The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) entitles students with disabilities to a free appropriate public education. Students with disabilities often require additional support to enable them to achieve academic and functional goals relative to their nondisabled peers. These legally protected supports and services all add up…

Identification rates of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have been increasing since the year 2000, while federal special education funding has remained stagnant. Researchers gathered data from states related to individual state funding systems, per pupil spending and identification rates of students with ASD to determine if state…

The formula used to allocate federal funding to states for special education is one of IDEA's most critical components. The formula serves as the primary mechanism for dividing available federal dollars among states and represents policy makers' intent to equalize educational opportunities for students with disabilities nationwide. In this study,…

Since 1978, the Education for All Handicapped Children's Act (now IDEA) committed Congress to provide 40 percent of the average per pupil spending to educate children with disabilities. While states have used a variety of special education funding formulas to attempt to meet the needs of children with disabilities, the funding has never approached…

Our nation has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to providing every child with an equal opportunity to an education. Two Federal laws that address the education for children with disabilities are the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), signed into law in 1965 and 1975,…

The formula used to allocate federal funding for state and local special education programs is one of the Individual with Disabilities Act's most critical components. The formula not only serves as the primary mechanism for dividing available federal dollars among states, it also represents policymakers' intent to equalize educational…

Purpose: New policy proposals to increase funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)--including recent efforts by the Biden-Harris administration to "fully fund" IDEA--bring a new sense of urgency to understanding how federal special education dollars are distributed among states. In this study, we evaluate…

We exploit differences in state special education funding systems based on special education enrollment ('bounty systems') or on total student enrollment ('census systems') to assess whether funding systems impact teacher turnover, teacher specialty, special education enrollment, state education spending, average class sizes, and teacher effort.…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the main federal statute governing special education and early intervention services for children with disabilities from birth through age 21.1 IDEA consists of four parts. Part A contains general provisions, including the purposes of the act and definitions. Part B contains provisions…

COVID-19 has provided the impetus for Congress to implement reforms, many of which are long overdue. Policymakers should take the necessary steps to restore educational autonomy to states and reduce federal regulations and compliance. This "Backgrounder" outlines six reforms that federal policymakers can undertake to free school leaders…

The rapid emergence and authorization of statewide, fully online, virtual charter schools has resulted in the need for states to identify potentially inequitable effects of disability service funding policies. This article describes state funding policies and the designation of responsibilities regarding the provision of special education services…

Today's challenges for special education funding are rooted in a complex regulatory and policy environment that reflects little forethought about who can and will pay special education costs. Despite the fact that states and school districts are legally required to ensure a free and appropriate public education to students with disabilities, the…

The provision of special education services to students with disabilities has grown dramatically since the passage of Public Law 94-142, the first federal legislation guaranteeing this right to publicly educated children. This legislation ensured that students with disabilities adversely affecting their ability to access the general education…

"Districts' Use of Weighted Student Funding Systems to Increase School Autonomy and Equity: Findings from a National Study. Volume 1," is intended to provide both practitioners and policymakers with detailed information about the design, implementation, and outcomes of weighted student funding (WSF) systems in the United States. Findings…