On January 14th Christina Samuels posted a blog inviting commentary and discussion on special education funding. You can see the entire blog below.
She brings up the timely issue of special education funding during our American economic crisis to an audience of education minded folk trying to stimulate a conversation. The commentary thus far has been good and I encourage those of you interested to go to edweek.com and read for yourself. What I find interesting, and why I share it here with you all, is that often issues that pertain to the general public are constrained to audiences of a select type. I often complain in class that we need to stop talking to each other and get outside of our own circles. That is what I am trying to do here. I am getting out of the "education"/"special education" circles and asking you, my faithful public, what do you think about Christina Samuel's question? Can money be saved in special education?
Samuel's question to her readers and my question to you all:
"What inefficiency in the practice of special education would you fix that would not harm the legal right of children with disabilities to receive a free and appropriate public education?"
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http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/2011/01/can_money_be_saved_in_special.html
Can Money Be Saved in Special Education?
A confession: releasing an article out into the world can sometimes be a little nerve-wracking. That's especially true when the topic is special education funding, which I wrote about for this year's edition of Quality Counts,Education Week's fine analysis of education nationwide. (The full table of contents can be found here, and I encourage everyone to read these articles.)
Special education funding is a particularly touchy subject. Advocates have argued for a long time that special education is underfunded by the federal government, and that their children are taking the blame for straining school budgets.
That's not such a crazy fear to have. Last year the outgoing superintendent of Los Angeles schools, Ramon C. Cortines, said in a Los Angeles Times article that "When you fund some of the special ed things, you're taking from regular kids." Some parents responded with predictable dismay, and Cortines clarified his remarks in aletter to the editor. (see bottom of web page.)
But our Quality Counts publication presents in detail that the budget crunch is real. I predict that special education will find itself a part of a conversation about getting the most out of every education dollar. So let's start having this conversation here, because I know I have smart readers who are well-versed in the issues. What inefficiency in the practice of special education would you fix that would not harm the legal right of children with disabilities to receive a free and appropriate public education?
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