Norwich Bulletin: Consider pooling special education funding

Those who follow education funding in their towns already know that special education costs can be volatile, severely disrupting the local budgeting process when high-need students enter a school system - something that's next to impossible to predict.

The Connecticut School Finance Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank, has devised a system aiming to solve that volatility. Local leaders and legislators should take note.

The group's plan would create what it calls the Special Education Predictable Cost Cooperative​, a shared pool of money comprising state and local dollars that fully funds towns' special education costs. The basic principle is that special education costs statewide are predictable, whereas at the local level, towns often experience budget-busting surges, or precipitous drops in better years, depending on the makeup of their student populations.

Read the full editorial at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/opinion/20170130/our-view-consider-pooling-special-education-funding