Special education costs seen as costly service
WASHINGTON (AP) — Educating students with disabilities — a federally mandated responsibility — is seen as one of the costliest services school districts must provide, and one of the last that can be cut.
The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act provides a set of protections for 6.6 million students — about 13 percent of total student enrollment — who have dyslexia, autism, intellectual disabilities, blindness, or other impairments that affect educational performance. Those students are entitled to a "free, appropriate public education" in the least-restrictive environment that meets their needs. Fail to provide such services, and parents can sue in federal court.
Those guidelines have led to the perception that special education is an untouchable expense, even in lean economic times. While states and school districts are encouraged to squeeze out every dime in other areas of spending, trying to save money in special education services is thought to be a third rail: Touch it, and you'll get shocked.
"A lot of school districts want to avoid even the threat of litigation," says Michael Griffith, a school finance expert with the Denver-based Education Commission of the States. "The minute you start talking about efficiencies for special education, there is a huge uproar from parents. People look at that as cutting back on things."
But like everything else in the world of special education, the reality is complicated.
States and districts are able to adjust what they spend on special education, though