This manual was designed primarily for use by people with disabilities. The hope is that it is also useful for families, as well as service coordinators and providers who directly assist families and individuals with disabilities. The focus of this manual is to provide easy-to-read information about available resources, and to provide immediate…

Trenton Public Schools (TPS) have faced multiple years of fiscal turmoil as the district struggles to provide students with the resources required to meet the State's Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCSS). Under the tenure of Governor Chris Christie, the State failed to provide the state aid needed to support the district's budget, eroding…

This document presents the technical appendices that accompany the full report, "Special Education Finance in California." The appendices include: (1) Problems with AB 602 and Other State Funding Programs for Special Education; (2) Additional Figures for Analysis of Distribution of Students with Disabilities; (3) Using Supplemental and…

California's system of special education served about 718,000 students in 2014-15, or about 11.5 percent of the K-12 population. It is expensive, consuming some $12 billion in federal, state, and local dollars annually. Special education operates within a legal framework that sets it apart from the rest of the K-12 system. The state's enactment of…

Public funding of private K-12 schooling through vouchers continues to be a contentious issue across the U.S., even though a solid majority of Americans continues to oppose them. The voucher plans run the risk of legal challenge for how they handle the rights of students with disabilities and whether they violate state constitutional provisions…

California entered 2010-11 with a longstanding imbalance between ongoing spending and income. To help close that gap, state policymakers suspended Proposition 98, the minimum funding guarantee for K-12 schools and community colleges. In total, revenues for K-12 schools are down nearly 10% this year compared with 2007-08. Yet more cuts loom as the…

The cost of educating students with disabilities and how to fund their services have been the subject of a number of studies since 1982 that were conducted by the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) and/or projects conducted by the American Institutes for Research's (AIR) Center for Special Education Finance…

Raising academic standards and eliminating achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students are America's prime national educational goals. Current federal and state policies, however, largely ignore the fact that the childhood poverty rate in the United States is 21%, the highest in the industrialized world, and that poverty…

Public schools must make available special education and related services to all IDEA-eligible (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) students with disabilities beginning at age three and through age 18. Services to students, ages 19, 20, and 21, are permissive. That means the decision to serve 19, 20 and 21-year-old students is determined…

The manual describes program standards and guidelines for New York programs interested in qualifying for state reimbursement for special education costs ordered by the court in serving handicapped students birth to 5 years of age. Standards are set forth for the following areas: eligibility (including definitions of handicapped conditions);…

The document contains the new Part 200 of regulations for Chapter 853, a New York law governing special education services. The law allows students to be placed on the basis of handicapping conditions or on the basis of four criteria representing a pupil's specific educational need. The regulations are intended to expand upon definitions currently…

The first of three sections in the booklet on Washington state standards describes administration of state and federal funds to programs for handicapped students. Discussion centers on such topics as fund distribution, state allotments for foster homes and hospitals, P.L. 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) flow through funds,…

The 1980 New York State regulations for Sections 207 and 4403 of the Education Law are concerned with the education of handicapped children. Individual sections focus on the following aspects: definitions, excess cost aid to school districts for the education of pupils with handicapping conditions, the local committee on the handicapped,…

In recent years, parents have benefited from a significant expansion of educational options for their children. Parents have many more opportunities than just a few years ago to choose from an array of public school options, including charter, virtual, and magnet schools. Expanding educational options for parents is one of the hallmarks of the…

The handbook is intended as a reference on New York state aid for special education for local school districts, Boards of Cooperative Educational Services, and private schools. An introduction traces the history of special education legislation within the state. Succeeding chapters touch upon determination of pupil placement for educational…