This paper is in response to a request from the California State Board of Education and the California Advisory Commission on Special Education. Its sections include a national overview of special education funding and provision, special education in California compared to the nation, a more detailed examination of state-level special education spending in California, and variations across the state's Special Education Local Planning Areas (SELPAs). The paper concludes with a discussion of the possibility of doing more with less in the provision of special education, presenting examples from two California districts where this appears to be occurring, and with a discussion of possible policy implications.