Schools reroute aid for disabled

Schools reroute aid for disabled
Law change allows some money for special-ed kids to be funneled elsewhere

Ohio school districts are spending money meant for disabled students to stabilize their shaky budgets, and the state has made it easier for them to do so.

Statewide, schools are receiving an extra $438 million in federal stimulus money just for special education. For most districts, the influx has doubled the federal dollars they received for special education.

Special-education advocates say vulnerable students are being cheated as the money is redirected, and that Ohio has taken the most extreme approach of any state that has paved the way for schools to use the money elsewhere.

"It just seems completely mind-blowing to me," said Jennifer Cohen, a policy analyst at the Washington, D.C.-based New America Foundation. She tracks stimulus spending on education. "I think it's sneaky, and I know there are a lot of special-education advocates out there who are upset about the implications."

http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/01/25/copy/specialedmoney.ART_ART_01-25-10_A1_3BGCV0V.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

Come on, people.

Here's a more unbiased interpretation of what's happening.

School Districts support special education with two pots of money - federal dollars through Title VIB and local/state dollars through whatever the state's special education program is. Here in Colorado it's called ECEA.

The State ECEA dollars reimburse about 23% of the total special education expenditures we wrack up each year. It's woefully underfunded. That means our regular operational dollars fund the other 77% of special education cost. Title VIB funds another portion of special education expenditures, but it's VERY targeted, and can only be reimbursed as we accumulate allowable expenditures.

The feds announced that ARRA dollars would be distributed through Title VIB. If the rules had remained as they were, most districts couldn't have spent the ARRA dollars because they don't have enough reimburseable activity to apply to VIB. So they would have carried over this ARRA funding from one year to the next as they spent money on psychologist services for special ed kids, etc. But the feds wanted ARRA spent quickly. So, they said we could apply up to 50% of our total ARRA allocation toward non-VIB special education expenditures. These are expenditures we ALREADY MAKE ON SPECIAL EDUCATION, but they aren't includable in VIB because of the very restrictive rules.

So, yes, we moved about $500,000 of special education general fund expenditures to be paid out of the VIB grant. And yes, this did free up funds for other general fund expenditures.

If that's wrong, they can sue me.