Why does special education cost so much?

By LINDA WADENSTEN
Special to the Eagle Times
NEWPORT — Like many economically struggling small communities, Newport is overwhelmed by the costs of special education. It is easy to jump to conclusions about “those” children when it feels like we are being squeezed dry.

Many of us grew up in a time when only a few obviously disabled children were in a separate “special ed” room, so it’s hard to understand why special ed now costs so much.

Simply put: both the federal law and our society’s understanding of how people learn has changed. In addition, we have many more small children growing up in homes that leave them too traumatized to function in school.

I thought I would break it down to help Newport tax payers understand what special education really means, who it serves, and how its funded. There is no conspiracy for families that have kids with needs to seek Newport out.

Who are those “special education” kids?

I like to start out by saying we are all living lives where disabilities will affect our lives, whether it be directly or indirectly. Most recently a member of our community demanded to find out why Newport has so many special education children, why are they coming here?

I have found that many people make dangerous assumptions on what these kids are like. Are they like you and me? Do they live next door? More times then not, you know many of these children; their disabilities are disguised. Educationally disabled kids don’t necessarily have visible

appearance or a diagnosis that someone easily can recognize as disabled. Most children receiving special education services are Learning Disabled

Scientists do not know all the possible causes of learning disabilities, however there are risk factors that can be potential causes.

The most obvious are those present at birth and tend to run in families. Autism is on the rise with no real clue of why it is affecting more and more children. In fact, children who have a parent with a learning disability are more likely to develop a learning disability themselves.

This can be simple or complex. I will use myself as an example. My nephew came home years ago now and told us he was going to go to a special school for dyslexia.

I had never heard much about that and he began to tell me and my dad (his grandfather) about how he mixed up letters and numbers, and how reading was difficult. As my dad and I listened, we both realized we have the same problem, grandpa was the gene who passed it down to all of us.

Any child can be affected by a learning disability, but realities associated with poverty and homelessness create a higher likelihood of learning disabilities. Factors that affect a fetus developing in the womb, such as alcohol or drug use, can put a child at higher risk for a learning problem or disability.

Other factors in an infant’s environment may play a role, too: poor nutrition and health, exposure to lead in water or in paint, and/or lack of support for intellectual development due to parents working several jobs or unavailability caused by substance abuse result in children coming to school already behind others their age. Sadly, some of our children are disabled by severe emotional trauma.

Sometimes a person may develop a learning disability later in life due to injury. While the public’s perception of learning disabilities has improved, there is still an alarming lack of knowledge about learning disabilities. The National Center for Learning Disabilities states,

“Seven out of 10 members of the general public incorrectly link learning disabilities with intellectual disability (“mental retardation”) and autism. Almost four in 10 mistakenly associate learning disabilities with sensory impairments like blindness and deafness. Most of the public (55 percent) mistakenly believe learning disabilities are often a product of the home environment in which children are raised.

Approximately half (51 percent) think that what people call “learning disabilities” are the result of laziness. In fact, many parents continue to ignore potential signs of trouble (such behaviors as trouble using a pen or pencil, matching letters with their sounds and making friends) typical warning signs of learning disabilities, parents instead choosing to wait and see if their child will grow out of it.”

What’s important about this is that almost half of all those served are categorized as learning disabled, more than any other disability.

The important thing to remember is that even with disabilities children who receive the right supports can overcome their disabilities. There are very few who are so severe they cannot learn. I recently heard a community member say, “They won’t grow up to do anything. Why pay for them?” This is not only small-minded, but factually incorrect.

Disabled children who don’t get what they need become a burden on society. Our prisons are filled with them. Disabled children who receive the right support become valuable members of society, for example: Steve Jobs, Jay Leno, Ozzy Osbourne, Tim Tibow, Henry Winkler, Hellen Keller, Stephen Hawkins, Cher, Tom Cruise, Leonardo Di Vinci, Thomas Edison, Whoopi Goldberg, and Stevie Wonder, just to name a few.

Why do schools have to help them?

Plain and simple it’s the law. Once a child is suspected to have a learning disability, schools have strict guidelines they must follow to assesses if a child qualifies for services. Schools do not just hand out services!

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a legal document that is applicable to every child to provide special education and related services to children and youth with disabilities who are 3–21 years old.

Passed in 1975 as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, this law guarantees each child a free appropriate public education tailored to his or her individual needs and delivered in the least restrictive environment appropriate to the individual’s needs. IDEA specifies that children with any of 13 possible educationally handicapping conditions (including specific learning disabilities) are eligible for these services.

Sometimes the disability is so complex our schools do not have the skill needed to aide these children, in those cases their needs are met in out of district placement.

How does all this get paid for?

State and federal funds for students with disabilities aren’t keeping up with districts’ increased special education costs, leading districts to put increasing amounts of their general fund towards those services.

Federal, state, and local governments fund K–12 public education in the United States. Under the Constitution, the state is responsible for public education. Annual funding levels vary dramatically across the state and country.

The federal government contributes only statistically less than 10% of the total budget primarily in the form of categorical grants to state education agencies. Local taxes generate the bulk of school funding (40%–50%). The heavy reliance on local property taxes causes significant funding differences within and across states.

Federal special education funding comes primarily from two sources: The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). ESSA provides categorical funding to support student achievement in low-income areas. IDEA accounts for the bulk of the federal government’s ongoing contribution to special education.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensures services to children with disabilities. IDEA governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and related services to children and youth. Infants and toddlers with disabilities (birth–age 2) and their families receive early intervention services under IDEA Part C. Children and youths (ages 3–21) receive special education and related services under IDEA Part B.

The total IDEA state allocation is split between Parts B and C. The state distributes the funds to the local systems to be used in accordance with state and federal law. The state has the option to reserve a small portion of the total federal allocations for discretionary purposes.

Up to 15% of IDEA special education funds may also be used to support early intervening services for low-achieving and at-risk students. Many districts are now using this provision to help fund their Response to Intervention (RtI) efforts.

IDEA does not fully fund special education programs and services. Although Congress authorized up to 40% of average per-pupil expenditure in the state, appropriations historically have ranged between 10% and 20%.

The economic downturn has caused serious shortfalls in many states and districts, forcing severe cuts to both general and special education funding. The lack of enough federal IDEA funds generates resentment and discrimination against children with disabilities and their public schools.

The local share of money designated to special education in school districts has continued to rise while state funding has decreased, creating “increasingly inequitable” learning environment. Any new funding must be linked to state/local school districts’ compliance with and enforcement of IDEA statutory requirements. Anything else will continue to fuel noncompliance.

So, the simple answer is that special education is highly mandated, regulated, and schools have to legally comply to receive the miniscule amounts afforded to the district to help pay costs.

However, I CAN NOT EMPHASIZE THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT ENOUGH! IDEA doesn’t require our school district to provide the very best education for the child, the district needs to only provide an appropriate education, one that meets the needs of the child and demonstrates educational benefit.

The reality in Newport is that the school doesn’t supply a “Cadillac service” to any of its kids (simply because there aren’t the funds). Many times, kids are not getting all the services they need, usually they get just enough to be considered adequate by law.

So, next time you hear someone’s griping about special education, tell them to look around and see the demographics of where we live.

The town website states, “Only 87% Newport’s population has a high school diploma; 20% hold college degrees; 8.2% live under the poverty level. Newport has a per capita income of $29,057,” and known issue with drug abuse.

Don’t forget as well, some years ago, Newport as a town funded a low-income housing project. While stating this too can be hypocritical to generate a comparison, the statistics of this suggest a needier population of children.

It’s hard to worry about ABC’s and 123’s when mom’s fighting an addiction, dad’s in jail, and families are worrying about food for the table and a roof over their heads.

Additionally, we have a high number of “couch-surfing” homeless children that reports don’t account for. In Newport school alone, the SAU 43 reported 92 children homeless in our school in the school year 2017-2018. That’s one out of every ten kids. Not to mention that more than 60% of our kids qualify for free and reduced lunch. That’s 6 out of 10 kids have such a low family income that they qualify for assisted meals at school.

That’s nothing to be embarrassed about, but it tells you many of our families live in a low-income home, and statistics show that low income homes tend to have more learning issues. Like it or not, this is our community and we need to pay to educate its children, it’s the law. It’s not only a Newport problem; it’s a national one that will more than likely just get worse.

If you want to complain, write to your federal representatives and ask why Congress continues to fund less than 15% of the promised 40% monetary support needed to fund the mandates outlined in IDEA.

Ask your state representatives why New Hampshire is not providing fair aid to help its neediest communities, and why they continue to ask schools to fund unfunded mandates without funding.

Special education in Newport is not a conspiracy, it’s helping the kids that live with their families in your community we all call home.

Linda Wadensten is the chair of the Newport School Board.