Successfully passing legislation often starts with laying down a foundation of good understanding.
This week, the Oregon Department of Education did solid work setting up the Legislature’s discussions of special education funding that will be Monday, Feb. 17.
Michael Wiltfong and Kara Williams of ODE sat before the House Education Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 12, to give an in depth explanation of slides they first shared in December. The video of the presentation helps make sense of it all.
Wiltfong and Williams walked legislators through the four major areas of state special education funding and showed them where the gaps lay as well as the consequences of not filling those gaps.
The biggest gap is between the number of students schools serve with special needs and the number of such students the State School Fund acknowledges. Oregon school districts receive approximately $10,000 per student in state funds. Schools get double that for students who have an individualized education program, but the State School Fund formula caps that extra payment at 11% of enrollment.
According to ODE, the national and state average for students on IEPs is about 15% of enrollment. That means nearly 20,000 Oregon special education students fall outside the cap. ODE is able to bring that number down some with limited cap waivers, which are not accounted for in the State School Fund budget. Even with the waivers, schools serve more than 12,000 students on IEPS who have no additional funding attached to their needs.
When it costs $30,000 or more to educate a student with the most intensive needs, the High Cost Disability Account provides schools with additional funding. At the current funding level, the account reimburses only around 40% of the actual costs, though.
ODE estimated that total state special education funding fell about $376 million short of actual school expenditures in 2022-23.
Rep. Jami Cate, R-Lebanon, expressed concern that underfunding special education might push schools toward under identifying students who need additional supports. Legislators wanted to know how Oregon school districts identify a student with an IEP and if each district does it differently.
Federal law governs most special education identification, evaluation and services. The Individual with Disabilities Education Act has been around since the 1970s and serves as the basic guideline for special education in schools. Child Find is the federal law that requires states to develop policies and procedures to ensure that all children with disabilities who need special services are identified, located and evaluated. Oregon’s Child Find policies and procedures can be found in OAR 581-015-2000 chapters.
Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, the level of state and local funding for school districts must remain relatively constant from year to year, called “maintenance of effort.” The MOE includes only state and local funds, and states cannot reduce their spending on public education and replace those funds with federal funds.
Essentially, schools go through a rigorous and legally defined process to identify every student on an IEP. Then the district is required to provide the necessary supports and to continue to provide those supports even if their budget changes.
If the Legislature were to raise or lift the special education cap without funding the raise, this would “thin the soup,” as Wiltfong said. The State School Fund formula would just be recalculated, lowering the average payment per student without helping the districts with actual costs.
We want to see more money invested in special education so districts can meet their actual costs.
The House Education Committee will hear three bills Monday that could help.
House Bill 2682 would modernize the adequate service level for Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education, one of the four special education funding buckets.
HB 2448 would increase funding for the High Cost Disability Account.
HB 2953 would raise the special education enrollment cap and potentially add funding.
OSBA fully supports the passage and funding of all three bills. Educators, administrators and board members are expecting to testify Monday in support of the bills.
– Adrienne Anderson
OSBA Government Relations Counsel
