We should expect better then this from our elected officials..
See Bill.. See Bill Run.. Go Bill Go !!! Fight Bill Fight!! WIN BILL WIN... !!!!
SEMPER FI
Norm
Posted on 03/29/2002 11:07:41 AM PST by John Jorsett
California educators were finally rewarded for their lobbying efforts when the federal government sent $135 million to the state to reimburse school districts for money they've been forced to spend on federally mandated special education programs.
Educators were thrilled, but the celebration was brief. Upon receiving the money, Gov. Gray Davis chose not to pass it through to the school districts but rather decided to apply the funds to help ease the state's budget shortfall.
By usurping the money, some say Davis betrayed the education community, stole from the children of California, and broke faith with those who have trusted and supported him all these years.
This disappointing decision is particularly disheartening, because this governor has done so much in the past to champion California's public education system.
Over the years, educators have been pressuring national leaders to fund special education programs, which Congress began mandating in the 1970s. At the time, Congress promised to pay 40 percent of the costs.
Yet since then, the most the federal government has paid for these mandatory services has been 15 percent, forcing school districts to dip into their general funds for the difference. This has meant less money for regular education for all K-12 students and for daily instructional resources like textbooks, library books, supplies, equipment, field trips, and teacher aides.
Finally this year, Congress authorized an increase to states for special education programs, and California's share came to $135 million – still a fraction of actual costs but a significant chunk of change by anyone's standards. But educators were left to wring their hands in frustration, as they saw the money vanish under the governor's rearranged budget priorities.
Children with learning disabilities or other special needs have the unquestionable right to equal opportunity in education. No one would disagree with this.
However, the cost of providing these programs, many of which are extremely expensive, greatly exceeds the funding that state and federal governments give. And the programs, more and more each year, are mandated. Districts can be sued for not providing appropriate educational services for children with special needs.
Transportation for special education students is one of the services mandated by the state. In Del Mar, for example, the annual cost of transporting 28 special education students to and from school is $225,000, according to the superintendent. This comes to a staggering $8,035 per child per year.
The San Diego County Office of Education said that, this year, $615 million is being spent on special education programs and services for the 42 school districts in the county. The federal government pays back $34.6 million, and $275 million comes from state and local sources. This leaves an encroachment of $309 million that San Diego school districts must absorb.
School districts provide special education services willingly and feel they are worthwhile, but they'd like some help paying the bills. Although that $135 million was to be distributed to districts throughout the state, San Diego County's portion, however small, would surely have been welcomed by local school districts.
With this disreputable act, the long tradition of ignoring students with disabilities and taking their educational needs for granted continues. And when districts have to pay huge sums of money from their own general funds to support these costly, mandated programs, there's considerably less money for all the other students who do without. So their needs too are being disregarded.
By diverting federal money earmarked specifically for special education, Davis has committed a grave injustice to the education world, and he has broken an unwritten promise with the children of this state who count on him to be fair and honorable.
Return the money to the schools, governor, and restore faith.
Return the damn money to the PEOPLE it was stolen from, yes the California working class/taxpayers, and leave us the hell alone!
Attention Bill Simon: DAVIS STEALING FROM CHILDREN!! Get those ads up pronto!!
Just another mean spirited dem stealing from the children.
I'm sure Reuters,AP,CNN, will be all over this story.(not)
He may also have violated the law. For any entity to use Federally appropriated funds in a manner inconsistent with the stated purpose is a violation of appropriations law.
Didn't he do that already with that nasty interview he gave to the San Diego Union-Tribune recently?
Or that he turned it over to the whores in the Teacher's Union?
Reducing budget shortfall ( and optimistically, future taxes); Mayber he's actually done the right thing?
Yep. The article says the the $135 million doesn't come close to covering the expenses to date.
If I were spending the money, I'd spend nothing on students who can't learn, and pour my resources into those who can.
I don't understand this obsession with pouring money down the rathole of the weak, the stupid and the handicapped.
I remember seeing a course catalogue that included a three-part course on "The Exceptional Child". I thought it was going to be neat stuff for the brilliant, but it went something like this: Part I addressed disrupters. Part II addressed the retarded. Part III addressed the physically handicapped. If there was time, the gifted might get a few scraps.
What kind of pathetic society are we going to have in the future, if we give all our attention to those who don't deserve any?
D
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