WCDD Home > 2005-2007 Leg. Platforms

Special Education Services

Both Wisconsin and federal law require schools to educate children with disabilities alongside their peers without disabilities to the greatest extent possible. To make this work for the children with disabilities and all other children, schools have to work with parents to develop and provide plans with individualized support. Some examples of individualized supports include:

• Interpreters for students who are deaf or hard of hearing
• Adapting curriculum to meet different learning styles
• Special education aides
• Special education teachers and consultants
• Occupational and physical therapists

Property taxes help fund school districts. Property taxes are unpopular and create tension between property owners and school districts. In wealthier districts, more funding is available. The state provides funding to help poorer districts compensate for the differences in property tax revenue, but property taxes still cover a large part of education costs.

In addition to the general support of school districts, the state provides a small amount of funding to reimburse part of the costs of special education.

What is the problem?

Because the state only pays about 30% and the federal government only pays about 16% of the costs of special education services, the rest of the funding comes from school districts’ general budgets. This is particularly a problem in a few cases where a child has very high special education costs. It may be difficult for the school districts to pay the higher costs.

How can it be fixed?

• Maintain the state’s 30% reimbursement rate for special education costs. More funding is needed to maintain the current rate because of increasing costs.
• Support the proposed budget increases of $44 million for SAGE to reduce class sizes, $24 million for bilingual education, and $16 million for school transportation, all programs that benefit children with disabilities.
• Provide funding to study the true costs of educating all children. Develop a school finance system that meets the educational needs of all children without overburdening property owners.