Do Non-Census Funding Systems Encourage Special Education Identification?: Reconsidering Greene and Forster

Overview & Synopsis

Special education as a percentage of total enrollment has risen significantly across the nation, increasing from 8% of the school-age population in 1975-76 to 12% in 2001-02. These growing numbers have garnered increased public attention and have raised questions as to whether the type of special education funding formula used by states may be affecting rising special education identification rates. Greene and Forster have concluded that the nation could save over $1.5 billion per year in special education spending if all states were to adopt funding formulas free of fiscal incentives to identify additional special education students. Other studies have found evidence of the effects of funding incentives on special education practice, but most have concluded that fiscal provisions are just one part of a complex array of factors explaining the large range in identification rates across states. There appears to be evidence that the choice of a census-based funding system alone may have a slight effect on future special education enrollments. However, little evidence is found that this relationship is as clear or as strong as claimed by Greene and Forster. This reanalysis substantiates evidence from the prior literature that fiscal provisions are among many factors that appear to affect varying patterns of special education enrollment. (Contains 3 figures, 2 tables and 8 notes.)