Disability Scoop

For the first time in more than two decades, federal officials are moving forward with plans to find out just how much schools across the nation are spending on students with disabilities. The U.S. Department of Education is taking steps to green-light what’s known as the National Special Education Spending Study. “The study will produce estimates for what is spent on special education services for students with disabilities (SWDs), both overall and by disability category, including expenditures made by states, districts, and schools,” the agency’s Institute of Education Sciences said in a request for clearance from the White House Office of Management and Budget.

The study “will provide policymakers and special education administrators with an up-to-date understanding of the key factors that influence special education spending, what this spending pays for, and to what extent federal appropriations from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) cover special education spending,” officials said.

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