12 school districts sue for special ed money

The Central Valley School District Board of Directors on Monday approved a resolution pledging support for a dozen Washington school districts suing the state for more money for special education students.

A coalition of 12 school districts, including Spokane Public Schools and the Riverside School District in Spokane County, filed a lawsuit against the state in October 2004 in Thurston County Superior Court. Riverside and Spokane are the only Eastern Washington districts to join the suit.

The School Districts’ Alliance for Adequate Funding of Special Education alleges that Washington is not properly funding the education of all students under the state constitution, which includes special education students.

Central Valley’s support of the suit comes in the form of an amicus brief, also known as a friend of the court brief, which indicates that a person or organization is not a part of the litigation but believes that the court’s decision may affect its interests.

“For us, it’s about $800,000 to $1 million that we are spending beyond what the state gives us,” said Superintendent Mike Pearson.

Meanwhile, a trial in the case has been postponed at state request, from this fall to late 2006.

“We felt that was reasonable,” said Mike Ainsworth, executive director of student support services for Spokane Public Schools.

As the trial nears, Ainsworth said he expects more letters of support from state districts.

While Spokane Public Schools enrollment has gone down a little each year, the special education population has grown, Ainsworth said. And each year the district dips into local levy funds for between $4 million and $5 million to cover the mandatory special education services. In a district of 27,468 students, about 4,000 are considered special education students with individual education plans, also known as IEPs.

Pearson said other districts have also been asked by the attorneys involved in the case to submit amicus briefs supporting the suit and are hoping for donations to help with court costs.