Friend of the court brief: Students with disabilities left out

 

The Arc of King County's amicus brief

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Children’s Advocates Urge Supreme Court too Protect the Education Rights of Children with Disabilities

OLYMPIA, WA (September 1, 2017) – The Legislature still is not paying the true costs of educating 130,000 students with disabilities in Washington, The Arc of King County and other advocacy groups said in a “friend of the court” brief filed today in the landmark case of McCleary v State of Washington. 

Advocates joining in the brief include The Arc of Washington State, Teamchild, Seattle Special Education PTA, Bellevue Special Needs PTA, Washington Autism Alliance & Advocacy, and Open Doors for Multicultural Families. Three individuals also signed on, including state Rep. Gerry Pollet of North Seattle.

“By excluding children with disabilities from reforms, the state is denying a particularly vulnerable group of children the opportunity to obtain the knowledge and skills needed for college, employment and citizenship,” the advocacy coalition’s brief says, adding, “This continued underfunding of special education, a component of basic education, is unconstitutional.”

House and Senate Bills Continue Special Education Inequities

The state legislature would continue to cut off funding at 12.7 percent of students, even though the state has 13.5 percent of students qualifying for services

To engage on these bills:

• SSB 5607 - Concerning education 
• HB 1843 - Fulfilling the state's paramount duty for all children
• Send a note to lead sponsors: Email Senator John Braun, SSB 5607; Email Rep. Pat Sullivan, HB1843  

Click on bill number/link above, then click on "Comment on this bill." (It will be on the right.) Share your story. 

February 3, 2017

SEATTLE, WA – As the state House considers competing proposals to fix constitutional problems with school funding, an analysis by The Arc of King County found that both proposals would leave 8,688 students without any state funding to meet their special needs.  Both proposals would exclude nearly 147,000 children with disabilities from funding reforms.

The House Appropriations Committee has scheduled public hearings on Monday on two proposals to address McCleary v. State, the lawsuit forcing the state to fully fund basic education.   Those proposals – the House Democrats’ bill, HB 1843, and the Senate Republicans’ bill, SSB 5607 - would use different funding models to increase teacher salaries and boost various programs. 

Special education, required by federal law to meet the unique needs of children with disabilities, is invisible in the reform discussions.  Both bills would increase funding for nearly every program except special education.   Both bills would retain an arbitrary cap on special education funding.