AUGUSTA – Congress appears deadlocked over legislation that would finally move the federal government toward fulfilling a promise made in 1975 to fund 40 percent of the cost of special education programs. Most Senate members of a joint conference committee support the move, but most House members do not and the disagreement is jeopardizing passage of any education reform measure.

“I will continue to fight to make funding this mandatory,” said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of the conference committee. “I am seeking a compromise to move this forward, but so far, House members have refused to compromise.”

Collins has proposed several alternative ways to phase in the cost of the program, but said she has not been able to convince House members on the conference committee to accept any of them. She said some House members want to delay consideration until next year when the legislation must be re-authorized to continue.

“They want to save money by making fewer children eligible,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine. “That is just going to put even more of a burden on local property taxpayers.”

He said no one should be surprised there is not enough money to begin to meet the full funding needs of special education. Efforts to find additional money will be very difficult because of expenditures already approved earlier this year.

The two other members of Maine’s congressional delegation – Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe and Democratic Rep. John Baldacci – also support providing the $2.5 billion a year in additional funds needed to pay for the special education measure over the next five years.

Maine Gov. Angus King said he hopes other governors will spend some time lobbying members of their state congressional delegations. He said that although the National Governors’ Association has made full funding of special education a high priority, it is not given the same importance by many in Congress.

“Our delegation has been fighting hard for full funding,” he said. “But this issue does not seem to have the same level of importance in some other states.”

Funding at the 40 percent level, rather than the 12 percent Maine currently gets would represent as much as $70 million in additional help for local schools, King said.

“That would be like a 10 percent increase in GPA (General Purpose Aid to education) in one year,” he said. “That is very important, given the increasing burden of the property tax.”

The costs of special education are growing across Maine and the nation. There are more students classified as “special needs” than before, up to 6.2 million last year from 4 million in 1975.

According to the Families and Advocates Partnership for Education, a Minneapolis-based group, increased diagnoses of children with learning disabilities, such as attention deficit disorder and dyslexia, have contributed to the increase, along with better prenatal care that has resulted in longer lives for children who once might not have survived birth.

The cost of the mandated program is significant across the state. For example, Mechanic Falls in Androscoggin County had to raise property taxes a full mill in 2000, just to pay for an increase in special education costs. The taxable value of Mechanic Falls is $80 million; so 1 mill on the property tax raises $80,000.

And in Bangor schools, special education costs more than $6,600 per student per year for the more than 500 students in the programs. Bangor’s total bill for special education alone is $3.6 million a year.

The conference committee is scheduled to take final votes on the legislation Thursday. While it is possible to change what the conference recommends on the floor of the House and Senate, it is very difficult. So the committee vote will likely determine the fate of the issue for this year.

And it is not certain at what level Congress will fund the existing special education program. Although the federal fiscal year started Oct. 1, several funding measures have yet to be passed by the Congress, including the bill that funds the special education program.