Don't Be Fooled: Know the Facts on Special Education Spending

We had a tough winter, and I'm sure that you, like me, paid a lot of attention to your home heating bill.  Imagine if you and your neighbors had the same size house, and you both were being responsible regarding your home heating costs by installing insulation, turning the thermostat down, etc., and both of you spend the same amount on your heating bill. However, your neighbors drive more expensive cars, eat out more than you do, and take at least one more vacation than you do each year.  Even though you are both spending the same amount on heating your homes, the percentage of your whole household budget that you are spending on heat is higher than your neighbors, because they spend more on other things. 

Now imagine if someone were to criticize your spending on heat based on that statistic, a statistic that actually highlights that you spend less than your neighbors on other parts of your household budget.  You would rightly dismiss that claim as inaccurate.  You need to know that those who claim that our school district is spending too much money on special education services are making this same kind of erroneous argument.

Some who say that Shrewsbury spends too much on special education are citing a particular statistic as supposed evidence for this inaccurate claim.  The statistic, reported by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, is the percentage of overall school spending allocated to special education costs.  For Fiscal Year 2013, this statistic shows that Shrewsbury spent about 25% of its total education budget on special education, while the state average is about 20%.  At first glance, someone might take this to mean that we are spending 5% more on special education than a typical district, but that is not what this shows.  What it actually shows is that Shrewsbury spends about the same as an average school district on mandated special education costs, but spends a whole lot less on other parts of its educational program, which makes the proportional share spent on special education higher.

The fact is that Shrewsbury spends millions of dollars below the state average on teachers, administrators, textbooks, and technology.  The fact is that Shrewsbury has been ranked in the bottom 11% of all Massachusetts school districts in overall per pupil spending, and in the bottom 2% for textbooks, instructional materials and technology.  The fact is that the percentage of students receiving special education services in Shrewsbury is slightly below the state average (15% vs. 17%).  The fact is that if Shrewsbury were spending at the state average for non-special education categories, special education costs would only be 20% of the whole, exactly in line with the state average.  The two pie charts above demonstrate that difference.

Years ago, before our district was forced to make drastic cuts in non-special education categories due to resource limitations, the ratio of spending for special education was more in line with the sate average.  Over time, as relative spending on non-special education costs has shrunk, it only makes sense that the share of the whole represented by special education costs has grown.  The truth is that our school district has done a cost effective job of providing special education programming (please see my budget message to Town Meeting here for more details).

If someone tries to tell you that Shrewsbury spends too much on special education because it spends a larger percentage of its total budget on that category, you can explain how the facts show that this claim is bogus.  I am confident that our community has enough common sense to recognize a false argument like this one.

Textbook Backlog

The yearly budget for textbooks and instructional materials for our school district was about $430,000 in FY 2008, which was already modest for a district of our size (as a comparison, our neighbor Westborough budgeted over $500,000 this year for curriculum supplies and textbooks, and they have about 2,400 fewer students than we do).  For the past five years, student learning materials have been severely underfunded due to our resource limitations, averaging about $57,000 per year, or 87% lower than FY 2008.  

One consequence of this lack of investment is that our math textbooks and instructional materials have been out of alignment with the state's updated curriculum frameworks, on which our students started being tested last year through the MCAS.  Next year's budget will require about $343,000 towards the purchase of updated math curriculum resources.  Without the additional funding from a supplemental budget that will be available through a successful override, we will need to cut other personnel and programming from our current program to fund this critical need.  For more information on our curriculum needs, click here.

Appreciating Our Teachers

Since my first ever blog post is on National Teacher Appreciation Day, I think it’s appropriate to state my appreciation for the extraordinary work that our teachers do.  Shrewsbury has a long history of employing superb educators who do outstanding work teaching our students in the classroom or supporting them as psychologists, counselors, or other specialist professional roles.

In my almost 17 years in the school district as assistant principal, principal, and district level administrator, I am aware of countless examples of Shrewsbury teachers going far beyond the call of duty in order to make a difference in the lives of their students.   There are few, if any, districts in the state where the overall level of skill and dedication among educators is as high as it is in Shrewsbury.  Research indicates that the quality of a student’s teachers is the most important school-based factor in his or her success, and it is no coincidence that our schools’ results have been so strong over the decades despite spending far below what most districts do.  Simply put, Shrewsbury has great educators.

Over the past several years, I have also had the benefit of viewing our schools through a different lens – that of parent.  While I always knew professionally how important it was for a student to feel that their teachers care about them and are committed to helping them succeed, I have now personally seen how my own daughters’ education has been positively influenced in this way.  Their teachers have done their best to take the time to get to know them and build strong relationships with them, which in turn motivates them to strive to do their best to meet the high expectations set for Shrewsbury students.  My wife and I know that we are forever indebted to our girls’ teachers for helping to shape them into who they are now, and who they will become in the future.

Our teachers have superb technical teaching skills, but they also provide that human touch where students know that their teacher truly cares for them and believes in them, and that sometimes that makes all the difference.  On this Teacher Appreciation Day, I hope you’ll join me in thanking our educators and supporting the hard work that they do to improve the lives of our students and the quality of our town.