For 130,000 students in Washington state with disabilities, basic education still is not fully funded.
My son wants to be a builder. Like other 6-year-olds, he needs a basic education to fulfill his dream. For my son, who is on the autism spectrum, this includes both general and special education.
Currently, his individualized education program calls for specialized academic instruction, speech and occupational therapy, social skills coaching and in-class behavioral support. These are the services he requires if he’s ever going to read a blueprint, calculate square footage or communicate with clients. Or do just about any other career.
Providing these services to him and the 130,000 Washington K-12 students who receive special education is undeniably expensive. It may seem too costly a burden for the state to bear until we consider the far greater costs of not educating students with disabilities in terms of increased school-dropout and incarceration rates, and lowered chances for employment and independent living.
‘My take’
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Since its inception, special education has been underfunded. Congress never delivered its share of federal funding, shifting the burden onto states and individual school districts forced to pay for special education through local tax levies.
The result is inadequate or nonexistent special-education programs, overworked and undertrained teachers, gross inequalities in services between school districts, and an adversarial relationship between parents who rightfully demand appropriate services for their children and school districts that simply can’t afford them.
The sadder result is children not meeting their full potential. Statewide testing shows a significant achievement gap between students with nonintellectual disabilities and their peers. In 2016, Washington’s graduation rate for special-education students was 24 percent lower than that of non-special education students.
This achievement gap may be easy to dismiss because of the conscious or unconscious limitations we place on people with disabilities — the loss of their potential matters less because we expect less from them.
As a parent, I find this mindset crushing — and inaccurate. My son can and does learn with appropriate teaching and supports, just like any other child.
Thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision (Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District) schools must now provide special-education students with the opportunity to make meaningful progress toward appropriately ambitious goals. This requires highly-trained teachers, evidence-based curricula and adequate staffing.
The McCleary school funding plan our state legislators passed last year is a step toward fulfilling Washington’s paramount duty to fund basic education. All students will benefit from higher teacher salaries and smaller classroom sizes.
However, for 130,000 students with disabilities, basic education still is not fully funded. The plan falls short of covering the actual cost of educating these students while, at the same time, limits school districts’ ability to pay for special education through local levies.
In Seattle, where I live, the anticipated result is a $20 million to $40 million annual shortfall in special-education funding. What does this mean for my son’s dream and his future?
Legislators, your work isn’t done. Don’t leave my son and thousands of others out of your mandated constitutional duty to amply provide for the education of all Washington students. Please act now to fully fund special education in our state.