Reform Special Education Funding
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The Education Law Center’s critical special education reform bill — SB 1115 — will not move forward in the state legislature. The 2011-12 session of the General Assembly is over. Special education legislation will need to start all over again next year when the new two-year legislative session begins.
The special education funding and accountability [...]
The Education Law Center’s critical special education reform bill — SB 1115 — will not move forward in the state legislature. The 2011-12 session of the General Assembly is over. Special education legislation will need to start all over again next year when the new two-year legislative session begins.
The special education funding and accountability reforms contained in SB 1115 should have been adopted and signed into law. Those reforms were approved three different times by the full Senate and twice by the full House of Representatives, as well as receiving nearly unanimous committee votes on dozens of occasions. Unfortunately, other things were also put into SB 1115 at the last minute, such as charter school provisions.
At this time, state officials are more interested in education issues other than special education. Children with disabilities made it close to the top of the list of legislative priorities, but charter school reform and special appropriations for a community college were more important to the people in power.
The individuals and organizations that worked so hard on this legislation deserve enormous thanks and recognition. They helped to craft the reforms contained in these bills; testified at hearings; and visited legislators to tell them about the need for special education reforms.
Stay tuned for future updates and plans for the next legislative session.
Attached are five important documents related to the advocacy work on special education funding and accountability reform.
A summary of Senate Bill 1115, special education reform legislation A voting history of the special education reform legislation from past two years A postscript of the politics [...]
Attached are five important documents related to the advocacy work on special education funding and accountability reform.
- A summary of Senate Bill 1115, special education reform legislation
- A voting history of the special education reform legislation from past two years
- A postscript of the politics that hindered adoption of the legislation in June
- A copy of a letter special education advocates recently sent to Gov. Corbett
- Talking points for contacting legislators and asking them to support this critical reform when it comes up for a vote in September.
If you have any questions, contact Brett Schaeffer at the Education Law Center: bschaeffer@elc-pa.org.
SpecialEdReformPOSTSCRIPT_7_1_12
The Education Law Center, along with the Arc of Pennsylvania, the Superintendent of the School District of Lancaster, and a school board member from the Sto-Rox School District, testified before the Pennsylvania Senate Education Committee on Nov. 1, 2011.
Committee members heard testimony on the state’s broken special education funding and accountability systems and legislation [...]
The Education Law Center, along with the Arc of Pennsylvania, the Superintendent of the School District of Lancaster, and a school board member from the Sto-Rox School District, testified before the Pennsylvania Senate Education Committee on Nov. 1, 2011.
Committee members heard testimony on the state’s broken special education funding and accountability systems and legislation designed to fix those broken systems.
The Law Center’s testimony focused on the improvements established by SB 1115, including accurate calculations of special education students and connecting resources closely to accountability and outcomes.
Video and audio of the testimony is available on the Committee chairman’s website.
BACKGROUND Continue reading »
HB 704 and SB 940 will fix the state funding and accountability systems for special education. The state formula has completely broken down. Many school districts do not receive a fair share of state funding and are not held fully accountable for effectively investing special education resources.
Tagged with: Education Law Center
House Education Committee members at yesterday’s hearing asked how other states are funding special education. The Education Law Center’s David Lapp researched other states’ special education funding and presented a synopsis of his findings to the committee members, noting how many of our neighboring states have adopted a funding formula very similar to the one [...]
House Education Committee members at yesterday’s hearing asked how other states are funding special education. The Education Law Center’s David Lapp researched other states’ special education funding and presented a synopsis of his findings to the committee members, noting how many of our neighboring states have adopted a funding formula very similar to the one proposed in HB 704.
David’s full report is here: DRAFT: State Survey of Special Education Funding Formulas.
The PA House Education Committee hearing on Wednesday, May 6 is a critical moment for the campaign to reform Pennsylvania’s special education funding and accountability system.
UPDATE: In the past the week the campaign has made great strides, getting HB 704 introduced with nearly 60 co-sponsors and receiving
The PA House Education Committee hearing on Wednesday, May 6 is a critical moment for the campaign to reform Pennsylvania’s special education funding and accountability system.
UPDATE: In the past the week the campaign has made great strides, getting HB 704 introduced with nearly 60 co-sponsors and receiving press coverage on the bill in newspapers throughout the state. The hearing on May 6, however, is crucial for the future of the bill. Members of the Arc of Pennsylvania, the Disabilities Rights Network, the Education Law Center, and Good Schools Pennsylvania will testify, along with bill sponsor Mike Sturla (D-Lancaster) and education officials, on the importance of a new special education funding and accountability formula.
MAY 6 HEARING: A strong showing of support by families, advocates, and organizations is important at this stage of the campaign. Please notify your contacts. The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. in Room 50 (ground floor) of the Irvis Office Building (attached to the rear east corner of the Capitol). If you are able to attend and need more information please contact the Education Law Center’s Baruch Kintisch at bkintisch@elc-pa.org, (215) 238-6970 ext. 320 or Sandy Zelno at szelno@elc-pa.org, (412) 255-6414. Following the hearing there will be a strategy session on the next steps for our work.
CO-SPONSORS STILL NEEDED: In addition to a strong showing at the hearing, we need to push the number of bill co-sponsors as close to 100 as possible, so please check the current list of sponsors — here — and if you’re local representative has not signed on yet, urge them to do so immediately.
STORIES NEEDED: Finally, as part of our ongoing media outreach we’re looking for parents, educators, even students to tell their stories of how underfunding special education has affected them and how a new funding and accountability formula can help. If you, or someone you know, would like to share your experience, please contact the Education Law Center’s Brett Schaeffer at bschaeffer@elc-pa.org or (215) 238-6970 ext. 334
CONFERENCE CALLS: We will hold two optional conference calls if you would like a chance to talk by phone, get updates, and prepare for this advocacy work — 4 p.m., Monday, May 4 and 10 a.m., Tuesday, May 5. The dial-in number is (866) 244-1716 and the code is 5555-604-083 followed by #.
* Continue to check this site for updates and materials on the campaign. You can also subscribe to the site’s RSS feed: http://reformspecialedfunding.org/feed/
VOICES OF SUPPORT
2010 video from Senate hearing on special education reform legislation
PAGES
SPECIAL EDUCATION FUNDING
Q&A on Special Education Funding Reform
The Bill: HB 2
Read the full report: Costing-out Special Education Funding
Read the executive summary: Costing-out Study: Executive Summary
View statewide data report:
Pa. Data on Special EducationView a presentation on:HB 704
DRAFT: State Survey on Special Education Funding Formulas
SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS
There are approximately 40 organizations supporting special education funding reforms, including:
The full list of supporting organizations is on the About page.
CONTACTS
Education Law Center
Brett Schaeffer
bschaeffer@elc-pa.orgThe Arc of Pennsylvania
Pam Klipa
pklipa@thearcpa.orgDisability Rights Network of PA
Sallie Lynagh
slynagh@drnpa.orgCATEGORIES
- Action Items (31)
- Media (19)
- News (50)
- Organizing (7)
TAGS
Above Average Jane charters coalition Education Law Center funding Harrisburg HB 2 HB2 HB 11 HB 704 HB704 hearing hearings House House Education Committee Lancaster Lancaster County map Media notebook Organizing parent Pennsylvania philadelphia Pittsburgh Pocono Record Pottstown reform Rep. McIlvaine-Smith Rep. O'Neill Rep. Roebuck Rep. Sturla SB 940 SB 1115 Sen. Browne Sen. Dinniman Senate senate education committee special ed special educaiton funding special education special education funding special education funding reform York Zahorchak
