POLICY LETTER: June 16, 2011 to National Association of State Directors of Special Education Executive Director Bill East

June 16, 2011Dr. Bill East, Executive DirectorNational Association of State Directors ofSpecial Education, Inc.1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 320Alexandria, Virginia 22314Dear Dr. East:I am writing in response to your letter to me dated February 17, 2011, requesting a written response to your question about the local educational agency (LEA) maintenance of effort (MOE) requirement in 34 CFR 300.203(b). In your letter, you ask about the following scenario: LEA fails to meet their maintenance of effort. As a result, the LEA pays the State educational agency (SEA) an amount equal to the shortage. The SEA then returns the money to the U.S. Department of Education.Question: In determining the base amount that the LEA must spend the following year, do they maintain the base amount from the previous year, or reset the base amount to reflect the lower amount actually spent the previous year?Under section 613(a)(2)(A)(iii) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and 34 CFR 300.203(a), except as provideBased on section 607(e) of the IDEA, we are informing you that our response is provided as informal guidance and is not legally binding, but represents an interpretation by the U.S. Department of Education of the IDEA in the context of the specific facts presented.If you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact my office.Sincerely,/s/Melody Musgrove, Ed.D.DirectorOffice of Special Education Programs ith respect to State-level maintenance of financial support, the IDEA specifically addresses what level of support the State must maintain in a year following a year in which the State fails to maintain its required level of support. Section 612(a)(18)(D) provides that the State's level of support remains the level that would have been required in the absence of the failure to maintain support. age PAGE * MERGEFORMAT 2 Dr. Bill East, Executive Director