Jun 22 2008
Special Education Funding
Let’s face it. The amount of money available to provide services to students with disabilities is a big factor in the types and amounts of services the students receive.
In Pennsylvania, the state Department of Education assumes that 16% of the students in every school district are eligible for special education and provide special education funds based on that number.
The Community Justice Project, a legal advocacy organization in Harrisburg, has filed a lawsuit based on Pennsylvania’s special education funding formula. They argue that some districts such as Lancaster have high numbers of special education students while others such as the Mars Area school district have very low numbers. According to Pennlive.com, the special education enrollment in Lancaster is about 25% of the student body while it is only about 5% in the Mars Area School District.
The Community Justice Project attorneys argue that this funding formula results in an inequitable distribution of funds for Pennsylvania’s special education students.
The Court hasn’t ruled yet in this case and the Department of Education isn’t saying much about it. What do you think? Is the Pennsylvania funding system fair? Is there a better way?
2 Responses to “Special Education Funding”
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The Pennsylvania system doesn’t seem to make much sense to me. If budgets are revisited annually, then it would follow that they could take the extra two minutes to allocate the finds where there needed. That would be fair to the students receiving the services, but then of course, the money would actually be spent. And why would anyone actually want to use allocated fund on what they’ve been allocated for?