Are You Concerned About Special Education Funding?
Hello everyone!
Sorry I’ve been gone for a few months. We just finished moving my 84 y/o mother into our house and things have been a bit busy. Still have a bunch of cleaning out and processing things from her old house, but I’m happy to say that she’s settling in.
In the interim, the country has elected an administration that promises to “eliminate the Dept. of Education.” I expect this is a concern for my readers many of whom work with or have children with special education needs.
Uncertain times are hard, so let’s get a clearer picture. First, many attempts have been made over the last decades to eliminate the Dept. of Education. It would require both the House and the Senate to pass a bill to eliminate it. This is unlikely to happen at this time.
Second, the protections of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is also law and cannot be removed without joint congressional action. That is highly unlikely. It is this IDEA that promises a “Free and Appropriate Public Education” to all, including kids with learning disabilities. I do not expect this will go away.
Third, the Dept. of Education has unfortunately, never been able to get congress to meet the original funding goal for special education that was recommended in IDEA. The recommendation had been that federal dollars would fund 40% of special education needs for students. That left the states responsible for 60% of those costs. The thought here was that special education students cost twice as much to educate compared to non-special education students. So if the federal government covered 40% of that higher number the states only had to come up with an additional 10% per special ed. kid.
If you google “federal funding for special education” it will spit out the number 13% as being covered. Unfortunately, it is not that simple. In 1999 lawmakers were concerned that special education needs were getting higher. Rather than think, “wow this is great that we are finding and helping these kids” they decided they didn’t want to spend more money on special ed kids. So, now the funding formula goes like this: states get the same special ed funding they got in 1999. Then if this number is lower than the cost of 40% of special ed. cost x the number of students they can get extra money…base on 2 criteria.
The state’s total number of K-12 students.
The state’s total number of K-12 students living in poverty.
Mark Lieberman, a school finance reporter for Education week, reports: “Researchers have recently sounded the alarm that this current formula dramatically shortchanges states with the largest overall populations of K-12 students, states with the largest shares of students in poverty, and states with the largest shares of students with disabilities. In a paper last year, these researchers argued for revamping IDEA rather than simply adding more funding.”
All of which means that special education continues to be underfunded and supported mostly by state and local funds. So, if you’re living in a poor neighborhood you’re probably not getting much help. If you’re in a well off area, you’re getting more help from the schools, but still probably not what is actually needed.
What it also means is that the formula for how much the federal government funds special eduction is very much up to legislators. There is a long standing agenda among certain circles to reduce the size of the federal government. One mechanism for this is referred to as the “Starve the Beast” approach. The idea is the if you can’t make something go away, you can cut it’s funding so much that it can no longer function. This is how I expect the new administration will go about trying to “eliminate” the Department of Education. Wherever possible they will attempt to cut funding. One of the main expenses of the Dept. of Education is special education funding. Consider asking your legislator to fight this.
You can point out that a simple review of the statistics for kids with learning disabilities (where most special ed money goes) shows that approximately 30% of every class room is a neuro-atypical learner. If the state is on average, serving only 13% of their students then they are missing more than 17% of students who need instructors with training in near-atypical teaching. That 17% is the school to prison pipeline that the state will pay much, much, much more for in the long run.
You can further point out to your legislator that the cheapest solution is to fund teacher programs that integrate the science with learning and cognitive science into their teacher education program. If 30% of a classroom learns differently then we need to, and can, train teachers to work with all kids. The vast majority of teacher education programs teach nothing…nothing…about neuro-atypical learners. Not even how to identify them in the classroom. Fixing teacher education should be a goal of all lawmakers.
Next week: More Stories from Special Education Professionals
I’m working on a book about special education and seeking families, teachers, and school professionals with stories to tell. If you’ve been through this struggle, I’d love to hear from you. Everything will, of course, be confidential. You can reach me at: 241kcawley@gmail.com
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