Reform Special Education Funding
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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.
Download a .pdf of the Summary.
Summary of Senate Bill 1115 and House Bill 704
as Introduced in 2011 by Senator Browne and Representative O’Neill
CONTACT: Education Law Center
Baruch Kintisch, 215-238-6970 x 320
Sandy Zelno, 412-255-6414
PURPOSE – The legislation 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. Reforms are required at this time because most school districts do not have the basic resources needed to provide a quality education with supports and services for children with disabilities. The state funding and accountability systems for special education are broken and need repair.
SUMMARY – The legislation is being introduced in the same form as adopted by the House in 2010, making the following improvements:
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 2011-12 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.
It’s been a while since we had news to report about special education reforms in the PA General Assembly. Well, now we have some really good news.
And we all need to get busy!
The major reform legislation helping students with disabilities that we all worked so hard on last year is being re-introduced in the PA Senate and House.
In 2010, House Bill 704 was passed by the House with bi-partisan support and came close to getting a vote in the Senate. We just ran out of time.
The bill fixes the distribution and accountability of state funding for special education, aimed at improving opportunities to learn for children with disabilities.
The same bill will now be re-introduced in both the Senate and the House, in the same form as it passed the House in 2010. Click here for a detailed summary. Continue reading »
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.
The Senate Education Committee will meet and discuss our legislation for special education funding and accountability reforms, HB 704, at –
10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 21 in Room 8, East Wing, Capitol Building in Harrisburg.
Representative Sturla (our lead sponsor) will testify and present the bill to the Committee for consideration.
The East Wing is directly behind the main Capitol building, down an escalator and to the right.
PLEASE ATTEND THIS HEARING. BRING OTHERS WITH YOU. This is our one big chance in the Senate before the end of the year.
Consider scheduling a meeting or two with state senators from your area, after the hearing on Tuesday. Staff for your senator(s) are likely to be available, even on short notice.
ATTENTION: Disability Advocates, Parents, and Concerned Citizens
The Senate Education Committee will hold a hearing at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, September 21, 2010 on House Bill 704. The hearing will take place in Room 8, East Wing, Capitol Building. We’re encouraging people to attend and show their support.
House Bill 704 is our legislation for special education funding and accountability reforms. The bill makes important improvements to benefit the education of children with disabilities.
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives approved HB 704 in June by an overwhelming vote of 173 to 25. The bill is now in the Senate. At the hearing, Representative Sturla (our lead sponsor) will testify and present the bill to the Committee for consideration. It’s important we show our strength at this hearing.
For more information about attending the hearing contact the Education Law Center’s Baruch Kintisch or Sandy Zelno.
The York Dispatch ran an op-ed from the Education Law Center today, explaining the hold harmless provision of House Bill 704:
PA_students_with_disabilities_deserve_better
OP-ED: Pa. students with disabilities deserve better
Updated: 07/15/2010 01:12:15 PM EDT
There’s been a lot written recently about a piece of legislation that would create new state laws for special education funding and accountability.
Let’s be clear: The reforms in House Bill 704 are needed because special education was left out when the General Assembly enacted basic education reforms in 2008. Students with disabilities should not be left out of these important reforms and deserve better. These children have waited long enough for the state to pay attention to their needs. The Senate should act before the end of the year to consider and approve HB 704.
Under HB 704, state funding for special education will be distributed based on the actual needs of students and schools. Schools will be held accountable for effectively investing these resources, without creating excessive bureaucracy or paperwork requirements. HB 704 also revises the reforms made for basic education to better match the needs of the special education system and to reflect the lessons learned since 2008. These are huge steps for improving educational outcomes for students with disabilities.
Continue reading »
A good column on HB 704 from the Reading Eagle‘s David Mekeel:
David Mekeel: Changes to special ed-funding needed
For two decades, public school districts have received state funding for special education the same way.
State Rep. P. Michael Sturla hopes to change that.
The Lancaster County Democrat has authored a bill that would fundamentally change special-education funding – eventually.
“The system has basically been flawed since it was changed 20 years ago,” Sturla said. “It makes the incorrect assumption that 16 percent of all students across the board have special needs.”
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.
The York Dispatch’s Education Reporter Andrew Shaw published a story Monday on the House passage of HB 704:
Special_ed_funding_change_passes_in_Pa._House
Read the full story:
Special ed funding change passes in Pa. House
ANDREW SHAW | The York Dispatch
Updated:06/28/2010 01:04:41 PM EDT
Special education funding reform is now before the state Senate after a bill that would greatly change the funding formula was passed by the House.
The House last week overwhelmingly approved a bill, 173-25, that would move Pennsylvania away from a flat funding method.
State Rep. Will Tallman, R-Reading Township, was the lone York County dissenter.
Tallman said he supports increased special education funding but believes the state is adding too much additional oversight.
School districts have been getting special education funding based on the assumption each district has 16 percent of its total enrollment in special education. That formula has been in place since 1991, according to state Rep. Mike Sturla, D-Lancaster, who developed the bill.
Under the proposed legislation, school districts would receive funding based on the number of special-education students they have, as well as on factors such as district poverty level.
