Group, Samantha Linton, Katie Swenson, and Carlie Palmer
Funding is always an important issue in Special Education. In Article 1 it says, 40 percent of the extra costs of the
inclusion of special needs children into regular classrooms would be covered by the
federal Government, this is clearly not being done. This is a very important issue for us future teachers. If you are going to a new school or a school with little funding you are going to be starting from scratch. This can be very difficult. Article 2 With so many students with special needs out there sometimes the money is hard to achieve. There are so many promises out there for money but you have to go find it (like grants). What do you think the government could be doing more of the help with the funding in special education class rooms? And where should this money come from? The state and national government keep passing responsibility back and forth.
inclusion of special needs children into regular classrooms would be covered by the
federal Government, this is clearly not being done. This is a very important issue for us future teachers. If you are going to a new school or a school with little funding you are going to be starting from scratch. This can be very difficult. Article 2 With so many students with special needs out there sometimes the money is hard to achieve. There are so many promises out there for money but you have to go find it (like grants). What do you think the government could be doing more of the help with the funding in special education class rooms? And where should this money come from? The state and national government keep passing responsibility back and forth.
I kind of doubt that the federal government is putting as much funding as it should into general education as well. I feel like its more of a concern for state governments because they can better control what goes on in their states. Property taxes help fund local schools a ton, which is why public schools in richer areas do a lot better. Schools that aren't getting as much money should get government help in my opinion, but the people would have to be willing to pay for it since its their tax money that is funding it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very sensitive topic in many areas of the country right now, especially from where I'm from- Wisconsin(which was one of the states that was highlighted in the article as well as being in the nation-wide news for the bill that is being discussed regarding, among many things, funding for teachers, etc.) Funding is a sensitive topic depending on what side others are on...most would agree that money is a necessary aspect, however, no one wants to be the one "digging in their pockets" first- so unfortunately, it gets passed around as to who's responsibility it is to actually pay it forward. I can't really say from my position what bank account(s) the funding should come from-- I'll be the first to admit I'm a bit ignorant with the disbursement of government funds, however, I do know from personal family experience growing up in one of the so called lowest-funded states for special education with a family member receiving special education services, a lot is left up to the dedication of the teachers to apply for grants as well as the support of the individual districts to provide funding. I think if it is taken to a more local level for funding, there would be some areas that are financially better off than others, and those that struggle more, but it really comes down to the issue then of advocating for those students with disabilities and ensuring that others see the value of providing funds for adequate services for these students.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the articles that Special Education needs more money, but I also believe that it does not fall entirely on the national government.The articles seemed to put all the responsibility on the national governments, but the state governments need to do their part as well as the tax payers. State governments decide how their tax payers money will be used and need to be encouraged to put more into schools. I agree that the money we pay could be better used and distributed and possibly the national government could influence that in our states. I worked for a transitional school in Alpine School district for over a year and we constantly scrounged for every cent we could, so it is not a secret that special ed could benefit from more money. However,not only does our state government need to step it up, but our individual schools need to as well. When schools are passing their tests and stay with high ratings they get more funding. Teachers can also become better and more creativity needs to happen to bring up the lower rated schools.
ReplyDeleteI believe that special education, and the education system in general, needs more funding. The federal government should supply a set amount for all states so that it is equal and state governments should also supply some funding as well, whatever is reasonable with the state budgets. In California, many first or second year teachers are laid off because they are not yet tenured and the school cannot afford to have more tenured teachers. I think this is horrible and is something that needs to be fixed. In my high school, the special education classrooms received a decent amount of funding in comparison to the rest of the school. No departments received enough to meet their needs for the school year but special education and the practical arts were the most ignored. There is a debate among many people of whether or not any funding should be spent on students with disabilities because some believe it is a waste of time. I disagree with this stand point and believe that the special education programs should receive equal funding in the school budget as do the other departments.
ReplyDeleteI agree that special education needs more funding. They need resources and technology, as well as aides to help the classrooms and programs run smoothly. However, every program and school is under budget. I do agree that the national government should put an emphasis on education and provide funding, but there is so much debt that our nation has collected, other things, unfortunately, have come before education. State government’s need to provide funding as well. Luckily for special educators, we can do a grant proposal and hopefully get some of the things we need. I think our chance of getting money or technology for our students is much greater than any other program in a school. Funding is, and will always be, a problem. We just need to make the best out of our situation, wherever we will teach in the future, and hope that our economic times improves and government officials place a higher emphasis on education, especially special education.
ReplyDeleteI sincerely hope that the lack of Special Eduction funding has nothing to do with our government leaders thinking that students with special needs are not worth the money. It is true that these students need the funding the most so they can get a better education to prepare them the most for society and adult living. I think the states need to be held more responsible for the "propositions" that they create or else they'll always become empty promises. I think one way to hold the states accountable for funding special education is by making them accountable to the federal government. The federal government needs to implement a law that requires states to fund a certain percentage of the costs. The two articles made it sound like the federal government is doing very little in this issue. It is true that funding education is generally the states' responsibility; however, it is the federal government's responsibility to step in when the states are not attending to their responsibilities.
ReplyDeleteI think education is important enough that it should be a state AND national responsibility. I am no politician so I do not know how that would work, but it is important that the issue is looked into on both levels. Grants are great sources of money for the teachers in the schools, but they are few a far between. The federal government needs to oversee funding, and the state governments need to make sure that it happens. Obviously, priorities need to be dealt with and our state education systems need to be on that priority list. The money that our taxpayers pay should be put to good use. Schools individually need to step it up as well. Higher overall grades in the schools equals more funding.
ReplyDeleteI know that SPED classrooms and students are not given enough funding from the government. My mom is a SPED teacher and tells me often how hard it is to watch her students go with so little when they need so much. This is not the only monetary issue. I believe that all education needs more funding. Schools would be so much more effective if they had the proper funding to teach everyone (GE and SPED). I do not know, however, where we would get this funding from. I look at other countries who have so much provided for them by the government and I wonder- what happened to the U.S.? I don't fully understand politics and the national economic needs and priorities, but I think that education should be high on the list. Hopefully once this hard economic time is over- we will see a change in how our money is spent.
ReplyDeleteI feel like special education classrooms can never have too much funding. There is always more to be worked on and more technology to use. As far as whose responsibility it is to work on that funding, I feel like it does need to be somewhat of a joint effort between states and the federal government. In the end though, the states can have the most direct control and impact on the situation. Public education in general varies greatly depending on the state which goes to show that the state governments have the largest influence on how education is run in each state. They need to work on putting special education as more of a priority and working with officials to help tax payer dollars go to useful areas.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that Special Eduction deserves and needs more funding. I think education in general needs and deserves more funding. There clearly isn't enough now and something needs to be done to make sure that Special Education classrooms have the funding they require in order to be successful. I don't know if it possible for both state and national government to share the responsibility of this issue, but I think they could work together to find a solution. I feel like most of the responsibility should lie in the state because they can have more direct impact on the situation and it is not as big of a network. I also think that due to the fact that education is so strongly emphasized everywhere most people wouldn't be opposed to seeing their tax dollars go to education.
ReplyDeleteI think that Special Education needs more money. There is not enough money for teachers to have to proper material that they need so that their students can succeed. I feel like the federal and state could both so more and work together to provide more money for the Special Education program. I don't know if it will happen but there has to be a way where they can both provide some money. I would not mind have a little tax increase if I knew that it was going to education. You can never have to much money for a Special Education. There is always new technology that can always be beneficial. All in all Special Education needs to have more funding so those kids can have the great education they deserve.
ReplyDeleteOf course Special Ed classrooms need more money. We have all been in classrooms volunteering in which we think 'Dang, if only they had....so and so would do so much better.' And I think this class is helping us to realize that because we are seeing that there are so many things out there to help our students, but of course it's for a hefty price. I'm pretty sure that every classroom every where could say that they need more money, but I feel like Special Ed classrooms are different and truly need more money because our students just learn so differently from what the norm is. Whether or not the government should pay for it I'm not sure. The government should be paying for it right now and in my opinion what they are doing is not enough and I don' think it will really ever change. It should come down to the state and local community levels. I think it is an obligation for a community to see that their children are being well educated. And although that is not possible for all communities I know I think the state should take some of that slack because again it is their children directly that are receiving or not receiving a quality education.
ReplyDeleteI definetely agree that Special Education needs more funding, but then I would have to say that many things need more funding and who am I to judge which cause is the most in need of funding? It is reality and the truth that areas of higher income have better funded schools especially through parental support, they have more resources and facilities. These resources are definietly useful and if any school had them I am sure that they could aid and help the students tremendously but part of me wants to say that the teachers need to be creative and resourceful with whatever they have been given and can get ahold of. Sometimes this involves making do with picture boards or bookworms instead of an ipad and the latest helper robot for every student. I agree that basic needs should be met and it is definetly the government's responsibility to ensure that all children with disabiliteis have access to the same opportunities as ones without.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately and in reality, us tax payers do not want to be the ones responsible and unless they have a child with a disability, on the whole they do not care if there is much budget in the school system for Special Education. It is therefore down to us, the current and future Special Educators to be creative and resourceful and ensure that our students receive the best possible education with whatever resources we have been given.
This is a very tough situation. Schools are always in constant need of money to cater to all of its students properly. Because of this, they often go to local, state, or even the federal government. This, however, puts the government in a tough spot. They can only allocate so much money to education each year before other programs in the nation begin to suffer. I do not think the government should promise to give more money than they have, but I do understand their frustration. Ideally, schools should receive a good portion of their money from their community. In my opinion, if a school is suffering financially, a lot of the responsibility should fall on the community.
ReplyDeleteI think that education in general needs more money, and I believe that it will always be that way. There is just not enough money to go around to everything that needs it. I feel that education should become more of a priority with money. I certainly agree that special education needs more funding. Think about all the new technology, and other helps that more money would give the teachers. I am not sure who should be in charge of funding however, because I feel that if the federal government was in charge there in a sense could be more money given, but then there would be all those rules and regulations that would determine how the money could be spent, when in reality each state, school, and classroom need the money in different ways. I also feel though that if the state was in charge then the funds can be better divided among schools. The topic of funding is a very touchy topic because of how much investment we all have in it, and how much we all know that there needs to be funding.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there does need to be more allocation of funds to special education. However it is hard to say who should, as they say it, pay it forward. I think that the national government would be the ideal place to look for when it comes to funding education. However, it is common knowledge that government is in debt and cannot adequately supply the funds for the education. This means that it is the states responsibility to put it in their budget to fund special education. The priority needs to be placed on education instead of keeping it on the back burner. I think that if the state does its’ best to fund their own special education programs then they can turn to the government for extra help. This way the pressure does not fall on just one specific group. Special education needs to be funded and we need to work hard to find a solution to this problem.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the special education program definitely needs more funding, in order to provide for all of the students needs. However, I understand that this is extremely expensive to do. But the government should not promise schools more money then they can afford or are whiling to give. I also believe that there are areas where the government are giving more money to that they can cut back on and give more to the schools. I think this because schools hold our futures. The type of education we give our students affects the type of leaders and people we will have when they grow up. It is extremely important that each student no matter there disability or ability receives a proper education and in order to do this they need the proper amount of funding.
ReplyDeleteWorking in a home with adults with disabilities, a big majority of their funding comes from the government. The homes are government owned, they get money from the government on a monthly basis, and their medical bills are covered by the government. This sounds like a great set up, buut I have seen first hand how little their funding really is. Documentation is a big part of how they get their funding so we are required to document everything. If people made a bigger effort to document all of the supports given, I feel like the funding would increase. It is important for the government to see how much support each child needs so they can see where the money is going to. I think the government should take a bigger responsibility in funding and realize that the lives of these people with disabilities rely a great deal on their funding.
ReplyDeleteOne way that the government could do more to help with the funding in special education classrooms is to provide funding for the students for more inclusion into regular education classrooms. It's one of the major goals of a special education teacher, to see their students leave their classroom and find a comfortable place within the mainstream classrooms, but without funds for aides or additional resources to be placed in those mainstream classrooms then it's not possible at this moment.
ReplyDeleteEver since the big bailouts from our government in 2009, I've seen many more technologies being provided to special education classrooms. However, these shiny new Mac computers aren't really the absolute best thing to provide to the students. I feel that much more needed than a computer are more funds and effort to providing a comfortable place for those students who are deemed proficient enough to have their own seat in a mainstream classroom.