Reform Special Education Funding
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One more round of calls should help us win final passage in the Senate!
We need help because Senate Bill 1115 for special education funding and accountability reform is expected to receive two final votes in the Pennsylvania Senate during the week of March 26.
Due to incredible support, SB 1115 passed the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday, March 6 in a unanimous vote. Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen.
The next step for SB 1115 is a vote next week in the Senate Appropriations Committee, and then a vote on the Senate floor. The goal is to send this bill to the House by early April and then achieve final adoption along with the annual budget by June 30. The vote on March 6 was great progress, but obviously we have more work to do.
The Senators need to hear from their constituents in support of SB 1115, before the upcoming votes.
The home district office phone number and e-mail address for the state senators is here – http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/#address.
E-mail or call this week to your senator’s home district office and leave a message. The senators are in the district this week.
Due to strong advocate support, special education reforms to benefit children with disabilities passed the Pennsylvania Senate Education Committee on Tuesday, March 6. Thanks to all of the advocates who helped make this happen.
The comprehensive legislation for special education funding and accountability reforms passed the Committee in a unanimous vote. This is Senate Bill 1115, which is also now up to 30 cosponsors in the Senate.
The next step for SB 1115 is a vote in the Senate Appropriations Committee, perhaps in the next week or two, and then a vote on the Senate floor. The goal is to send this bill to the House by early April and then achieve final adoption along with the annual budget by June 30. Tuesday’s vote is great progress, but obviously there’s more work to do.
Go to the Action Alert and follow the instructions for contacting legislators about this important bill.
The Senate Education Committee on March 6 unanimously passed SB 1115, reform legislation for special education funding and accountability. A full Senate vote is expected to follow.
The Education Law Center and 39 other organizations supported this bill and have endorsed it and worked for its adoption for several years.
See the votes.
Make a phone call today to improve special education for students with disabilities in Pennsylvania!
Call or e-mail your state senator before March 6 and ask for a vote in favor of Senate Bill 1115. Even in this tough year, we are close to making historic progress for children with disabilities.
SB 1115 is our reform legislation for special education funding and accountability. We have worked to enact these positive reforms for several years. We are now getting close to final passage.
You can find the Harrisburg office phone number and e-mail address for your state senator here – http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/#address. E-mail or call their Harrisburg office and leave a message.
Thank you for getting involved and making this happen for children with disabilities.
TALKING POINTS for calling the Harrisburg office of your local state senator:
• “Please vote for Senate Bill 1115, the special education reform bill, when it comes up for a vote in March.”
• “Senators Browne and Dinniman are the leads sponsors. The bill has 29 cosponsors and Senator Piccola, Chair of the Education Committee, is also supporting the bill.”
• “I am asking you to support reform of the state funding and accountability system for special education.”
• “This legislation was approved 173-25 by the full House of Representatives in 2010, and has now been re-introduced as SB 1115. The bill does not call for any new funding in 2012-13.”
• “The current funding system is broken, is unfair, and does not provide enough resources for special education in the right places. The broken system sets the number of students eligible for state funding for special education at 16% regardless of whether the school 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.”
• “The school districts you represent need support for special education, and must be held accountable for results.”
• “I have personal experience with how this broken system hurts children with disabilities and all students.” (Describe your experience.)
• “Thank you for supporting this important issue and voting for SB 1115 when it comes up in March.”
2010 ACTION: In 2010, House Bill 704 was passed by the House with bi-partisan support (173 to 25) and came close to getting a vote in the Senate. We just ran out of time.
2011 ACTION: The bills for reforming the state system of funding and accountability for special education were re-introduced in June 2011. A hearing was held in the Senate Education Committee in November 2011, with witnesses from the Arc of PA, the Education Law Center, and the Sto-Rox and Lancaster school districts.
Senator Patrick Browne (R-Allentown) and Representative Bernie O’Neill (R-Bucks County) are now the lead sponsors. Senator Dinniman (D-West Chester) and Representative Sturla (D-Lancaster) are also supporting the legislation.
Check out the bills and the list of cosponsors for Senate Bill 1115 and House Bill 704. Thanks to your phone calls, there are now 29 cosponsors on the Senate bill and 56 on the House bill. Click here for a detailed summary of the bills.
Note that SB 1115 will be the vehicle for adopting the special education reforms in 2012. We expect the House to vote on SB 1115, not HB 704. The two bills are identical, but only the Senate bill will get voted on.
MOST RECENT AMENDMENT TO SB 1115: Senators Piccola, Dinniman, and Browne have recently agreed to final changes to the bill. This clears the way for a vote in the Senate Education Committee. In general, the changes improve the bill by protecting the proposed formula for more effectively distributing special education funding from the state. In addition, two new provisions were added to provide more help for students with severe disabilities and to shift funding from state-level administration to go more directly to services for students with disabilities.
1. What is the purpose and history of special education funding and accountability reform?
The legislation — which will have a new bill number in the coming weeks — addresses the current problems with the state systems for funding and accountability of special education for students with disabilities. The Commonwealth benefits when all students are educated and prepared for meaningful employment, higher education, and self-sufficiency.
The legislation does the following:
o Provide an effective formula to distribute state funding for special education, without creating compulsory annual targets or limiting the discretion of the General Assembly;
o Increase the accuracy of the special education formula by using three weights;
o Establish a transparent process to set the final formula weights through a legislative commission and subsequent regulation;
o Maintain spending at 2008-09 levels for 2010-11 if insufficient funds are appropriated;
o Streamline and strengthen school district accountability without imposing excess bureaucracy, applied when sufficient funds are appropriated in future years; and
o Maintain the Contingency Fund and make it more accountable and transparent.
We’ll have updates on this legislation in the coming weeks.
Thanks to all of the supporters who have worked hard on this effort to improve Pennsylvania’s special education funding system.
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.
Here’s a clear, one-page outline of the history of Pennsylvania’s special education funding.
