The additional cost of educating some special-needs students is negligible. But for others, specialized schools can charge as much $50,000 per child per year in tuition, not including transportation.
And the costs are rising.
Ash has been particularly outspoken among superintendents about the consequences of the escalation. With the price tag for all municipal costs rising, and with cutbacks of state aid, he says the amount of money for public schools is dwindling. At the same time, since special-education expenditures are mandated while those for regular education are not, the budget for regular education gets squeezed.
"It means that unless there is a Proposition 2 1/2 override, general-education services will annually be cut," Ash said, referring to the vote - often difficult to secure from cost-conscious residents - to hike local property taxes by more than 2.5 percent above the tax levy limit.
As a result, Ash said, communities are "seeing inc! reased class sizes, reductions in services, and increased fees" in regular education.
In fiscal year 2006, for example, the latest year for which numbers are available, Lexington devoted 21.4 percent of its $72.1 million total school budget to special education. That's an increase from 18.9 percent in fiscal 2004, when the school budget was $63.1 million, according to the state Department of Education.
As they reexamine special education, some local officials are searching for ways to insulate regular education. In Burlington, for example, officials have included special-education out-of-district costs as a separate item on the municipal budget. While not necessarily saving money, the strategy protects regular education from unexpected upward bumps in special-education costs. Last month, Lexington school officials met with those in Burlington to discuss the measure, and subsequently voted unanimously to do the same.
Within the next week or so, Lexington Sc! hool Committee members will be discussing the idea with select! men, who must also agree to it, said Thomas Diaz, the committee chairman.
"I think it's a good idea because it makes those particular expenses more visible and provides more details to the town on why they're rising or falling so rapidly," he said.
Ash said he supports special education and does not want to "blame" it for the dilemma in regular education. But he said he also believes costs for special education can be slashed.
Ash began to grapple with the problem as soon as he took the Lexington job two years ago. Last year, he developed five programs - some new, some expanded - so more students could remain within the system.
One program provides schooling at the Clarke Middle School for eight sixth-graders who have been identified as having some type of autism or similar learning disorders. The students receive practice in social skills, instruction based on individual learning profiles, and counseling. A similar program at the high school includes 13 stud! ents.
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Source: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/10/21/hometown_schooling_cuts_special_ed_costs! /?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+City%2FRegion+News
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