ELC and partners call on Governor, General Assembly to ensure that children with disabilities receive high quality, inclusive education

December, 2016

Students with disabilities are some of Pennsylvania’s most at-risk children, and insufficient funding has led to deep cuts to resources and staff support in special education services. Education Law Center, along with a large coalition of concerned advocates across the state, has composed a letter to Governor Tom Wolf urging him to propose $100 million in additional funds for special education in order to address the growing and significant unmet needs of students with disabilities. While the Governor’s leadership has successfully lead to $50 million special education funding increases over the last two years, the gap between adequate and actual special education funding continues to grow. Education Law Center calls on the Governor and the General Assembly to provide sufficient funds to ensure that children with disabilities receive the high quality inclusive education they need and to which they are legally entitled. In addition, the letter also outlines the appeal for an increase in the state’s basic education funding to adequately allocate dollars and to revisit the recommendations made by the 2014 bipartisan Special Education Funding Commission.

Click here to download a copy of the letter.