Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman AURA K. DUNN
District 25 (Morris and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Provides for direct State payment of cost of special education and related services for certain students.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning payment for the costs of certain special education students, supplementing chapter 46 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and amending P.L.2007, c.260 and P.L.2003, c.113.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) Sections 1 through 10 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be known and may be cited as the Fairness in Special Education Funding for Student Success Act.
2. (New section) The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. s.1400 et seq., guarantees that a student with a disability will have access to a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment possible given the childs individual needs.
b. The federal government provides funding to states and school districts to offset the additional costs that school districts inevitably incur when providing special education and related services to these students. The IDEA gives the Secretary of the United States Department of Education the authority to provide states and school districts with grants in an amount up to 40 percent of these excess costs.
c. Historically, the federal government has failed to appropriate sufficient resources to provide states and school districts with the maximum amount of funding authorized under the IDEA. In recent years, federal appropriations have provided for less than 20 percent of the excess costs incurred in educating students with disabilities.
d. Similarly, State support for special education has consistently fallen short of promises made. Despite State law mandating that school districts be reimbursed for a portion of the cost of educating particularly high-cost special education students, the States appropriations acts have consistently failed to provide funding sufficient to provide for the full reimbursement established under that statute.
e. While federal and State
government have failed to provide resources for the provision of special
education services in the manner that has been promised over the years, school
districts continue to be responsible for educating all students with
disabilities so that they may reach their full potential and live successful
and fulfilling lives. In meeting this obligation, school districts are often
forced to make unconscionable choices between
special education programs and the services provided to other students.
f. It is time for the State of New Jersey to finally meet its obligations to students with disabilities and their families by providing greater resources to ensure that they all have access to the free appropriate public education required under federal law. At the same time, the State must provide adequate oversight to guarantee that these students are educated in the least restrictive environment so that they may have the greatest opportunity to learn and grow with their peers.
g. The most effective means to accomplish this goal is for the State to assume the responsibility for entering into contracts with, and making payments to, providers of special education and related services to students with disabilities who require the most expensive services. Such a system would provide a substantial increase in State financial support for school districts to meet their obligations, provide actionable information and transparency regarding both quality and cost effectiveness of providers across the entire spectrum of placements and maintain equity in the provision of these services throughout the State.
3. (New section) As used in sections 1 through 10 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
Final contract cost means an amount not to exceed the actual cost of providing the special education and related services to a student with a disability that are detailed in the students Individualized Education Program. This amount shall not exceed the certified tuition rate. The final contract cost shall also include related services such as home-based services or after school programming that is being provided by other entities. In the case of a provider that is the school district in which the student with a disability resides, the final contract cost shall be determined by a calculation completed in a manner consistent with standards and procedures promulgated by the State Board of Education.
Projected contract cost means the estimated cost of providing the special education and related services to a student with a disability that are detailed in the students Individualized Education Program. These costs shall not exceed the tentative tuition rate. In the case of a provider that is the school district in which the student with a disability resides, the projected contract cost shall be determined by a calculation completed in a manner consistent with standards and procedures promulgated by the State board.
Provider means the entity
that will provide the special education and related services to a student with
a disability under a contract entered into pursuant to the provisions of
P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill).
4. (New section) In the first full school year following the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), a high needs placement shall include any combination of special education and related services, including residential and extended school year services, that are included in a student with a disabilitys Individualized Education Program in which the projected contract cost for the school year exceeds $55,000. In subsequent school years, the cost threshold shall be adjusted pursuant to th