California’s state budget has been slashed beyond recovery by a combination of economic disaster and legislative failure. In the midst of this crisis, special education receives too much blame for California’s shrinking education budget.
First, according to the Education Data Partnership, special education consists of approximately one tenth of the state’s education budget. It is unfair that so much blame for financial woes is put on special ed when it is only a small portion of California’s budget.
In the Manhattan Beach Unified School District, parents of special education students have fought to make their children a priority. As a result, the state has issued endowments, called categorical grants, for special education.
Due to educational budget cuts, some have placed harsher blame for the state’s problems on special education. But, the money set aside for special education is untouchable because it comes in the form of categorical grants.
Although the school district’s general fund is shrinking, resulting in program cuts and job losses, special education remains relatively unchanged.
It is easy to assume that the money allocated for catagorical grants could be used for other programs. Without special education grants, not enough money would be provided for special education students.
These grants ensure that funding will be given to special education without removing money from the rest of the budget. Removing the grants would only give districts freedom to slash special education funds.
It is unfortunate that this budget crisis has brought education funding to critical lows. However, this predicament does not validate reductions to special education funding.
Furthermore, the larger budget situation requires an immediate fix. Education funding has been in decline since Proposition 13 went into effect, which prevented property values and taxes from being readjusted. Adjustable taxes on property shouldn’t be seen as an impossible solution. They kept our budget in the black before and could help gain financial stability again.
The state education code and financial policy hold fault in cutting districts’ budgets, not grants to special education. Special education is one of the most successful aspects of the MBUSD, one which we should rally around instead of reprove.
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