The state budget was finalized on time, much faster than anyone expected. Click here to read ELC’s budget analysis.

State funding for special education was not cut for 2010-11. Every school district will get the same state funding it received in 2008-09 and 2009-10. Your advocacy on House Bill 704 deserves credit for protecting this line item in the budget, which avoided the cuts absorbed by most other programs. Of course, you are well aware that the high inflation rate for many special education services and programs threatens the needs of children even with “flat” funding.

The quick resolution of the budget means that there was not enough time for the sponsors of House Bill 704 to negotiate with the Senate about approving the special education reforms. We will work over the summer so that the Senate can promptly hold hearings and vote on HB 704 in September.

Thank you for hanging in there for a couple of extra months. With your help, we should see our legislation signed into law while the flowers are still blooming in September and before the leaves start falling from the trees.

Check back here for updates during July and August. Click on the links in the right margin to read the summary of the changes made in HB 704 as the House voted to approve the bill in June.

Let us know what else we can do to support your work.

I have a child who has special needs.  She was helped by some awesome and patient teachers.  The problem now is that many of these teachers are BURNT out.  They need you to pass this bill.  By passing this bill, all special needs students will get the help that they need.  Also all school districts will receive equitable money.  Please sign this bill to help the future of not only our special needs students but also the future of Pennsylvania.

--Teresa DePaul, parent

Show your support.  Sign our petition to help special education in Pennsylvania.

State funding for special education was not cut for 2009-10.

Every school district will receive the same state funding for special education as in 2008-09.  See a detailed spreadsheet here.  This is a major victory, as nearly all other education line items were cut.
In addition, every school district is receiving lots of new federal stimulus funding for special education services and programs. Your efforts over the last 14 months helped to protect special education resources.

Together, we advocated for a new state system for special education funding and accountability.  Our voices were heard and cuts were avoided, even in this historically tough budget year.  Thank you for helping to make this happen.

Nearly 400 school districts are underfunding special education

In 2008, Pennsylvania adopted a landmark funding formula for basic education, putting more dollars into the neediest schools and implementing rigorous accountability measures for school districts. However, special education students have been left out of the equation.

A coalition of groups is now sending the message that it’s time for the General Assembly to approach special education funding with the same sharp eye its members approached basic education funding in 2008.

House Bill 704 and Senate Bill 940 have strong bipartisan support and are ready to be adopted.

Go to the About page to read the campaign’s  Core Principles.

Representative Mike Sturla (Majority Policy Chair) will introduce our funding reform bill during the last week in April.  He is currently seeking co-sponsors, and issued a recent memo to his colleagues for this purpose.  Representatives James Roebuck (Education Committee Chair) and Barbara McIlvaine Smith (Special Education Subcommittee Chair) are also sponsors and will hold Education Committee hearings in early May.

HOW CAN YOU HELP TO GET THIS BILL PASSED?

Your immediate help is needed in two ways:

1.  Schedule a meeting for yourself in the district office of one or two key legislators.  Ask them to be champions for special education funding reform.

2.  Issue a strong alert throughout your entire network for all individuals to call or e-mail their own state representative, asking the legislator to call Representative Sturla’s office ASAP and co-sponsor the special education bill.
You can use the following talking points:

Talking Points

(Put this in your own words and give personal examples.)

• Please support reform of the state funding system for special education.

• The current funding system is broken, is unfair, and does not provide enough resources for special education in the right places. It sets the number of students eligible for state funding for special education at 16% regardless of whether the district has fewer or more students receiving special education. It also does not focus the funding on strategies that have a track record for improving student performance.

• I have personal experience with how this broken system hurts children with disabilities and all students.

• Please take action before June to adopt a bill fixing this problem, based on the November 2007 Costing-out Study that was used to fix the regular education funding formula. The Study was updated for special education in February 2009.

• I know many families and educators who feel the same way. We will be doing our part to support your leadership on this issue.

Pennsylvania's funding system for special education is broken and must be fixed this year.

On March 2 and 3, 2009, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees held their annual hearings on the education  budget.  Disability advocates attended the hearings, along with many other education lobby groups.

Special education was a hot topic of discussion at the hearings.  Several Representatives and Senators expressed their opinions that the current state formula (or lack of one) for special education does not provide the resources needed by their local schools.  Legislators asked Secretary Zahorchak for his opinion on this issue.  He responded by making the following kinds of statements:

(1) The issue of special education funding needs to be studied before the Department can make a recommendation for changing the system.  The Department does not have the data it needs.

(2) State investments in early childhood education and core elementary school improvements may lower the demand for special education resources without changing the formula.

Disability advocates and others disagreed with the Secretary’s responses.  Pennsylvania’s funding system for special education is broken and must be fixed this year, using a needs-based formula that counts students and considers the resources required for a quality education.