Reform Special Education Funding
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Our special education reform legislation, Senate Bill 1115, has become an unfortunate example of how the most vulnerable students always lose when politics interferes with education policy. SB 1115 was not adopted with the annual budget by the June 30 deadline. The General Assembly will consider the special education reforms later in 2012, after the summer recess. The Corbett Administration may have different ideas for special education reforms and may not accept the core principles reflected in SB 1115.
Although this is a major disappointment, parent advocates and disability groups are encouraged to stay engaged to overcome the obstacles to improving special education policy and practices. To learn more about why this happened and what we can do, click here.
The Harrisburg Patriot-News ran our new Op-Ed on Tuesday, just as hearings in the Capitol began for the proposed 2010-2011 education budget: Status_quo_won’t_work_on_PA_special_ed_funding.
Here’s the full text:
Status quo won’t work on Pennsylvania special ed funding
Children with disabilities often experience tremendous challenges when they reach adulthood. National research shows that about 70 percent of all adults with disabilities are unemployed.
That often translates to a greater reliance on public benefits and significant isolation from the world of work, taxes, elections, shopping malls and everything else that constitutes full participation in Pennsylvania community life.
Ensuring a quality education for all children in all public schools in Pennsylvania is the first step in preventing this unfortunate outcome.
Rep. Sturla introduces HB 704
A news brief from the AP was picked up in a few papers; Eleanor Chute from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette did a news brief and longer piece; and Brian Wallace at the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal did a longer piece quoting Sturla and Baruch.
Chute’s piece: Proposed bill would change special education funding formula
Wallace’s piece: Sturla: Boost special education
The brief appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Harrisburg Patriot-News, the Lebanon Daily News and Lehigh Valley Live – which is the Web site for the Easton Express Times and several other papers in that area.
