State Budget Freezes EEN Funding
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