As local school districts await the arrival of $12 billion in federal stimulus money, Christina A. Samuels writes in Education Week (subscription required) that school districts are grousing about complex federal rules that may prohibit them from diverting their local special education funds for purposes other than special education.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act says that when federal funding increases, school districts can shift a portion of their local special education money to other educational purposes. But the U.S. Department of Education has told the states that districts may not divert the funds away from special education if they are not meeting federal standards for educating children with disabilities.

How many districts might be affected is not known.

Only 13 of the 50 states met the federal government’s highest standard, “meets requirements,” in the 2006-07 school year, the latest date for which evaluations are available. The remaining states all fall into the category of “needs assistance” or of “needs intervention.” The Education Department’s contention is that if a state is in any other category than “meets requirements,” it must not divert any of its local special education funding for other purposes, even with the federal windfall coming.

Earlier posts here and here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 11:42 am and is filed under budget, education, IDEA, NOT2BEMISSED, special education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.