Some of our most vulnerable students are those in Special Education, yet sadly, they are some of our most underfunded students. These students often have multiple concerns that sadly go unaddressed in our schools. How would I help this program improve?
Get Medicaid to Pay
One of the easiest ways to get more funding for Special Ed would be to target Medicaid for payment for services. Medicaid allows school districts to get insurance payments for medical services to help a student with their Individual Education Plan (IEP). For example, if a student receives speech pathology, audiology or occupational therapy as part of their IEP, Medicaid will pay for these services. Sadly, WCSD has not received any money over the past ten years despite collecting Medicaid information from eligible students. I would work with other trustees to implement a program so that WCSD hires an outsourced medical billing company to collect these eligible funds.
Audit All IEP’s
It is estimated that only 20-30% of all IEP’s are in compliance. This means that 70-80% of special needs students are not getting the education and services clearly agreed to by the WCSD. In some schools, compliance is likely lower. Often, parents must hire legal representation to fight back against the District when their child’s needs go unmet. I would demand that all IEP’s be audited, and parents be notified that their children are not receiving the care they need.
Raise Special Ed Salaries
Just look at the WCSD job postings. The list for special education positions is long. This is because the pay is too low and the job too unsupportive. To raise pay, I would make a series of cuts to the District. First, I would eliminate many administrative jobs. Some easy cuts would be to eliminate the direct reports of the Superintendent. Now there are multiple area and deputy superintendents. I would streamline this by allowing for two direct reports. The legal department does not protect special needs students, but always has money for lawsuits. I would mandate that the legal department clearly outlines a cost benefit matrix before undertaking any legal action and have it approved by the Board.
What do you think?
These are just some of the ways to better support our most vulnerable students. Can you help me think of anything else based on your experience?