Michigan ranks among the lowest in the nation for special education outcomes, the Autism Alliance of Michigan said in a recent report finding the state behind in government accountability, family engagement, specialized instructor training, access to early disability identification, and learning opportunities for students with disabilities.
Heather Eckner, the director of statewide education for the Autism Alliance of Michigan, said the group's report is calling for structural changes through financial reform.
“This benchmark report is to be kind of an added piece to that bigger-picture policy work that needs to happen where we're calling for new finance structures in special education,” Eckner said. “We're calling for better targeted investment based on what students actually need to receive high quality inclusive education.”
State and federal dollars currently fund about 44% of special education services in Michigan, with the rest covered by local school districts, according to the report. The Autism Alliance said that contributes to a widening wealth disparity between special education curricula at low-income versus wealthier districts.
The Autism Alliance of Michigan’s goal is to lead Michigan to a national top-10 rank for special education outcomes. Eckner said she hopes the benchmark report will be a guide for Michigan legislators to ease funding inequities.
“We think there's positive momentum, even in this current landscape of some sense of uncertainty,” Eckner said, adding that Michigan has a longstanding willingness "to look at improvements towards equitable education funding."
"This is sort of just the next big step we need to take together, she said.
The Autism Alliance's report follows a Special Education Finance Reform Blueprint, released two months earlier, asking Michigan lawmakers to consider an additional $1.28 billion in annual special education funding from state and local governments, added to the existing annual budget of $2.8 billion.
As for how the state Legislature might find the extra funding, Scott Koenigsknecht, the superintendent at Clinton County Regional Educational Service Agency, said that if the state can find an additional $1.9 billion for roads, there “would be an effort they could undertake that would identify the needed additional $1.2 billion for students with disabilities.”
Because local districts are currently relying on their general funds to fund special education, Koenigsknecht said without state help, districts are “going to find themselves even more short of dollars in the years ahead if there isn't something done to generate these additional revenues.”
