Clears

For decades, the federal government has talked about covering 40% of the excess costs of special education, but they’ve never actually done it—leaving local school districts and states to pick up the massive tab. This bill changes the game by making the funding mandatory, not discretionary, and setting a clear, escalating schedule. For FY 2026, the law mandates an appropriation that is the greater of a specific dollar amount ($6.4 billion) or 4.5 percent of the total national cost base. This base is calculated by multiplying the number of students receiving special education services by the national average cost per student in public schools.

This calculation is key because it ties federal funding directly to the actual, rising cost of education and the number of students who need services. So, if national school spending goes up, the federal contribution floor goes up, too. It’s a mechanism designed to keep pace with reality, not just flat budget numbers.

The Road to 40% and What It Means for Your Kid’s School

The funding percentages climb every year, creating a clear glide path to full funding. By FY 2030, the mandated appropriation jumps to the greater of $18.5 billion or 11.9 percent of the cost base. This increase continues until FY 2035 and every year thereafter, when the federal government must provide the greater of $69.6 billion or 40 percent of the calculated amount (Section 2). This move provides long-term fiscal certainty for states and local districts, which is huge.

Think about your local school district budget. Right now, when the federal government underfunds IDEA, that money has to come from somewhere else—usually the general fund. That means money that could have gone to lowering class sizes, buying new textbooks, or funding extracurricular activities gets diverted to pay for legally mandated special education services. By mandating this federal funding increase, the bill frees up local tax dollars, allowing districts to invest in programs that benefit all students.

Who Pays and What’s the Catch?

The beneficiaries here are obvious: students with disabilities get the resources they need with greater certainty, and local taxpayers get a break on the costs. However, moving billions of dollars from discretionary spending to mandatory spending has consequences. This significant increase in spending—rising to nearly $70 billion annually—comes directly from the Federal Treasury. While it’s a necessary investment in education, it puts pressure on the federal budget and could potentially crowd out other federal programs that rely on discretionary funding (Section 2).

In short: This bill is the legislative equivalent of putting the federal government’s promise in an iron cage. It ensures that districts can plan for the long term, knowing that the resources for special education will scale with student needs and inflation, rather than being subject to annual political battles. It’s a massive win for fiscal predictability in education funding.