Did the state of Texas break the law by spending $33.3 million less in 2011-2012 on the education of students with disabilities?
A panel of three judges heard from both the state of Texas and the U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday, October 3rd, in New Orleans. The judges will determine whether Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ decision to take away Texas’ funding should stand. In May, Texas lost its challenge to DeVos’ decision at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Hearings and Appeals. The state successfully petitioned the Fifth Circuit to take up the case in July.
The U.S. government says Texas violated a federal law requiring states to maintain the same amount of funding each year for special education services in order to continue to be eligible for federal special education grants. The federal government is claiming Texas needs to be stripped of $33.3 million in federal funds ironically the same amount that the state cut. If Texas fails to defend its case for decrease in spending, it stands to lose the equivalent of about 3 percent of its annual federal special education grant.
The state acknowledged it decreased funding but says students with disabilities did not miss out on a “good” education due to decreased funding. Texas’ interpretation of the law is that the state could decrease the amount of funding made available for special education from year to year on the ground that it believes that children with disabilities needed fewer special education services.
Click the link below for the complete article.
https://www.texastribune.org/2018/10/01/texas-special-education-fifth-circuit/