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The state and federal governments mandate programs/services for children in special education. Mandates are a first draw on a school district's budget - a district has no option but to fund the mandates. When revenue limits began in 1993, the state reimbursed school districts for special education (SPED) at about 45% of costs. The reimbursement has slipped to about 30% for the 2002-03 school year. Had the state reimbursed at 45%, the school district would have received an additional $7.986 MILLION this year.
When Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975, states were promised a 40% reimbursement for costs. Had Congress reimbursed at 40% MMSD would have received $20.5 MILLION for 2002-03. Currently, federal reimbursement represents about 9% of the district's SPED budget ($4,594,958 FED -- MMSD SPED budget $51,316,667, or 8.954%).
The state and federal combination represents $28.486 million. The governments' failure to adequately reimburse schools for this mandate is at considerable cost to the school district. This mandate is a first-draw on the district's budget.
Madison schools have 139 "low-incidence/high cost" students (few students with the disability, but high cost for programs/services) whose expenses are $5,740,836 -- an average cost of $41,301 per student. In 2001 Gov. Tommy Thompson's Blue Ribbon Task Force on State-Local Partnerships (Kettl Commission) recommended the state pay 100% of low-incidence/high cost SPED expenses. A DPI task force in 2000 recommended a 90% state/10% local share for low incidence/high cost SPED students. Either proposal brings needed mandate relief to MMSD.
Student Profile - Above $50,000*
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Student Profile - $50,000-40,000*
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Student Profile - $40,000-25,000*
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*Totals do NOT include supplies, materials, equipment costs or regular education tuition (most special education students are accessing regular education for a portion of their school day). |
In the last decade, Madison's Limited English Proficiency (LEP) enrollment has exploded. In 1992-93 there were 809 LEP students in the district; for the current school year, the number is 2,829 - an increase of over 320% and currently about 11.3% of the district's K-12 enrollment. Enrollments continue to exceed annual projections.
Since 1997-98 LEP enrollment has more than doubled (1,400 to 2,829 in 2002-03). The district's 2001-02 LEP budget was $7.2 million; for 2002-03 the budget increased by $1.8 million (to almost $9.1 million). Since 1999-00, the LEP/bilingual budget has increased almost 94% - from $4.6 million to $9.1 million.
In the last two budgets, MMSD has added 34 new bilingual teachers/aides, increasing costs by $2.8 million - during a period when the district cut nearly $12.2 million from the budget and eliminated 111 full-time positions to comply with state-imposed revenue limits. LEP reimbursement from the state is about 16% -- from the FEDs, less than 10%.
