Special Education Annual Report, Fiscal Year 1998.

Overview & Synopsis

This annual report focuses primarily on special education spending and services in Vermont from Fiscal Year 1990 through Fiscal Year 1998. It discusses Vermont's changes to its special education funding formula that resulted in the state providing 60 percent of special education funding to school districts. It also includes the first look at state assessment data on students in special education, discusses recent legal, policy, and fiscal changes and then considers special education issues that have been dealt with in Vermont during the last ten years. Specifically, the six sections of the report address: (1) federal and Vermont special education law and the impetus for change, the three-part reform strategy adopted by Vermont, and special education and Medicaid; (2) the special education program and fiscal review panel; (3) school district special education spending, special education funding formula K-12 costs, extraordinary costs, and preschool special education costs; (4) special education cost increases, inflation, spending differences among school districts, and pressures for increased costs from other areas; (5) special education student and staff characteristics; and (6) outcomes for special education students. Extensive appendices include charts showing number of special education students and their placements, special education cost and funding by town, and child count by disability. (CR)