VT: "Special education costs are growing faster than any other cost...even faster than health care"

Mar 23, 2018, Stowe (VT) Today: Budget proposal restores support for 3,000 severely disabled people http://www.stowetoday.com/news_and_citizen/opinion/opinion_columns/budget-proposal-restores-support-for-severely-disabled-people/article_81572942-2df9-11e8-b255-d3d630809de2.html Special education costs are growing faster than any other cost in state spending, even faster than health care. We hope to repackage how we give funds to schools to serve children with special needs, and in so doing lighten the documentation load on special educators. The design behind the changes is intended to get supports to children early so they will not need to enter the universe of special education to access support. Special education advocates are worried that spending will be pulled from those with special needs to help pay for the prevention effort, if schools are given the flexibility to do so. It is a fair concern, but one I think we can guard against. …