Jan 17, 2019, Palm Springs (CA) Desert Sun: Triple threat looms over California schools. How will the valley's districts manage finances? https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/education/2019/01/17/coachella-valley-school-districts-seek-creative-fix-budgetary-triple-threat/2514859002/ Declines in overall school enrollment, growing special education needs and increased contributions to teacher pensions are stressing school districts' budgets across California. More students in special education means districts have to hire more teachers and support staff. And, more personnel means greater pension costs. At the same time diminishing enrollment, which factors heavily into the state funding formula that determines the amount of money a district receives, results in smaller allotments from the state because, as a whole, there are fewer students to teach. … According to data collected by the California Department of Education, all three districts in the Coachella Valley — Palm Springs Unified, Desert Sands Unified and Coachella Valley Unified — saw a decrease in overall enrollment the past five years, with some fluctuations in-between. The special education population at each of the districts, however, ticked up every year like clockwork. … These two trends in conjunction can mean financial trouble because special education funding from the state and federal government is largely calculated using overall attendance, regardless of the number of special education students. This means the special education needs of a district can rise while the funding decreases due to lower enrollment. The exact reason for the rise remains unclear to local administrators, but administrators believe parents and educators have become better at identifying autism and other learning disorders. While the culture around special education has become more sensitive to the needs, the funding has not kept up. … According to a 2018 study by West Ed, the average special-education student in California requires nearly double the financial investment as a student in general education. A student with severe needs requiring residential care can cost districts upwards of $100,000 a year…. The most daunting numbers come from Coachella Valley Unified, where the enrollment decreased from 18,850 students to 18,372 since 2013 while the number of special-education students climbed from 1,670 to 2,040. In the past five years, overall enrollment declined at Coachella Valley schools while the special education population grew. …
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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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