Sept 25, 2018, South Dakota Public Broadcasting: The Need Of Special Education Funding Is On The Rise http://listen.sdpb.org/post/need-special-education-funding-rise Senator Jim Bolin was the vice-chair for the Extraordinary Cost Fund for Special Education summer study. The group met 3 times over the course of the summer. Tape recording: Bolin: “…the increasing need and the increasing number of students who are involved with special education in South Dakota. Since 2012 to 2016 the number of students on special ed has increased by about 10, maybe 11 percent. Almost exactly 2,000 more students are involved with the special education programs in the state, whereas our total enrollment has only gone up by about 2 percent…. “There’s been a lot of questions about special ed enrollment and how the state is going to finance this.” Bolin went on to explain how the state had capped their support of sped at $4M, yet the federal government requires states to meet the needs of severely disabled students, who often require out-of-district placement. Furthermore, the federal government has never paid their fair share. “Some of the students districts deal with have very severe issues. … Bolin said that costs are raising so they’re looking into adding another $1M to the extra support fund. “That should buy us some time.”
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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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