The Arc of King County has opposed capping funded
enrollment on special education for years. A report from the Centers for
Disease Control reaffirms why we oppose this harmful practice.
Prevalence rates are higher in rural areas for attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder, autism, blindness, cerebral palsy, moderate to profound
hearing loss, learning disability, intellectual disability, seizures,
stuttering or stammering and other developmental delays. At the same time, children in rural areas are less likely to receive special education and early intervention services.
Following is a letter we sent to the legislators who represent parts of King County.
-Ramona Hattendorf, Director of Advocacy, The Arc of King County
Dear Representative/Senator ...
The Arc of King County strongly opposes our state’s use of a
cap on funded special education enrollment and we ask legislators representing
King County to rethink their support for this harmful practice.
While all schools must provide special education services to
those who qualify, the state cuts off funding at 13.5 percent of a district’s
student full-time equivalent enrollment (FTE). There is no research-based
rationale for this. The number is arbitrary and especially penalizes small and
rural districts. Overall, it leaves about 4,200 students unfunded (based on
December 2019’s 1220 report). The fact is, students with disabilities are not
conveniently spread evenly across the state. Some school districts have lower
enrollment in special education, and others have much higher. And if you are a
tiny district of a 1,000 or fewer students, just a few additional students with
disabilities can put you over the cap.
Instead of embracing our students with disabilities and
their families, and ensuring they get the right supports in a timely manner,
the state doubles down on barriers to their educational success and creates
hostile, confrontational situations over access to supports.
Please read this article: CDC
Finds Developmental Disabilities More Common In Rural Areas.
- “The report released this week from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics found that 19.8 percent of children ages 3 to 17 in rural areas qualified for a developmental disability diagnosis, compared to 17.4 percent of urban kids.”
The Centers for Disease control uses a much broader
definition of developmental disability than the state does in determining who
gets DDA services (less than 1 percent of people in Washington get DDA
supports). But all of the children in the CDC definition would STILL likely qualify
for special education as it includes diagnoses of attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder, autism, blindness, cerebral palsy, moderate to profound
hearing loss, learning disability, intellectual disability, seizures,
stuttering or stammering and other developmental delays.
Statewide, about 12.5 percent FTE students qualify for
special education services. But that percentage reflects communities with about
9 percent FTE students to more than 20 percent FTE students qualifying. The
largest FTE rates are in small, mostly rural, school communities and
communities with higher rates of poverty or trauma. But our funding mechanism
deliberately makes their schools serve more with less.
It is well-past time to lift this cap and give ALL children
with disabilities the support they need to thrive and fulfill their potential.
From the CDC report:
- “Despite the increased prevalence, children with developmental disabilities in rural areas were ‘significantly less likely to have seen a mental health professional, therapist or had a well-child checkup visit in the past year’ compared to those with similar diagnoses residing in cities. Moreover, rural kids were much less likely to receive special education or early intervention services, the report found.”
In recent floor remarks in the Senate, it was suggested the
state couldn’t lift the cap because school districts over-identified certain
racial and ethnic subgroups. This information is easy to check; if the state is concerned that
school districts over the funding cap are over-identifying certain groups, it
can cross check for patterns. A sampling of small districts that we checked indicated this was not the situation. The districts most over the
cap are simply very small, and very rural.
We ask you to please end this harmful practice so that the
civil rights of all students are upheld, no matter the size of their community
or where they choose to attend school.
Sincerely,
