State Will Pay School Districts for Special Ed

Ending a lengthy dispute, Gov. Gray Davis on Tuesday authorized the state to pay local school districts $620 million to finance state-ordered special education programs.

The payments, agreed to in November when the state and the districts settled a 20-year-old lawsuit, include $520 million to reimburse past debts.

The districts had alleged that they were owed as much as $1.9 billion for state-required programs that assist children with an array of disabilities. Under state law, California is supposed to reimburse local governments for any services it requires.

In signing enabling legislation by state Sen. Jack O’Connell (D-San Luis Obispo), the Democratic governor also committed the state to raise funding for special education programs by $100 million in the coming school year. That amount will continue to flow to the programs each year, and grow as costs rise.

Previously, schools provided the services but used money earmarked for general classroom programs.

Davis called it a fair settlement that will give school districts what they deserve. Kerry Mazzoni, Davis’ education secretary, hailed the deal as a historic agreement.

“It is the most significant piece of education legislation that will pass this year,” said Kevin Gordon, director of the California Assn. of School Business Officials.

The issue jumped to the fore nationally earlier this year when U.S. Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont cited the refusal of the Bush administration and Republican congressional leaders to raise federal aid for special education as one reason for his decision to bolt from the GOP.

The federal government compels states to provide education to handicapped children, but pays roughly 15% of the bill.

Jeffords, one of the architects of the federal law requiring that states educate handicapped children, had been pushing the Bush administration to increase the portion of special education funding by the federal government to as much as 40%.

Jeffords’ switch to an independent affiliation swung control of the U.S. Senate from Republican to Democratic.

Owen Waters, a consultant who represented school districts in the settlement talks, predicted that California’s settlement could serve as a template for similar conflicts in dozens of states.

“These are the sorts of issues people go to war over,” Waters said.

State and federal law require that handicapped children and adults receive education up to age 25, generally in the least restrictive setting.

The resulting programs benefit about 600,000 students with an array of disabilities, including children who are mentally retarded, are slow learners, or have severe physical handicaps.

Led by the Riverside schools, California school districts sued the state in 1981, contending that they were not receiving adequate state aid.

By last year, school districts contended that the tab had increased to as much as $1.9 billion.

A state commission concluded last year that the local districts had a legitimate claim, prompting the Davis administration to threaten to challenge the commission’s findings in court.

At the same time, however, settlement talks got underway, leading to the agreement that was made final when Davis signed O’Connell’s bill, SB 982.