Oregon special education funding drops; state may face federal sanctions
Published: Saturday, November 13, 2010, 10:00 AM
Oregon wants to seek a waiver from the federal government to avoid cuts to special education in the 2011-12 school year.
Federal special education law requires states to fund special education at the same level or higher from year to year or face penalties. But Oregon’s 2010-11 special education funding is about down $19 million compared to 2009-10.
If the waiver request is denied, the federal government will reduce its contribution to the state by $19 million for the 2011-12 school year - a 15 percent reduction in federal money that would directly impact local schools statewide.
“A sanction at the state level would put an additional hardship on our school districts that are already struggling,” said Nancy Latini, Oregon Department of Education’s assistant