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Wisconsin school districts are being forced to make “Sophie’s choices” because of the state’s failure to keep its commitment to fund programs for children with exceptional education needs, according to an education coalition.
An alliance of education groups, including WEAC, says the lack of state funding for special education is forcing districts to make painful choices between special education and regular education programs, causing long-term harm to many students in the process. The group is calling on the state to increase funding for special education in the 1999-2001 budget now under deliberation.
State law currently requires the state to reimburse local school districts for 63% of their special education costs. Actual reimbursements were frozen at $275.5 million in the 1994-1995 school year and are now at around 34%. The governor’s new budget continues to freeze the reimbursements and eliminates the statutory reimbursement rate.
“School districts are being forced to cut regular education, maintenance and other materials to pay for state and federally mandated programs,” Wisconsin Council of Administrators of Special Services Executive Director Phil Knobel said in an alliance news release last week. “How can local school districts make up what is essentially a state budget shortfall of almost $200 million? The state has to be held accountable and increase its funding for mandated programs.”
WEAC is working to ensure the special education funding gap is reduced or eliminated. Members are contacting legislators and testifying at hearings to explain the impact on children and schools.
“I believe that every child should be given the chance to learn to the best of their abilities,” Shawano special education teacher Paula Witbro told the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee at a budget hearing in Green Bay on March 27. Witbro said the budget proposal makes a bad situation even worse as special education and regular education programs compete for the same scarce resources.
“This alarming trend has only been made worse by the state-imposed revenue caps. School districts are left with no option but to cannibalize regular education budgets to pay for state and federally mandated programs and services for handicapped children.”
Green Bay Education Association President Helen Schaal, Appleton Education Association President Marcia Engen, and Northeast Wisconsin Technical College counselor Mary VanHaute also testified at the hearing. Schaal discussed revenue caps; Engen discussed removal of policy items from the budget; and VanHaute talked about technical college issues.
Posted April 1, 1999