Historically, many state education agencies (SEAs) have formally or informally used risk pools to provide extra funds to local education agencies (LEAs) serving students with high cost special education needs. With the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), SEAs have been encouraged to formalize their approach to establishing or operating risk pools. The purpose of this document is to describe various state approaches to maintaining risk pools, both before and after the reauthorization of IDEA. Appended are: (1) Existing Risk Pool Programs Being Continued by States; (2) New Federal Risk Pool Plans.