MA State Representatives Barbara L’Italien (D-Andover) and Tom Sannicandro (D-Ashland)announced today the formation of a Special Education (SPED) Caucus in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate, which they will co-chair.
The Special Education Caucus is made up of a bi-partisan group of legislators who are interested in issues of funding and advocacy surrounding special education. First, the caucus will focus on ways to increase the level of reimbursement given to municipalities under the Special Education Circuit Breaker, which is designed to reimburse districts for high cost special needs students. Currently, the rate of reimbursement is at 72% per student. The caucus goal is to provide a range of options to return larger amounts of money to cities and towns under the Circuit Breaker program to include phasing transportation into the circuit breaker; raising the reimbursement up from the current 72% to at least 80% towards an eventual 100% rate; and/or considering lowering the threshold for high quality in-district provision of services to 3 times per pupil average.
“Given the budgetary constraints that every municipality contends with, having a Special Education caucus advocate for increased financial reimbursement is crucial to ensuring that students receive the services they need to succeed while lessening the burden on the school district”, commented L’Italien.
“The establishment of this caucus is necessary for ensuring that every student in the state of Massachusetts has access to a quality education,” said Sannicandro. “It is the responsibility of the legislature to be at the forefront of special education and to fuel the mechanisms that drive it.”
The first meeting of the SPED Caucus will be held on Thursday, March 2nd where Superintendent Sheldon Berman of the Hudson Public Schools will address the caucus. Superintendent Berman will speak on special education funding and the potential costs and benefits of including transportation into the special ed. circuit breaker. He will also present his idea to potentially save twenty percent of the cost of special education transportation through greater coordination and planning.
While the caucus plans to initially focus on strategies to assist the municipalities with greater reimbursement, it also plans to research and become a clearinghouse of information regarding how other states fund Special Education, and to serve as a legislative advocacy group.
The two Special Education caucus chairs bring a wealth of experience and interest to the table.
Representative Barbara L’Italien, a mother of four school-aged children including a son with Asperger’s Syndrome, was instrumental in securing a new Division of Autism in the 2006 budget and in the passage of legislation to develop a Medicaid Waiver to secure fifty percent reimbursement for services to autistic school-age children. Her on-going advocacy on behalf of the disabled and their families has earned her recognition by the Doug Flutie Foundation, and the Jewish Federation. Additionally, she will receive the Massachusetts Association of Retarded Citizens’ annual award on March 1, 2006 at the MA State House.
Representative Tom Sannicandro, a father of four including a son with Down Syndrome, has been a lead advocate for funding of the Department of Mental Retardation budget, particularly Family Supports and Turning 22 where Tom was instrumental in securing a $500,000 increase for FY06. Prior to joining the Legislature, he served as an Ashland School Committee member from 2000-2005. Through his tenure as co-chair of the Ashland Special Education Advisory Council, as a legislator, and in his profession as an attorney, Tom has fought for the rights of students with special needs so that they may receive appropriate educational opportunities.
The SPED Caucus will join the more than ten existing caucuses in the State House, which hold meetings and events as a way to inform and promote awareness on issues of interest to the members and staff of the House of Representatives and Senate. In addition to legislators, the caucus will be open to School Superintendents; School Committees; Special Education Administrators, teachers, and professionals; parents and advocates.
