May 16, 2018, Southern Minn, Owatonna: As schools struggle with costs, special education takes a toll http://www.southernminn.com/owatonna_peoples_press/news/state/article_92736f1d-b4ef-59b9-9ba9-eb202e3c548d.html With the legislative session in its last full week, school funding is still a sticking point between lawmakers and Gov. Mark Dayton. The governor has made "emergency" school funds one of his central demands, citing the budget shortfalls facing many districts. One big driver of those shortfalls is special education. The category accounts for one-fifth of general-fund education spending in Minnesota, and its cost is rising. Districts spent a total of $2.2 billion on special education last year, an increase of 26 percent over a decade even after adjusting for inflation. Special education touches families in every part of the state. In total, 141,237 students receive the services for a wide range of reasons, including physical impairments, learning disabilities and behavioral issues. One student, Amy Baker's son Josh, found the support he needed for his autism … More students are receiving special education services than in the past. In 2016, 16.1 percent of Minnesota students received the services, up 1.3 percentage points over a decade. But it's not just that more students need help. The cost per student of delivering that help has also increased. … Still, one cost in particular keeps growing. Districts are billed for special education students who live in their district even if they don't go to school there. Whether it's a charter school or a school in another district, the school the student attends charges back at least 90 percent of costs not covered by state and federal funding. Charter schools and other entities that enroll more than 70 percent special education students bill back all unfunded costs. … Downham said Minneapolis' bill from charter schools has more than doubled since 2013, and the total cost from charters and other districts last year was $22.9 million. … It's not just Minnesota; Roza said special education costs are on the rise nationally. One way to control the increase, she said, is to talk more about it. She said principals and teachers don't tend to talk about the total price of services and ways to increase productivity. …
top of page
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
bottom of page