The Ongoing Special Education Lawsuit
The Sunnyside School District has filed a brief in support of the special ed lawsuit, says The Daily Sun News:
This one's divisive. The Washington State Special Education Coalition is against the suit, arguing that what we really need is more funding for education overall, but the districts that filed the lawsuit originally also make a good case for needing more money for sped kids. The state put aside money in the last budget to fight the lawsuit (see here), which is scheduled to get underway in October of this year, conveniently when Governor Gregoire is supposed to be rolling out the final products of the Washington Learns initiative.
I think the lawsuit is one of the big three things that people who care about education in Washington should be paying attention to, along with Washington Learns and the WEA's Take the Lead initiative.
The Sunnyside School District will file an amicus brief in support of litigation by other school districts seeking increased funding for special education programs.
The resolution to file a friend of the court brief was approved by the Sunnyside School Board Thursday night.
Noting that the state constitution calls for state funding of basic education, and that state courts have included special education as part of basic education, the district's resolution calls for the state to develop special education funding "that provides full funding of necessary programs for all students in special education programs."
The original litigation began two years ago, said Superintendent Rick Cole, when the state re-configured special education funding.
"It used to be that if you had a special education student you received a certain amount of funds," Cole said. The new system, he added, now caps funding.
Schools receive special education funds from the state for up to 12.7 percent of their student enrollment. Any special needs enrollment beyond that ratio is unfunded.
Sunnyside schools fall just under that magic number, with 12.6 percent of student enrollment requiring special education needs.
...
Noting that special education students can range from those requiring speech therapy to serious handicaps needing an additional full time staffer, Eaton emphasized that the school district takes care of its students.
At the same time, the state needs to do its part, she said.
"When the federal government increased special education funding the state actually lowered theirs," Eaton said. "Education is supposed to be a state responsibility. The state funding does not cover special education needs."
This one's divisive. The Washington State Special Education Coalition is against the suit, arguing that what we really need is more funding for education overall, but the districts that filed the lawsuit originally also make a good case for needing more money for sped kids. The state put aside money in the last budget to fight the lawsuit (see here), which is scheduled to get underway in October of this year, conveniently when Governor Gregoire is supposed to be rolling out the final products of the Washington Learns initiative.
I think the lawsuit is one of the big three things that people who care about education in Washington should be paying attention to, along with Washington Learns and the WEA's Take the Lead initiative.
posted by Ryan at 2:15 PM
1 Comments:
As a Special Educator, I'm all for that. But the lawsuit needs to go further and get the Federal Government as well because it is funding its IDEIA mandate by less than 40% of what Congress has legislated. I am tired of being the middleman between families of children with disabilities who need special education servcies and Districts that are strapped for cash, creating a tug of war at the bottom of the power pyramid. To fix the problem, we need to go straight to the horse's mouth. The only way to make the Feds respond is through well-argued and well-evidenced lawsuits.
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