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Special Education funding comes from three sources: local, state and federal. Unfortunately, both the state and federal governments have reneged on promises made to local school districts to be a partner in covering the costs of these essential, state and federally mandated services.
Congress has authorized federal funding at 40 percent of program costs for special education services, but funding has never approached the authorized level. In fact, for the 1997-98 school year federal resources for special education accounted for less than 5 percent of program costs. (The Wisconsin Legislature has authorized state categorical aid for special education to fund 63 percent of the special education costs - for the 1998-99 school year, state reimbursement will fall to around 30 percent.)
The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction defines "program costs" to include salaries and fringe benefits of special education staff - and the bulk of special education costs are personnel-related - some transportation costs and resources for salaries/benefits of program managers. Special education costs for Wisconsin in 1997-98 were $863.5 million. Had the federal government contributed its authorized 40 percent, Wisconsin would have received $345.4 million - in reality, the state received $42.4 million to be distributed to school districts for special education program costs.
| Source | FY 1997-98 | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| State General Aids | $339.7 | 39.3% |
| State Categorical Aids | 270.1 | 31.3% |
| Local (property tax) | 167.7 | 19.4% |
| WI School Levy Tax Credit | 43.6 | 5.1% |
| Federal | 42.4 | 4.9% |
| TOTAL | $863.5 | 100.0% |
| Source: Legislative Audit Bureau | ||
The Madison Metropolitan School District has allocated $48.8 million for special education for the 1999-00 school year. The budget estimates that $2.6 million will be received from federal sources. If the federal government met its 40 percent obligation, Madison's schools would receive $19.5 million for special education program costs - this represents a shortfall of nearly $17 million.
The federal, state and local governments must work together to form a true partnership to fund mandated special education programs. Every child in Wisconsin deserves the best education possible.
July 1999
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