Dec 12, 2018, Danvers, MA, Wicked Local Marblehead: Marblehead School Committee still grappling with deficit http://marblehead.wickedlocal.com/news/20181212/marblehead-school-committee-still-grappling-with-deficit …Time is winding down for the School Committee to figure out how it will close a $643,780 gap in its budget caused by the rising costs of Special Education out-placement tuitions. “This is an FY19 current issue,” said School Committee member Jennifer Schaeffner. “It needs to be resolved. We need to have a solution before we can look at developing a [budget] proposal for FY20.”…. Along with tuition out expenses, transportation for students heading to both in and out of district programs has also gone up 40 percent. “Last year, it was $410,465; this year it’s $540,000,” Maniaci said. “It’s a pretty major jump.”… Schaeffner also pointed out the number of students on individual education plans (IEPs) and those placed in out of district programs also rose significantly. According to Manicai’s historical data, in 2016/17, there were 621 students on IEPs and 23 placed out of district. The numbers rose slightly for the 2017/18 school year with 629 students on IEPs and 28 tuitioned out, but they soared for the 2018/19 school year to 665 students on IEPs and 42 placed out of district. Maniaci said the increase is due to a recent move-in coupled with an increase in the number of students with behavioral issues. “If a principal decides a student is a danger to the school and can’t stay ... we still have to educate that student,” she said. … Although getting a handle on special education expenses has been a struggle, it’s not been one fought in a vacuum. Manicai said she has been keeping the town Finance Committee and other officials apprised of the situation. …
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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