One Law Unites Them All - Until Someone Needs to Pay for It: How Much Funding is Enough for Special Education?

The 10th amendment means that education remains a function of the states and local governments. However, when it comes to educating students with disabilities (SWD), the federal law - the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) specifies what all states need to provide. Passed November 29th, 1975 by an overwhelming majority, with only 14 votes against in the House and Senate combined (Martin et al., 1996) the IDEA created a law for all the nation. With more than half of the SWD in the United States not receiving appropriate educational services and a million excluded from public schools entirely (Education for All Handicapped Children Act, 1975), Congress recognized the need to assist states - the IDEA becoming a funded mandate. Initially set to provide up to 40% of the additional funding needed to educate SWD, the federal government wanted to ensure that all SWD received a free appropriate public education (FAPE) (“A History of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act,” n.d.). And yet fifty years on, as I metaphorically look across the country, hoping to see one unified force providing appropriate funding to all SWD; from many metrics the view is disjointed, and others rather bleak. In this article I review the current issues related to special education funding, and how funding is often perceived.In terms of determining funding requirements for SWD the concept is simple. Based on the needs of an SWD an individualized education program (IEP) team determines what services are required, then subsequently those services are funded. In legal terminology, the IDEA states that all students receiving special education services are required to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE).“FAPE means special education and related services that: a) Are provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge.b) Meet the standards of the State Education Authority, including the requirements of this part.c) Include an appropriate preschool, elementary school, or secondary school education in the State involved; andd) Are provided in conformity with an individualized education program (IEP) that meets the requirements of §§300.320 through 300.324.”(U.S. Department of Education, 2017, para. 1)Providing further context; as defined by the Supreme court, in Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District, (2017) FAPE is defined, as “an educational program appropriately ambitious in light of a child's circumstances” (para.33). However, the problem comes when attempting to transition from the legal requirements to practical application. How much it costs to provide FAPE, and who should provide it, continues to be a contentious issue.Historically special education services revolved around the idea of providing some form of equity to SWD (Dragoo, 2018). When the IDEA passed in 1975, equity was perceived as providing access, and the inclusion of SWD in public schools. However, as educational requirements have risen (Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, 2015; Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, 2004) equity has come to mean providing an equal educational opportunity to all students (Mason-Williams et al., 2020). Therefore, bound by the IDEA and federal regulations, the increased rigor and expectation of providing an equal opportunity to a growing population with varying levels of additional need, leaves states struggling to provide and determine appropriate funding for SWD (Blad, 2020; Diament, 2023; Pendharkar, 2023).The aim of the paper is to take a macro level look at special education and its relationship to funding. Taking a positivist approach, I rely on the underlying assumption that, if used appropriately funding and educational success are positively related (Card & Payne, 2002; Greenwald et al., 1996; Jackson et al., 2016). Using datasets able to provide a national perspective, I start this article by reviewing various metrics to assess the current state of special education. I then reflect on the guiding principles of education finance and how they relate to special education. I then provide a review of how special education is funded before finally attempting to answer the question of what is next for special education?To counter the long history of exclusion and lack of support for SWD, when IDEA was initially passed in 1975 it required the concept of “Child Find”: “All children with disabilities residing in the State, including children with disabilities who are homeless children or are wards of the State, and children with disabilities attending private schools, regardless of the severity of their disability, and who are in need of special education and related services, are identified, located, and evaluated”(U.S. Department of Education, 2017b, para. 1)While resulting in the desired impact, leading to a significant increase in the identification of SWD in the late 1970s and 1980s; over time identification rates slowed, only reacting to overall enrollment changes. However, the past ten years has again seen a steady climb in the number and percentage of SWDs (figure 1). As a percentage of total public school enrollment in prekindergarten through grade 12, identification of SWD has risen from 13 to 15 percent of all students, representing an increase of 6.4 million to 7.5 million students (National Center for Education Statistics, 2024)Although suggesting that states have increased their awareness of struggling students and therefore their ability to meet the ‘Child Find” obligation, across the United States there is much variation (table 1). Given that the distribution of students with disabilities is perceived as uneven (Baker & Ramsey, 2010), some variation in percentages could be expected. However, with New York, Maine and Pennsylvania identifying over 20% of students, while Texas, Idaho, and Hawaii identified less than 13%, it leads to questions in terms of how states are approaching identification and subsequently funding requirements. In 2018, the department of education found that the Texas was violating IDEA by actually setting enrollment targets limiting student's access to special education services (Kamenetz, 2018; Swaby, 2019). Further, Idaho is facing similar questions related to “Idaho's criteria for providing students with specific learning disability (SLD) services represent “a higher bar” than what is allowed” (Flandro, 2024, para. 4).Once identified for special education, states are legally obliged to address individual student needs. Therefore, with staffing shortages in both special education and other support areas (U. S. Government Accountability Office, 2024), higher expectations, and meeting legal requirements, school districts are left facing tough decisions in terms of having enough funding, and how to allocate it (Lieberman, 2023).Until recently the amount of money being spent on special education was unknown. However, released in 2022, for the fiscal year (FY) 2020, five special education current expenditure data items were added to the national F-33 School District Finance Survey (Cornman et al., 2023). The survey now provides annual comparisons of overall, instructional, pupil support, and transportation expenditures in special education. The results FY2021 showing that, unadjusted for costs, Connecticut and Vermont provided the most per-SWD, while Ohio and Alaska provided the least (table 1). However, comparing per-SWD expenditure to overall per-student funding shows that Florida gave the greatest percentage of total expenditure to SWD – 25.87%. Additionally, Florida has the highest per-SWD expenditure in relation to per-student expenditure – 2.86 times higher.Analyzing how per-SWD expenditure is correlated to the other factors shows that greater expenditure per-SWD is strongly correlated to overall education expenditure whether in terms of per-student expenditure, the percentage being used for special education or the relationship between per-student and per-SWD expenditure (table 2). However, comparing per-SWD funding and the percentage of SWD there is only a weak correlation as shown with Connecticut having the highest per-SWD expenditure and Maine with the highest percentage of SWD (table 1). While now having access to data on SWD expenditure and the difference in amounts being spent, nowhere among this data does it tell you if student needs are being met, and therefore the cost of special education.The broad goal of education is to produce law abiding productive citizens. Using this as a goal in 2011, results from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) found that while there were large differences among disability categories, up to six years after high school SWD were less likely to enrolled in postsecondary education and living independently than their same-age peers in the general population, but equally likely to have a paid job (Sanford et al., 2011). More recently, research and data on the effectiveness of special education funding is mixed. Research by the Edunomics Lab has found that increased expenditure on special education is not directly related to better educational outcomes (Hawkins, 2024b). In contrast Schwartz et al. (2019), analyzing students classified as learning disabled in New York City found that academic outcomes improved post classification. Finding a mixed outcome, Ballis and Heath, (2021) analyzing special education in Texas determined that while special education benefited those students that require services, for students that are misclassified, special education significant the of special education from a legal perspective, while the IDEA states that all students receiving special education services are required to receive a free appropriate public education the Student Succeeds Act that states of including academic rates and student various student Further, states not more than one percent of students to take therefore that the of SWD are in some both SWD and all students have seen rates between and (table However, SWD to all students, but the between has (table academic one is from the National of the has a population to student for in various academic the difference in and between students receiving and not receiving special education the in for both has while for (figure that over time special education services have to the between the of SWD and In it could be that the of SWD and state are not with the and that the only a of than that reflect whether FAPE is being provided are the number of and annual IDEA In special education there are that a a if they their receiving FAPE - representing the the there is a difference in the number of However, the national of SWD has seen a from SWD to SWD suggesting that special education services have and student needs are not being (figure some states as and with at least SWD at the other of the New York and the District of are receiving a for students (figure While not receiving FAPE a lack or of it is to that other factors are likely to the number of – and being IDEA are by the of Education on how state has to their state The reflect state and special education and and their of the IDEA to determine if a – requirements and of the in the in the in the Department of Education, para. from the IDEA a to in states (table However, in year most states with only around 40% that the IDEA is a federal law and and the if appropriately the that the of states are not providing Therefore, the between money and education et al., et al., 2018; similar to the that there is not enough funding to provide appropriate services or that funding is being used academic outcomes or specific to SWD, from a national it SWD are not receiving appropriate However, the variation between states is that the between providing FAPE and funding Therefore, the question How much funding does special education need and should it come for education the general of that education is an on However, how much funding and how it should be that states the of school finance – and et al., to the of funding However, educational has that and to the The concept of has and the of to educational et al., in local to provide education funding or school by and over through an are by their and by their and & Therefore, while a concept they are in with as that on one concept Therefore, while there is how a state the in how they public education should be of special education was on The Education for All Handicapped Children Act the was in 1975 after Congress of students with disabilities were not receiving an appropriate education. 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