State Increases Special Education Funds

By Teresa Rochester

Santa Monica and Malibu parents cautiously hailed a decision last week by the state of California to increase special education funding for school districts in an effort to end a 20-year dispute.

The plan, announced last Thursday, calls for the state to pay $270 million to reimburse school districts for money they have paid out of pocket to cover mandated special education costs. Under the agreement, signed by Gov. Gray Davis, the state also will pay $100 million annually for special education services.

While district officials have not seen the agreement and actual totals have not been set, assistant superintendent Tim McNulty, who oversees special education, said the district stands to see roughly $50,000 in annual payments and $500,000 in reimbursement money. The district has a $9 million special education budget, McNulty said.

The half million in reimbursement funds is not earmarked for special education and can be spent at the discretion of the school board, which will be asked to ratify the state's agreement in November. The annual payments will be restricted to special education use.

"The rationale is that school districts have been going out of pocket in the general fund to make up funds," McNulty said.

Parents of special education students, who make up 12 percent of the district's pupils, said that any increase in state funding is good, but they questioned just how far the money would go.

The state gives about $2.4 billion a year to help fund special education, and despite a pledge to cover 40 percent of the costs for federally mandated special education programs, the federal government only provides $500 million annually to the state. To fill the gap this year the Santa Monica/Malibu School District used $4 million in general fund money.

In financially tight times the use of general fund money for special education has fueled a rift between special and regular education parents.

"I'm glad the state is finally recognizing the issue and we would hope the federal government would do the same," said Joseph Karr O'Connor, the father of a special education student. "I think one of the side issues is that the regular education parents get mad when they hear this because their kids are not getting anything out of it."

"It's good news but it's not great news," said Carol Pessara, whose child takes special education classes at Malibu High School. "It is an acknowledgment from the state that they have not stepped up to the plate for special education, so it's good."

O'Connor's wife, Linda, questioned the governor's commitment to special education.

"It's a long time in coming," she said about the settlement. "My sense is that Gray Davis has really written off special education. All of his incentives are geared toward teachers who teach regular education."

The dispute over funding the costs of special education started in 1980 when Riverside County's Office of education filed suit against the state, alleging that its districts were forced to pay for special education services that exceeded federal requirements. The courts found in favor of school districts, arguing that the state was obligated to cover costs of state mandated services.

The court ordered that the case be reviewed by the Commission on State mandates, which is charged with determining when the state has failed to pay for services it mandates local jurisdictions to follow. After several failed negotiation attempts, the commission reached a decision in June to start reimbursing schools for their costs.

The agreement will go before the Board of Education for ratification at its second meeting in November.