Special Education Budget Cuts, Sequestration, Hurt America's Most Vulnerable Students
For American students with disabilities, class sizes are increasing, services are waning and providers are disappearing. More than half of parents who have children with disabilities and responded to a survey say their schools have altered special education services because of declining funding since last year -- in some cases, because of federal budget cuts known as sequestration, according to survey results released Thursday.
Of the 52.7 percent of parents who indicated services for their children had changed, 29.5 percent said services decreased, 32.2 percent said class sizes grew, 27.4 percent reported service providers dropped, and 13.1 percent said budget cuts had led to a change in a student's placement. The survey results were compiled from answers provided by 1,065 respondents, including 1,007 parents, by the National Center for Learning Disabilities, a Washington-based advocacy group.
A Provo, Utah, mother said her son's class size jumped from eight students to 15.