WyBlog

Governor Corzine reneges on fully funding Special Education

Last December, during the height of the negotiations to get his revised school funding plan passed by the state legislature, Governor Corzine promised more state aid to reimburse local districts for high special education costs. At issue are students, many with multiple disabilities, who require out-of-district placements. The governor promised to pick up 75% of the district's costs when they exceed $40,000 for a single student.

The Office of Legislative Services estimated that the state would need to allocate $92 million to meet the governor's promise. However, Corzine's proposed budget only includes $53 million for special education reimbursements. The remainder will have to be covered via local property taxes.

Here we have another example of Corzine sticking it to the suburban taxpayers. He's not going to shortchange the Abbott districts because the Education Law Center will just turn around and initiate another lawsuit to recoup the money. So their special education budget will be fully funded by the state. That leaves the suburban districts in the lurch. Legally and morally the districts are obligated to pay for special education. Cutting funds for out-of-district placements is completely unfair to the affected students; it's certainly not their fault that the governor reneged on a promise. Something else will have to be cut instead, as we all get another reminder why we should never trust a promise from Governor Corzine.

Posted at 12:51 by Chris Wysocki   [/rants]   Comments | Archived | Perm Link |   |   Tweet