And Federal Funding comes 2 years AFTER services have been provided- the school district is essentially reimbursed based on the accuracy of their record keeping. Until the reimbursement by the feds, the school district fronts the special ed cost.
Can someone explain to me (or give a link) of how special educaton
funding works and what it covers.
Does funding for special ed come from the state or district or federal
money or all of the above?
Is the amount determined by classification or by number of resource
room hours on IEP or just per child?
Is it up to the school how to use that money or does it have to be used
for predetermined resources?
ThanksIf a state wants to get Federal Funding for special education, it must follow ALL the rules set forth in the Federal Law, IDEA 2004. ALso, if it wants federal funding for regular ed, it must comply with the strictures of NCLB. In theory, each state is free to accept NO Federal funding for education and then do what it wants. But every, single state complies because they want and need the dough. In NY, local school taxes are used to fund most of the cost of local education, but there are lots and lots and lots of ways the state gives financial support, including extra for Special Education. Local Districts get tons of money that is put towards special education and also tons that is put towards the basic education of each child. It's a VERY complex funding formula. Suffice it to say that local school districts get plenty of subsidizing for special education. Believe me, they are not writing all these IEPs out of the goodness of their hearts -- it's what's required by the state in order to qualify for sped funds because the states won't get FEDERAL sped funds without compliance, either.
Some time ago I came across a budget report for my local school district. The report implied that the SD had charged a teacher early retirement incentive plan to special education although was severely lacking in details. It said that this shifted the costs although the bottom line was the same. It implied that the county would view this more favorably since this was now considered special education "encroachment" rather than general spending. Tzoya et al, what you are saying makes it sound as though the Feds would be interested in this particular tidbit. Any idea who I should forward a copy to?
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