The spiraling costs of special education have siphoned off such a large share of the DCPS budget, depleting funding for classroom instruction and other critical supports.  The increased costs have contributed to the under funding of local schools, despite reasonably generous system-wide funding.  DCPS budgets about 25% of its total expenditures on special education, including related transportation costs.  Each year the budget is overspent.  The costs have continued to soar – DCPS spent $31.5 million more then was budgeted on special education last year. 

Another critical issue is the high number of children referred to special education through a system that places the schools in an adversarial position with parents.  DCPS has traditionally over-referred students for special education services.  This trend has been dramatically reversed in the last year, resulting in a 46% reduction in special education referrals.  We need to further this trend and make sure that we are thorough in our deliberations.  But most importantly, we need to work in partnership with parents to meet the educational needs of our children.  Special education litigation should not be the last resort for children that cannot get the attention and services they need from our educators.  Our system must embrace a policy that allows children with special needs to learn in regular classrooms with their peers.  To accomplish this, our teachers must be trained to teach students with a wide range of learning styles and abilities and given the classroom support necessary to make inclusive instruction successful for all students.

Another disturbing trend is the placement of a large proportion of DCPS’ special education students in private facilities, most outside of the District, at a very high per pupil cost and related transportation costs.  DCPS does not have written contracts with many of these providers resulting in wide variations in the quality and costs for services.  The Council is near enactment of legislation that establishes quality certification procedures and a rate-setting process for the payment of non-public tuition.  This legislation is the first step in addressing the problem.  We need to be able to expand our ability to care for our children in the District.

If elected I will:

• create a strategy and implementation plan to bring students in non-public placements back to local schools.  This must be done in a way that increases the quality of care but eventually reduces the cost to the District.

• mandate that principals are trained in how students are classified as requiring special education and strategies for reducing over-identification.   Furthermore, our teachers should be better trained in the instruction of children with different learning styles and behavioral challenges.

• Increase the availability of instructional aides in regular classrooms to help teachers maintain better classroom control and reduce disruptive behavioral problems that often result in special education referrals.

• partner with the Special Education Transportation Administrator to identify immediate ways to reduce transportation costs.  We are in this together, our goal is to improve outcomes for our children.

• require implementation of a strong mediation program for special education cases to reduce costs of litigation.  We need not be in an adversarial position with parents – we want what is best for our children!

• conduct a feasibility study to assess the viability of using surplus school space to build state-of-the-art facilities for our children.