Commentary; Posted: 4/18/07
It's time for state to fully fund special education
By Don Heinzman
No one wants to suggest that funding for special education should be reduced, because children who are truly mentally and developmentally disabled deserve special help.
That’s why it’s hard to face the truth that school districts in Minnesota are having to cut their operating budgets to subsidize special education programs that the state and federal government refuse to fund fully, as promised.
The Minnesota Senate has a school financing bill that would provide $500 million for special education the next two years, and it needs to be passed and signed by the governor.
That $500 million would fill the gap left by the state in 2003 which capped the state’s share of special education funding. The House Education Finance bill also has some funds for special education.
It is hard to believe that Gov. Tim Pawlenty would veto a bill that had desperately needed funds for special education students.
The public needs to understand that the federal government which promised to pay 40 percent of the programs it MANDATED is paying 13 percent of the costs.
The public needs to understand that the federal and state governments decided that students with special needs should be identified and an individual program should be devised for each one and it has to be funded. That’s the law.
So who is making up the difference of what’s needed and what’s not paid for special education by the federal and state government?
Local school districts, and those subsidies are staggering.
Last school year the shortfalls paid by local Minnesota public school districts out of their operating budgets was $474 million. For this reason, and because of increases in staff salaries and benefits, school boards are cutting valuable programs for the other students.
Here’s one example:
The Milaca school district is cutting, among other things, its high school cheerleaders to save $3352. This is one of the $281,000 in cuts needed to balance that school district’s budget.
This same school district is paying $813,579 out of its general fund for special education students to make up for a shortfall in state and federal funding.
This district is saving $14,000 by making the kids walk longer distances; it’s eliminating an agriculture teacher and a reading specialist, and increasing activity fees and admission to all school events. The district is also eliminating one hour of music instruction and turning down the heat two degrees to save $4000.
The Burnsville-Eagan-Savage school district is laying off five elementary art teachers to cut $4 million to balance next year’s budget. This same district subsidized special education for $7.5 million from its general fund in 2005-06.
Forest Lake School District 831 utilizes some $1 million of general fund revenue each year to cover the cost of the mandated special education expense.
Minnesotans who sit on the sidelines and let this underfunding of special education go on while their kids have to walk more, pay more, and cheer no more are ignoring what’s really causing all this budget cutting.
Meanwhile, a governor says no to increasing taxes and some legislators say funding special education more is just too spendy.
This is not a case of special needs kids depriving other kids of educational opportunities. It’s a case of a federal and state government refusing to fund a program they mandated and are not supporting.
Unless legislators hear from the public, the state and federal government will continue to underfund special education and let school districts pay the difference. School boards have only one recourse but to levy more property taxes to fund this important special education, a recourse that’s becoming more unpopular.
Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605