Special Education Buying Power Shrinking as States Struggle to Keep Up

In a Tuesday Substack, special education advocate Krista Kaput analyzed special education enrollment and funding, examining state-level trends from FY2016 to FY2024. Her analysis highlights a growing fiscal challenge: special education enrollment is increasing even as overall public school enrollment declines. At the same time, federal Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding has failed to keep pace with inflation and the rising number of students receiving services. 

Although states bear primary responsibility for funding special education, their responses have varied considerably. Among 25 states with comparable data, only nine increased state funding enough to offset declining federal support. The remaining 16 experienced reductions in inflation-adjusted combined federal and state funding per student with an individualized education program (IEP). These findings raise concerns about states' capacity to meet their obligations under IDEA as the number of students requiring special education services continues to grow.

Read the Substack post here.