Texas most likely will owe the federal government $223 million for illegally decreasing funding for special education. It was noted this past October that Texas might owe $33 million, but it has since increased to a quarter of Texas' annual special education grant. It is federally prohibited to decrease funding from the previous years, yet Texas has continued to do such.
In an article by the Texas Tribune, it discusses exactly what's been going on with Texas' illegal decrease in funding and how it could possibly affect the future of Texas' education funding. There is obviously a major flaw with how Texas spends money on students with disabilities, but a huge problem is that Texas chooses to focus almost exclusively on spending money on students with severe disabilities. Texas has basically been capping the number of students who can have access to disability services. Education officials in Texas have said that they've followed federal law with the spending, but it's illegal to cap the number of people who can receive disability services.
With this ordeal happening, many advocates are worried there's going to be a decrease in funding for students. This is a major problem because there are people with disabilities that need services, and just because a disability isn't debilitating doesn't mean that it doesn't need as much attention. This not only affects students, but it also affects taxpayers. The fact that Texas is most likely going to have to pay $223 million to the federal government is something that needs to be discussed, because who knows what else is going on illegally in the Texas education system.
In an article by the Texas Tribune, it discusses exactly what's been going on with Texas' illegal decrease in funding and how it could possibly affect the future of Texas' education funding. There is obviously a major flaw with how Texas spends money on students with disabilities, but a huge problem is that Texas chooses to focus almost exclusively on spending money on students with severe disabilities. Texas has basically been capping the number of students who can have access to disability services. Education officials in Texas have said that they've followed federal law with the spending, but it's illegal to cap the number of people who can receive disability services.
With this ordeal happening, many advocates are worried there's going to be a decrease in funding for students. This is a major problem because there are people with disabilities that need services, and just because a disability isn't debilitating doesn't mean that it doesn't need as much attention. This not only affects students, but it also affects taxpayers. The fact that Texas is most likely going to have to pay $223 million to the federal government is something that needs to be discussed, because who knows what else is going on illegally in the Texas education system.
Comments
Post a Comment