Report Finds Schools Paying More for Special Education

Monday, October 17th, 2022 -- 1:00 PM

(By Gaby Vinick, Wisconsin Public Radio) A report by the Education Law Center released this week found that school districts in Wisconsin are shifting more financial resources to special education as state reimbursements rates fail to keep up with increasing costs, according to Gaby Vinick of Wisconsin Public Radio.

"In general, what we see is schools need more funding than they're getting," said Mary McKillip, co-author of the report.  School districts in Wisconsin are covering $1.25 billion in special education costs beyond funds reimbursed from the state.

The districts' money comes from their general funds serving all students. School districts are required by federal law to provide special education services for students with disabilities.

Districts are required to provide plans to meet the individual needs of those students, with accommodations that could range from specialized therapy, to adaptive technology, to one-on-one aides.

Students with disabilities represent between 10 to 15 percent of the student body in more than half of Wisconsin public schools, according to a Wisconsin Policy Forum report. 

Over the last four decades, the cost of special education services has steadily increased. School districts spent $161 million on special education during the 1980-1981 school year. By the 2020-2021 school year, spending rose to $1.6 billion.

At the same time, the state cut back on the percentage of those costs it reimbursed. Forty years ago, the state reimbursed about 67 percent of the cost of special education services. But that reimbursement rate declined steadily over the following decades to a low of 24 percent in the 2017-2018 school year.

Last school year, the reimbursement rate increased slightly to 30 percent. Researchers McKillip and Danielle Farrie wrote that an increase in the reimbursement rate would free up money for schools to better support students, especially those from low-income families.

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