Oct 15, 2018, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Study finds costs for special education outpacing state education aid http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2018/10/14/Study-finds-costs-for-special-education-outpacing-state-education-aid/stories/201810140021 Increases in special-education costs in Pennsylvania are far outpacing increases in the state's contributions to those expenses, leaving local school districts to pick up bigger shares of the tabs, according to a recent report. While state aid for special education increased by $71 million between 2008 and 2016, district special-education costs grew by $1.54 billion, according to the report that was released Oct. 9 by the Education Law Center and PA Schools Work. … “Despite recent state investments, the state's special education funding is becoming more inadequate and inequitable,” said Reynelle Brown Staley, policy attorney for the law center. “There is simply not enough money coming from the state in either the basic-education or special-education line items.” … The suit — brought in part by the law center — alleges that the system is inadequate and discriminates against children in poorer communities that cannot keep up with rising costs. … Special-education costs have jumped significantly in the region’s school districts in the last several years, outpacing increases in state aid. … Special-education funding has also been a challenge in New Jersey. School districts there recently reported that it constituted 22 percent of their budgets, up from 13 percent in 2006-07, according to the New Jersey Association of School Business Officials. … On average, special-education costs increased by 5 percent each year between 2008 and 2016, Ms. Staley said. In some districts, however, costs grew at a much more rapid pace. In Upper Darby, special-education costs more than doubled, rising from $20 million in 2008 to $42 million in 2016, while the state share of those costs fell from 35 percent to 18 percent. Philadelphia's special-education costs nearly doubled during those years — from $304 million to $598 million — while the state share dropped from 42 percent to 23 percent. “Our special education costs have risen exponentially while state aid for special education has increased marginally,” said Uri Monson, the district’s chief financial officer. The law center didn't analyze the reasons for the cost increases. …
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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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