Valley Schools Get $10 Million for Special Ed (CA)
May 24, 2010
Among the beneficiaries of the $787 billion in federal stimulus funds is special education.
More than $10 million sent to the Coachella Valley’s three school districts are designated as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding.
School districts already are required to provide a certain level of service for students with disabilities, even though the cost to do that is higher than the special education funding districts receive from state and federal governments.
Districts were allowed to use up to half of the stimulus funding to help cover the special education costs that rise above what they are funded for — something all three districts took advantage of.
About 60 percent of districts statewide did the same, according to the state Legislative Analyst’s Office survey. But because special education services already are mandated, the extra funding helped districts provide additional services and training instead of just staving off cuts to the program.
“The stimulus funds really did provide enhancement,” said Laura Fisher, director of pupil services and special education for Coachella Valley Unified.
Fisher’s district used the IDEA stimulus money to fund 11 instructional aides in the classroom as well as additional training and equipment, she said.
Desert Sands Unified purchased assistive technology and computers and software to provide extra help to students with disabilities.
Maria Moore, special education teacher at Ronald Reagan Elementary School in Palm Desert, received two computers with headphones and software for her preschool students — and it’s been a hit with students and parents.
“Because it’s visual and my kids are so visual, it’s definitely something they love to do,” she said. “When they’re on it, they’re on it. They’re not misbehaving.”
The computer program both supplements the work that students are doing in the classroom and can provide printouts for parents and Moore to see where students need extra help.
Moore said she hasn’t had the computer and software long enough to determine how much it can really help her class of students with mild to moderate disabilities, but the computers aren’t going anywhere — a long-term impact of short-term stimulus funding.
The special education funding also indirectly helped limit cuts in other areas. For example, a district could cover $2 million of the extra cost of special education with stimulus dollars rather than the general fund.
So while the IDEA stimulus money technically funds special education, it also frees up dollars for other teaching jobs or costs.