You asked for a brief summary of the special education mandates in federal and state law and for information on state and federal funding to local school districts for special education.

SUMMARY

Special education is mandated by both state and federal law. Though Connecticut’s special education law predates the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) by seven years, the federal law currently controls. Special education laws do not consist of a series of specific mandates. Rather, they establish broad requirements that school districts identify children with disabilities that affect their educational performance and provide them with a “free and appropriate public education” tailored to their individual needs. Federal and state laws and regulations also impose procedural, notice, and due process requirements for implementing the overarching mandate.

School districts receive funding for special education from both the federal government and the state, although school district expenditures for special education commonly exceed federal and state aid amounts. When it passed the federal special education law, Congress promised that the federal government would pay 40% of the average cost of special education; but, federal special education funding to school districts has never approached this level. In FY 04, the federal government’s contribution was 20% nationally.

In FY 05, the federal government spent an estimated $ 10. 6 billion on special education grants to states, of which an estimated $ 132 million went to Connecticut. This amount is only 55% of what Connecticut would have received in FY 05 if Congress had provided the promised 40% funding.

The state funds special education through two categorical grants, only one of which it funded (but not fully) in FYs 04 and 05. The state distributed an estimated $ 66 million to municipalities in FY 05 to reimburse them for their special education expenditures for very high-cost cases and for students placed by state agencies for whom no home district liable for special education costs can be identified.

State funding for special education was substantially increased in the 2005-07 biennial budget. Not only is the appropriation for high-cost cases and state agency placements increased, but the second special education grant, which goes to districts with higher-than-average special education costs, was funded for both FY 06 and FY 07. Federal funding for special education for FY 06 is currently uncertain because the U. S. House of Representatives rejected the Education Department budget bill on November 16, 2005. The U. S. Department of Education is operating under a continuing resolution until December 17, 2005.

STATE AND FEDERAL SPECIAL EDUCATION LAWS

Special education mandates on local school districts are required by both state and federal law. Connecticut’s special education law (CGS § 10-76a, et seq. ) predates the federal law, having been first passed in 1967 while the federal law was passed in 1974. The federal law essentially supersedes the state law and the state law has been frequently amended to remain in conformity with the federal one.

Both laws require school districts to identify children requiring special education, prescribe suitable educational programs for eligible children, and provide special education for any eligible child. Children are eligible for special education if they have one or more of the following conditions, listed in federal regulations and incorporated by reference into state law, that affect their educational performance: mental retardation, hearing impairment including deafness, speech or language impairment, visual impairment including blindness, serious emotional disturbance,

orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairment, specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities. Federal law also allows states to include as eligible children aged three through nine who are experiencing a “developmental delay. ” Connecticut law makes such children eligible.

Both laws define “special education” as specially designed instruction, developed in accordance with federal and state regulations, to meet the needs of each exceptional child, including related services recommended by the child's planning and placement team. It must be provided for children who require it from age three until they either graduate from high school or turn 21 years of age.

School districts must also comply with special education hearing procedures, if a parent or other person responsible for a special education child requests one, to review the child's diagnosis, special programs, exemption from school privileges, or any other matter concerning his right to a special education.

Another federal law, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, guarantees access to, and prohibits discrimination against, individuals with disabilities in any program or activity that receives or benefits from federal assistance. This law also covers public schools. It applies to any physical or mental disability that limits a major life function, such as learning. Thus, a student who does not meet the disability definitions required for special education but whose disability is covered by Section 504 must be afforded a “reasonable accommodation” for his disability to allow him to benefit from his education.

FEDERAL FUNDING FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION

FYs 2003-05

The federal government provides three special education grants to states under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The largest of the three is called “IDEA Part B. ” This grant supports special education programs provided by states and local school districts for children in grades K-12. Two smaller grants support preschool programs (those for children aged 3 to 5 in Connecticut) and programs for infants and families (the so-called Birth-to-Three Program).

When Congress enacted the federal special education law in 1974, it promised to fund 40% of the average per-pupil expenditure for educating children with disabilities (“full funding”). But federal funding has always fallen short of this goal, reaching only 20% in FY 04. For FY 05, Connecticut received an estimated $ 132 million in federal special education grants. This amount is 45% less than the $ 240 million the state would have received under “full funding,” according to Federal Funds Information for the States (Issue Brief 04-57).

Table 1 below shows Connecticut’s actual federal special education funding for FYs 03 and 04 and the estimated funding for FY 05.

Table 1: Federal Special Education Funding to Connecticut

FYs 2003-2005

Source: U. S. Department of Education

IDEA Part B Grants to States

IDEA Part B grants are distributed to states according to a formula. The states in turn are required to distribute most of the funds to local education agencies directly serving children. States may retain part of the money for state-level activities, including administration and support of, and direct services to, children with disabilities. Connecticut distributed $ 102. 6 million in IDEA Part B funds to local school districts in FY 05. (See Table 2, attached, for a district-by-district breakdown. )

STATE FUNDING

The state funds two categorical grants for special education. Money is distributed to towns based on their costs.

Excess Cost Grant

This grant pays (1) the costs of special education for any student that exceed 4. 5 times his home district’s average per pupil expenditure for regular education for the previous year (“catastrophic costs”) and (2) 100% of the cost of special education for any student placed in the district by a state agency and who has no identifiable home district in the state (“state agency placements”). For FYs 06 and 07, if state appropriations are insufficient to pay the catastrophic cost portion of the grant in full, those amounts must be proportionately reduced. Grants for state agency placements cannot be reduced and must be paid in full (CGS § 10-76g, as amended by PA 05-245).

The biennial budget appropriates $ 92. 5 million annually for this grant for FYs 06 and 07. This represents a 40% increase over an estimated expenditure of $ 66 million for the grant in FY 05.

Equity Grant

This grant provides funding to school districts with higher-than-average special education costs (CGS § 10-76g (c)). The law requires it to be paid “within available appropriations. ” The equity grant was not funded in FYs 04 and 05, but the current biennial budget appropriates $ 3 million for the grants for FY 06 and $ 4 million for FY 07.

Table 2 shows a district-by-district breakdown of FY 05 special education expenditures compared to the federal IDEA Part B and state excess cost grants each district received.

Table 2: School District Special Education Spending and State and Federal Funds Received, 2004-05

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Source: State Department of Education

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