Questions about School spending(money per student vs per student w/IEP &militarykids)

Do school districts get more money for a student that has an IEP? A friend of my husbands has a son in elementary school. He is having a hard time with school, has low grades, hearing loss and an IEP. He isn't getting any support at his school. He is new to the school this year. This is frustrating me and the more I think about it, the madder I get! If you have any websites that give this info, can you please add them?
Also, if you know anything about the government giving extra money to schools that have a high military family/students(around a military installation), that would be great, too.

The schools do get extra money for military kids. There is a form that the school sends home each year for the parent to sign that says they do in fact work on government land (base/post). It isn't just schools that have a high population of mil kids it is any school with mil kids. Our school must make a good amount of extra money because we don't have to provide any school supplies at all.

I know nothing about IEPs or schools making more money for kids that have them. My inclination is to say no which is why it seems to be so difficult for kids to get the services that they need.

I hope you find the answers you need. The base/post usually has a school liaison to help parents with school issues. I have never used one but have heard them mentioned.

If he has an IEP, that means he is getting support. If he is not getting the support listed on his IEP, parents should go to the special education director. If they don't believe he's getting the support he should be, there is an appeal process. There are a lot of legal protections with an IEP, so they should be able to pursue it if he's not getting what he needs. If the school disagrees about what he needs, there is a mediation process.

:yeahthat:

Because military families are transient, and often hold residency in a state other than the one they currently reside in and go to school in, the school loses out on tax money for those children. To make up for this, the federal govt pays the school extra money for each military child they have enrolled.

They do not get extra money for each IEP child, but rather it comes out of a given special ed. budget given by the state.

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For a child with an IEP, there are two major areas where the school can either do an awesome job, or drop the ball:

1. Did they make a good IEP that really addresses what the child needs?
2. Are they following through and really providing what they promised in the IEP?

I know.some.schools do an amazing job at both, but often something goes wrong with 1 or 2. Sadly, parents often need to advocate strongly and not all parents have the personality or knowldege needed to do that. It can be awefully rough, as some parents here can attest.

From my personal observation it also depends on the district and their general resources. For example, if it's a small district with very few kids on IEPs...even if those kids bring in extra dollars, those few kids' extra dollars won't be enough to have the best resources or specialists actuallg in that school. Even if t he school really wanted to. That doesn't make it.ok but it is sad reality. Other parents can probably add more good info....

There is some federal funding for special education.

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/lis...sep/index.html

Some states also provide funding to schools for special education services.

Regardless, federal law requires that schools provide a free and appropriate education to students who qualify for special education. There are both statutory and regulatory provisions related to what schools must provide. There is no exemption for lack of funding. As a matter of law, it simply does not matter how a school finds the money to provide required services. I have had a principal try to raise the funding issue with me in an IEP meeting. I immediately quashed that by telling him that lack of funding was not relevant legally and it was his problem, not mine.

I suggest checking out the Wrights Law website for information about how special education law works. And your friends might consider seeing if there are any non profits in your area who provide volunteer advocates to help them navigate the system. They also could potentially hire an advocate or consult an attorney if they are having difficulty with the school.

Catherine

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Originally Posted by wolverine2

If he has an IEP, that means he is getting support. If he is not getting the support listed on his IEP, parents should go to the special education director. If they don't believe he's getting the support he should be, there is an appeal process. There are a lot of legal protections with an IEP, so they should be able to pursue it if he's not getting what he needs. If the school disagrees about what he needs, there is a mediation process.

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The IEP's were brought from his previous school and given to this school in August.

Thanks everyone for all of the info.

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Originally Posted by daisymommy

Because military families are transient, and often hold residency in a state other than the one they currently reside in and go to school in, the school loses out on tax money for those children. To make up for this, the federal govt pays the school extra money for each military child they have enrolled.

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I am fairly certain that a school must have a certain percentage of students that have an active duty parent to qualify for the extra funds.

Also, if you live in a state that funds education through property and sales tax, military members do pay those taxes. But your point for states that fund through income tax is valid.

Also wanted to add that non-mil spouses pay state income tax.

Oh, if your friends are military, it is possible that base/post legal services might be able to help them out. I really doubt they have anyone who knows much about special education law, but you never know. And of course, any lawyer can figure it out if they want to. I'm not sure if this falls into military legal services purview or not, but it might be worth asking.

Catherine

They may also be able to find an advocate.

One other thing off the top of my head is that some districts have parent-run support groups for special needs. Parents who have BTDT within a particular district may have useful insight in navigating the system within the district.

Also see if the child's hearing aid is working as it should be. I just did my audiology final, my professor told us so many stories of people with hearing aids, who are having difficulty, and the programming is all incorrect for the hearing aid. They need to see an audiologist for this

For services at school, tell her to talk to the school's audiologist - there aren't many in each district, so they serve several schools. The school's SLP is another person to talk to.

Our professor kept telling us that kids get more services when parents know their rights and what's available. Eg. if do certain tests can make a case to use a FM system in the classroom etc.

Some teachers don't understand the educational impact of a hearing loss - even a mild loss can have detrimental effect on academic performance. For a project, we had to simulate deafness in a child, I used DS with earplugs and headphones, and at 12', with amount of noise expect in classroom, he could only repeat back 40% of what we said. You could see him struggling to work out the words, and if he heard 1 or 2, he would guess the rest of the sentence. And he got tired very quickly.

I am confused as to how the federal funds for military dependents ties in, unless the parent you are asking on behalf of is active duty?

If that is the case, please refer him to the following resources:

1) He is REQUIRED to enroll his son in the Exceptional Family Member Program and NO, it will NOT damage his career.
http://www.militaryhomefront.dod.mil....565.0.0.0.0.0

2) All branches now have DoD mandated School Liasion Officers. All large installations have them and smaller installations might have them regionally. The purpose is to assist military dependents in just the exact scenario you describe. They are advocates, trained in education law and can assist in negotiating with the school district in IEP's etc.
http://www.militaryk12partners.dodea...?colId=liaison

3) When all else fails...call Military One Source at 1-800-342-9647

As for the funds for military kids...you have some answers that are pretty close. It is because active duty service members are not required to pay state income tax in the state they are stationed in. They typically pay their state taxes to the state which is their "home of record", which means the state they reside in is footing the bill for their childrens public education while not collecting tax from them.

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Originally Posted by amldaley

As for the funds for military kids...you have some answers that are pretty close. It is because active duty service members are not required to pay state income tax in the state they are stationed in. They typically pay their state taxes to the state which is their "home of record", which means the state they reside in is footing the bill for their childrens public education while not collecting tax from them.

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Yes! That's what I was trying to explain. Thanks for your clarity :)

Also, I really appreciate the info. you gave in your previous post. I'm sure it will go a long way to help some parents here. Sometimes no one reaches out and shares that kind of info. in real life.

I just went to a parents meeting the other idea for kids with special needs & learning disabilities in the school system. There was a military mom there who spoke and gave out this information, and I was blown away with how cool it was. I don't think any of that was around when my brother was in school 30 years ago (we were a military family)--and my poor mother could have really used some help.

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Originally Posted by jellibeans

The IEP's were brought from his previous school and given to this school in August.

Thanks everyone for all of the info.

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The school is required to implement his previous IEP until they develop their own.

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Originally Posted by daisymommy

Yes! That's what I was trying to explain. Thanks for your clarity :)

Also, I really appreciate the info. you gave in your previous post. I'm sure it will go a long way to help some parents here. Sometimes no one reaches out and shares that kind of info. in real life.

I just went to a parents meeting the other idea for kids with special needs & learning disabilities in the school system. There was a military mom there who spoke and gave out this information, and I was blown away with how cool it was. I don't think any of that was around when my brother was in school 30 years ago (we were a military family)--and my poor mother could have really used some help.

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None of that stuff was even around 10 years ago! (Well, EFMP was but not in it's current incarnation). There have been great strides in services & benefits for military families in the last 10 years - but now we have to get people to use these services!