Aug 5, 2018, N. Andover (MA) Eagle—Tribune: Our View: Special education funding problem persists http://www.eagletribune.com/opinion/our-view-special-education-funding-problem-persists/article_8a9bc192-56cf-58dd-921a-265b30dc4c9f.html …Three years ago, slightly more than $1 of every $5 spent in public schools in Massachusetts went toward special education. The ratio has gradually increased through the years, according to a comparison drawn up by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. And that's just the state’s average; in some districts, the expense is considerably more. Take North Andover, which spent more than $13.7 million on special education in fiscal 2015, according to the state’s comparison. That figure represented more than 27 percent of the school district’s operating budget. The same year, Andover was spending $22.9 million on special education — also about 27 percent of its overall budget. The $18 million that Salem put toward special education in 2014-15 represented a little more than one-quarter of its school district's operating budget. In 2015, Amesbury schools’ expenses were a whopping 29 percent of the overall operating budget. The juggernaut of special education costs is not exactly new, but its size and growth underscore the increasing need for the state to address it. The gradual spread of these costs also explains the disappointment that passed like waves through school departments and town halls across Massachusetts last week when the Legislature gaveled out of formal session without a plan to retool the state’s local education funding formula…. But, since lawmakers have gone home to campaign for re-election, the problem of special education costs persists. Addressing it should remain near the top of lawmakers' agenda through the informal sessions for the rest of this year — and, of course, when a new session starts in January. …
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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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