How is funding for special education different under the new formula?
Under the old law, state aid for special education was considered a “categorical aid.” This meant that the state provided aid to districts for each special education student they served at an amount commensurate with each student’s individual classification. All districts received the same dollar amount for students in the same classification, regardless of their wealth. The new formula is different in two significant ways. First, only one-third (1/3) of a district’s special education aid will be distributed as a categorical aid. The remainder of will be “wealth equalized”—in other words, wealthier districts will have a portion of their aid adjusted downward because they can afford to pay more. Second, rather than providing funding to districts for each special education student they serve, districts will receive aid based on the state average classification rate. This is called a “census” model. The new law sets the classification rate at 14.69% for the 2008-2009 through 2010-2011 sch
