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LIVE FROM THE STAR LEDGER: 'Report: Schools need major money for special education' "New Jersey school districts need a massive infusion of additional state aid and state-funded teacher training to keep up with the growing cost of special educational services for students with autism or other learning disabilities, a new report released this morning shows..."
For the full NJSBA report: http://njsba.org/specialeducation/
For the full NJSBA report: http://njsba.org/specialeducation/
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STAR LEDGER: Report: Schools need major money for special education
by Dunstan McNichol Thursday September 20, 2007, 12:28 PM
New Jersey school districts need a massive infusion of additional state aid and state-funded teacher training to keep up with the growing cost of special educational services for students with autism or other learning disabilities, a new report released this morning shows.
Prepared in anticipation of the upcoming effort to rewrite the formula by which state officials distribute more than $7 billion in state school aid each year, the report says New Jersey public schools spend $3.3 billion a year on special education, with about $1.9 billion provided by local property taxpayers.
The report says the state should eventually cover the full $1.9 billion cost now borne locally. It suggests starting by boosting state special education aid by $171 million next year to fully fund a 2002 law designed to have the state cover any student's costs that exceed $40,000 per-year.
"Our schools need significantly higher levels of state and federal funding so they can provide quality services without overburdening local property taxpayers," said Edwina Lee, executive director of the New Jersey Schools Boards Association, which prepared the report.
The report says New Jersey's longstanding penchant for placing special education students in out-of-district schools drives costs up through high transportation and tuition costs.
"Students in out-of-district placements account for 10 percent of the special education population, but use almost 40 percent of the expenditures," Lee said during a press conference at the Statehouse to present the report.
The report, which analyzed school spending in 2005 and 2006, also noted that staffing for special education services has increased sharply, with school districts having one staff member for every five special needs students in 2005, compared to one for every seven students a decade earlier.
According to the report, services for each of 205,897 students receiving special education services averaged $16,081 per pupil - about 1.6 times the amount spent on general education.