This Analysis Brief shows how per-pupil spending varies with student poverty (as measured by the percent of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch) across elementary, middle, and high schools in Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD). The authors have carried out separate analyses that make use of the California Standardized Account…

This paper presents a case study of two California school districts, San Francisco and Oakland, each of which have implemented their own versions of what is popularly known as a weighted student formula (WSF). One primary goal of the WSF policy is to increase the equity with which resources are distributed to schools. With respect to equity, the…

As a starting point for their analysis of equity, the authors begin their work here with an examination of the relationship between student performance, as measured by the California Academic Performance Index (API), and student needs, as measured by the percentage of students from low-income families (i.e., the percent of students eligible for…

Using fiscal data provided by the finance office of the school district, and personnel data obtained from the California Basic Education Data System (maintained by the California Department of Education, or CDE), the authors present analyses to provide a foundation for local policymakers that may be used to assess whether there are inequities in…

Using fiscal data provided by the finance office of the school district, and personnel data obtained from the California Basic Education Data System maintained by the California Department of Education (CDE), the authors present analyses to provide a foundation for local policymakers that may be used to assess whether there are inequities in the…

This report is one in a series on special education expenditures and focuses on total expenditures for students with disabilities in the 1999-2000 school year, including spending variations by disability. Highlights reported include: (1) per pupil expenditures vary by disability category, ranging from 1.6 times that of regular education students…

Part of a series of reports based on descriptive information on more than 9,000 special education students derived from the Special Education Expenditure Project data for the 1999-2000 school year, this report provides information on spending for transportation services for students with disabilities. Major findings include: (1) during the…

This report explores the fiscal implications of providing procedural safeguards in special education and is part of the Special Education Expenditure Project (SEEP), a national study utilizing 23 different surveys to collect data at the state, district, and school levels for the 1999-2000 school year. Highlighted findings address: (1) total…

Although special education services for children age three through five have been part of the IDEA mandate for nearly 20 years, until recently relatively little attention has been given to the expenditures related to these programs and to what these funds buy in terms of the mix of general and special education classroom and related services.…

This document is one of a series of reports based on the Special Education Expenditure Project, a study of the nation's spending on special education and related services based on analysis of data for the 1999-2000 school year. This report focuses on three questions: "How much is the nation spending on services for students with disabilities?";…

Within the population of students with disabilities there is a broad range of levels of expenditures. A few students with very high levels of needs can have a serious impact on the budget of an individual school district. The recent IDEA reauthorization allows state-level "local educational agency risk pools" to help distribute the…

A study investigated the impact of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) on special education by collected data on all 176 school districts for 1989-90 through 1993-94. Findings indicate that KERA had a significant impact on the provision of, and allocation of resources to, special education five years after implementation. (Contains two…

This document is one of a series of reports based on the Special Education Expenditure Project, a study of the nation's spending on special education and related services based on analysis of data for the 1999-2000 school year. This report focuses on general patterns of variation in total spending on special education students across districts…

The U.S. spent an estimated $50 billion on special education services in the 1999-2000 school year. Another $27.3 billion was spent on general education services, and an additional $1 billion was spent on other special needs programs for students with disabilities. The total spending to educate students with disabilities represents 21.4% of the…

Using Ohio as a case study, this paper explores what can be learned from state data systems about spending on special education. The analyses and discussion in this paper use data sets for the 1995-96 school year provided by the Ohio Department of Education. The case study examined factors that need to be considered in measuring special education…