Child limit for special education dismissed

Washington’s system of financing special education for more than 120,000 students has been upheld by a judge, but a lid on the number of the special-needs students was thrown out, which could mean millions of dollars more for Spokane schools.

Thurston County Superior Court Judge Thomas McPhee, ruling in a lawsuit brought by a coalition of school districts from across Washington, rejected claims that the state is violating its own constitution by shortchanging districts by more than $100 million a year. His ruling was handed down Thursday.

The judge said the districts hadn’t proven a financing gap and added the courts typically won’t second-guess the Legislature.

He did overturn a cap that limits districts to declaring no more than 12.7 percent of their students as special-education pupils, which could cost the state an additional $43 million annually to cover students in excess of the caps.

For Spokane Public Schools, lifting that cap would mean $2.5 million in additional state funding. Currently, the district serves about 800 special-education pupils over the state-specified cap.

“That’s a lot of programs that directly serve children,” Superintendent Brian Benzel said.

Those funds would still need to be appropriated by the Legislature and approved by the governor, Benzel said.

“We are disappointed that Judge McPhee did not go further in his ruling,” Benzel said. “As educators, we all know that our state’s current system of funding education is broken.”

Benzel is expected to announce millions of dollars in suggested cuts to the district’s $280 million budget on Wednesday during a work session with school board members.

The district, faced with shrinking enrollment and unfunded federal and state mandates, is expecting a $10.5 million shortfall.

Benzel has not hinted at what those cuts will be but has said they will be “painful.” He has already proposed closing Pratt Elementary School to save money.

“At the end of the day, we are pleased that the court rejected the states’ notion that they could artificially cap (special education) enrollment,” Benzel said. “We are asking the Legislature to follow the constitution, and we hope they will.”

The state attorney general’s office and the districts involved in the suit portrayed the ruling as a mixed result, with the districts losing the argument about the adequacy of financing overall, but winning the point about caps being an unconstitutional limit on the state’s obligation.

Overall, though, it was considered a greater victory for the state.

Either party could appeal the judge’s decision.

McPhee upheld the general system of state financing for special education, including the formula of paying nearly double for each special-education student. The state’s level is consistent with national standards, the judge said.

He said the districts didn’t back up their contention that the state financing is woefully inadequate.

He said he has no basis for declaring unconstitutional the Legislature’s system and quoted a state Supreme Court opinion that, “This court will not micromanage education and will give great deference to the acts of the Legislature.”

In addition to the special-education appropriations, the Legislature also maintains a “safety net” fund that districts can apply for, particularly for high-cost students.

Although he threw out the 12.7 percent cap, the judge said it was a logical attempt to prevent districts from overidentifying students as special-education pupils.

“When the cap was created in 1995, the special-education population was growing at a rate of 10 percent per year, or about twice as fast as the basic education population,” McPhee wrote

But he said the cap violates the state’s duty to amply provide for all students, regardless of their challenges.

Gov. Chris Gregoire, anticipating the ruling, has been working with the Legislature to come up a fix. The governor’s budget has an additional $63 million for special education.

“We all know there is much more to do,” said Benzel, who was in Olympia on Friday to meet with legislators about the issue.

Dave Stolier, chief assistant attorney general for the state school superintendent’s office, said the state should be able to limit the growth in the program, while not running afoul of the court’s new decision.

Twelve districts from around the state, joined by Seattle and Spokane and 70 other supporting districts, brought the challenge. Collectively, they serve about two-thirds of the state’s special-education students.

In a lengthy hearing in fall, their lawyers asserted that the state is at least $130 million short of meeting the bare minimum. Districts end up filling the gap with local property taxes, shortchanging other students and violating the principle that the state constitution requires the state to finance an “ample” basic education for all, said the coalition’s attorney, John Bjorkman.

Assistant Attorney General Bill Clark defended the current setup, saying the state and local districts together fully meet the needs.