Introduction Directory UMM :Data Elmu:jurnal:E:Economics of Education Review:Vol19.Issue4.Oct2000:
Economics of Education Review 19 2000 431–445 www.elsevier.comlocateeconedurev
Restructuring special education funding in New York to promote the objective of high learning standards for all
students
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Thomas B. Parrish
Center for Special Education Finance, American Institutes for Research, 1791 Arastradero Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94304-1337, USA Received 15 December 1997; accepted 15 June 1999
Abstract
New York has given long and careful consideration to the reform of special education funding in the state. The proposal under consideration, as endorsed by the State Department of Education, is based on a count of all students, as opposed
to just special education students, and includes a poverty adjustment. This plan appears to support many of New York’s special education reform goals, and it aligns with national trends. However, the decision to maintain separate funding
systems for special education students with certain disabilities may conflict with the state’s goal of educating students with disabilities alongside their nondisabled peers. Also, it is important to realize that achieving high learning standards
for students with disabilities will not simply flow from the planned fiscal reforms; it will require careful consideration to ensure that these students are fully included in the state’s system of accountability for all students.
2000 Elsevier
Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
JEL classification: I21; I22
q
New York State has recently enacted a new special edu- cation funding formula, somewhat different from the census-
based approach outlined in this article. Instead, New York has made major modifications to its long-standing formula—a stud-
ent weighting system based on placement. However, the new formula includes several innovations including a fiscal incentive
for providing intensive services to students with disabilities within the general education classroom. The new formula also
provides for preferral interventions and supports to students, provisions to ensure that students with disabilities are involved
in the general education curriculum, and requirements for dis- tricts with disproportionate placements in special education
based on race and ethnicity to take correction action. The new provisions will stay in place through the 2001–02 school year,
at which time their impact will be evaluated and used to deter- mine further modifications to the formula beyond 2001–02.
Fax: +
1-650-858-0958. E-mail address: csefair.org T.B. Parrish.
0272-775700 - see front matter
2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 2 7 2 - 7 7 5 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 - 9