CONGRESS STIFFS SPECIAL ED KIDS FUNDING PROMISED IN 1975 NOT PROVIDED.

Byline: Bill Hillburg Staff Writer

WASHINGTON - The education spending bill moving toward final passage in Congress this week contains a broken promise that will stick California's school districts and students with a multibillion-dollar bill for special education programs that Washington forces local schools to provide.

The spending plan calls for the federal government to cover 13.5 percent of the cost of meeting the special needs of students with physical and learning disabilities and behavioral problems.

That's far below the 40 percent subsidy promised by Congress in 1975 when it passed the Individuals With Disabilities Act. Since then, the subsidy granted to schools nationwide has averaged 8 percent per year.

``With our budget surplus, there's no reason we can't be doing better this year to ease this unfunded mandate,'' said Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, who has led a fight to increase special education funding as a member of the House Education Committee.

``The supplemental (federal) funding for special education for our schools is peanuts,'' he said.

``This is a good law that gives equal opportunity in public education. But it has also become a huge unfunded mandate that has created a crisis for our schools.''

Funds lagging 

The state Department of Education reported that California received $700 million in federal special education funds for the current school year. But the cost of educating the more than 600,000 students with special needs is estimated $4.6 billion. State grants to local districts total $2.7 billion, leaving a $1.3 billion gap to be made up by local districts.

In the Los Angeles Unified School District, where 81,000 out of 720,000 students are enrolled in special education and spending on programs totals $900 million per year, the shortfall is $300 million.

``Congress set this program up and promised to help keep it going. But they seem to have developed attention deficit disorder,'' said Los Angeles school board member David Tokofsky. ``They need to get back on task and serve our kids.''

Los Angeles schools have cut corners on essentials, such as general classroom supplies and books, and crowded more children in classrooms because federal leaders have not filled the money gap, he said.

``Without adequate funding, special education has been an encroachment on our general education fund and our general education kids,'' Tokofsky said. ``We have had to cut back on their books and materials and increase class sizes to cover this unfunded mandate.

``It's a horrible, cannibalistic cycle. We raise these class sizes and the kids get less personal attention and early intervention, leading even more students to eventually require special education.''

``We're just limping along,'' said Los Angeles school board member Julie Korenstein. ``Without adequate funding, we're faced with increasing class size even in special ed, and we can't hire and keep the professionals we need. Right now, a large percentage of our special ed teachers have emergency credentials.''

Long Beach Unified School District, which has 7,000 out of 93,000 youngsters in special education, estimates its deficit at $10 million per year and has cut back on class field trips, janitorial services and maintenance to fulfill its mandate.

Shortfall hurt all

Michael Hulsizer, a Kern County educator and a member of the California-DC Alliance, a coalition of teachers and administrators who recently visited Washington to press for added funds, said that every California youngster feels the impact of the special education shortfall.

``We estimate that, to pay for special education, every child gets $200 less per year in basic services, including materials, field trips and enrichment programs,'' said Hulsizer. ``In an average grade 4-12 classroom with 30 students, that comes to $60,000 per year.''

Hulsizer noted that the special education shortfall is especially acute in California due to limitations on tax increases. Proposition 13, which requires a two-thirds vote by school district residents to increase tax levies, was approved by voters in 1978, three years after IDEA was enacted by Congress. School districts in other states, where elected boards can increase taxes, have been able to better meet the cost of special education.

Republicans and Democrats blame each other for failing to supply local school districts with needed funding.

``We've raised the percentage every year since 1995,'' said McKeon. ``And last year, we threatened to hold up the whole education budget unless there was an increase.''

Democrats say they interpret the 40 percent subsidy promise as merely a goal, and that shifting priorities and budget limitations are to blame for the shortfall. For example, the Clinton administration advocates spending additional education dollars on school construction, hiring 100,000 new teachers and supplying schools with computer technology.

The Democrats and GOP also have basic differences over how to fund education. Clinton and his fellow Democrats favor programs administered directly by the U.S. Department of Education. Republicans prefer giving block grants to local school districts and allowing elected boards to set funding priorities.

Reforms needed

While no one wants to scrap special education - which replaced such onerous practices as segregating students with special needs and, in some cases, denying them access to public schools - many officials say the system is in need of reform.

McKeon, for one, worries that schools are ``over-identifying'' students for special education who actually belong in regular programs. State education officials note that the number of special education students is rising and currently running 1.2 times higher than overall enrollment growth.

``This a program that no one seems to know how to manage,'' said Joseph Zeronian, LAUSD's chief financial officer. He said budgeting for special education is difficult at best, given the individualized nature of the program.

``You can have a student screened for special education who turns out only to need an available service, like a speech therapist,'' he said. ``But that same child could be diagnosed with a very severe problem and be placed in a private residential institution that can cost us $100,000 per year.''

Special education costly

The costs of special education start adding up at the onset, with an initial professional evaluation costing an average of $2,000 per student. Then, needed specialists must be hired, ranging from therapists to full-time nurses.

``We've had to make hard budget choices every year because of this unfunded mandate,'' Zeronian said.

The disabilities act, which was widened in scope by Congress in 1997, also calls for every student to be served ``in the least restrictive environment,'' meaning that children with special needs must be mainstreamed where possible in classes with nonspecial education students.

Each student is also given an individualized education program that is developed and monitored in cooperation with parents, teachers and specialists.