Dive Brief:

Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.), chairman of the House education committee, plans to shift his focus to increased funding for special education.

In the past, Rep. Kline has criticized President Obama’s focus on competitive grants, which ignore formula grants such as special education funding.

However, it is unclear how Rep. Kline plans to grow the federal government’s special education budget, which currently stands at about $11.5 billion. His actions thus far consist of joining 130 lawmakers in signing a letter to the president asking to boost funding of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Dive Insight:

Rep. Kline has a rough and difficult journey ahead of him if he plans to make any true reforms to special education in America. It just doesn’t seem to be a priority of the federal government at the moment. The letter he signed last year asking for a boost in funding for IDEA was never met. In fact, under IDEA, the federal government is supposed to pick up 40% of the excess cost of educating disability students — though it continually does not reach this goal.

Kline says he would like to see the federal government reach its 40% commitment in the next three to five years.