How to cut special-ed spending without sacrificing quality

As school districts grow accustomed to doing more with less, special-education programs are dealing with their own unique set of challenges—and one expert has proposed several solutions to rein in special-ed spending without reducing program quality. The recently published “Something Has Got to Change: Rethinking Special Education,” a primer from Nathan Levenson, a former superintendent of public schools in Arlington,

“Nothing in special education is easy, but it is possible to make things better for students, especially while managing the budget better as well,” Levenson said, identifying rising special-ed costs as a huge challenge facing schools.

Funding pools are shrinking, and costs are predicted to rise faster in coming years—and still, “achievement for students with special needs isn’t good enough,” he added.

Special-needs students fall into two categories: a smaller group of students who have more severe disabilities and require more intervention and higher per-pupil expenditures, and a larger group of students with mild to moderate needs. But the number of students with severe disabilities is growing larger and at a faster rate.

Read the paper: “Something Has Got to Change: Rethinking Special Education”

Read more/the article on this: http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/06/15/how-to-cut-special-ed-spending-without-sacrificing-quality/

Yes, yes I know I just tweeted on this, but it's really important!

Thank you e-school news for sharing

Write a Letter Praising a Teacher (IA's too:)

Were you happy with your child's teacher this year? (we have had an IA, Spanish Teacher, and many more who have been amazing this year)Yes they did make a special effort to connect with our child and make learning fun and exciting? When this happens you need to thank them all-- send a letter to that teacher's boss singing those praises. A letter to the principal, superintendent, or director of special-education services not only adds something nice to their efile, it gets the word out that you are someone who will not just complain about the bad but appreciate the good.

Do the letter up right -- what's called for here is not a dashed-off e-mail or a hastily scrawled note but an honest-to-goodness typed business-style letter on nice paper in a business-size envelope with a stamp and everything. Give a copy of the letter to the teacher as part of your end-of-the-year gift.

Disability is a powerful pulse

"Disability" is a powerful pulse that affects the way others regard our children -- as trouble, as victims, as invisible. It can tweak people's perceptions of us as parents, making us look like noble martyrs or fools out of control. Most certainly, it changes the way we see those around us, as their reactions to our children's special needs help us sort out the good-hearted from the hard-hearted in ways that may surprise and shock us. This is so worth thinking about too is the way some chose to stay in town, where differences areimperceptible, rather than find a place in the world where others might react harshly to them. Do we sometimes fear so much what others will see when they look at our kids that we restrict their lives too tightly? There's a lot to be said for staying where you're accepted and loved, but keeping the world away has a high cost, too.