Legislative Education Staff Network Roundtable Discussion
NCSL Annual Meeting
Friday, August 19th, 2005
Minutes of the Meeting
Meeting in conjunction with the National Conference of State Legislature's Annual Meeting, the Legislative Education Staff Network (LESN) met on Friday, August 19th for a roundtable discussion on school finance and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) led by Robin Johnson, NCSL LESN Co-Chair. Steering Committe members for 2004-2005 include Co-Chair Audrey Carr, Kentucky; Kathy Hanlon, Iowa; Connie Erickson, Montana; and Doug Berg, Minnesota. Also attending were Wes Keller, Alaska; Julie Pelegrin, Colorado; Tom Willis, Kentucky; John Rohrer, Maryland; Frances Ramirez-Maestas, New Mexico; Gary Chabut, New Mexico; Gene Whisnant, Oregon; Stephanie Hoffman, Washington; Charles Merritt, ECS; Ralene Allen, ECS; Jennifer Stedron, NCSL; and Sara Vitaska, NCSL.
Discussion Synopsis
Staff members discussed the effects and outcomes of several litigation lawsuits on adequacy and equity. As a result of these lawsuits several states have made, or are in the process of evaluating, changes to their state's education finance system. According to those present, the focus on finance has moved from the issue of total amount available for education to the assessment of spending efficiencies and accountability. Several individuals indicated that their states have had difficulty tracking funding streams and spending at the district and school level while a few states have implemented detailed accounting and tracking systems, including uniform charts of accounts and data warehouses. Teacher compensation also continues to be debated with an acknowledgement by the group that compensation comparisons between states may be inappropriate as they rarely account for the number of work days in teacher contacts.
Lack of time permitted a full discussion of special education issues. Discussants cited little to no state legislative activity around IDEA. However, one state, North Carolina, is undertaking a full re-write of its special education law in the coming year and, as such, IDEA issues will soon be addressed. All agreed that lack of funding for special education was a consistent and universal complaint. Several other staffers indicated ongoing issues concerning the district's cost responsibility for children temporarily educated in the district, as a result of their placement in residential treatment. School districts are responsible for the education of those students residing in the district. However, state regulations may not provide clear or sufficient methods for reimbursing the per pupil costs of "temporary" students - student who may not get "counted" in the district's funding depending on the timing and duration of their residential placement. Some residential treatment programs service out-of-state children further complicating costs and reimbursement. It was noted that Medicaid does not reimburse for education, although children may be attending residential treatment programs on Medicaid dollars. Other significant issues include over-identification, classroom accommodations, and high stakes school exit exams.