April 14, 2019, Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle: RCSD adds needed special ed funding to budget https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/education/2019/04/14/rcsd-adds-needed-special-ed-funding-budget/3446543002/ Rochester City School District Interim Superintendent Dan Lowengard said last week he is recommending adding funding for eight positions to the special education budget for 2019-20, mostly alleviating concerns that the district would fail to fund perhaps its most important initiative. … With an additional $5.9 million in the final state budget, Lowengard said he was proposing adding those eight positions along with several other budget restorations. He left nearly $1 million to put back into fund balance, which he called a fiscal priority….

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.