Wisconsin's Special Ed System: High Stress, Sparse State Funding

credit:

This piece was produced for the NEW News Lab, a local news collaboration in Northeast Wisconsin. Microsoft is providing financial support to the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation and Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region to fund the initiative.

For parents and teachers, raising and educating a special-needs child can be all-consuming. Parents struggle to care and advocate for their children, who may have significant health, educational and behavior challenges. And teachers face tough working conditions that prompt many of them to switch districts or leave special education, creating a shortage of qualified educators.

Federal and state mandates require that public school districts in Wisconsin provide all of the special education services a student needs. Roughly 14% of students in Wisconsin are classified as having special needs, which include physical, intellectual, cognitive, emotional and learning disabilities.

But over the past five decades, state funding support for special education has declined precipitously. That forces districts — which must abide by revenue caps set by the state — to take money from the regular education budget to pay for services they are legally obligated to provide to special ed students.

Read the Entire Article

A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.

How's Your Community Doing?
Check Out it's
Community Vital Signs

Study: Chatgpt Displays Lower Concern for Chi

Parents who use an AI tool to flag potential developmental delays in their children may be surprised to learn their pediatricians aren't as concerned. Researchers at Cohen Children's Medical...more

Warehouse Operative

If you've got a strong work ethic and the ability to work nights and weekends, a warehouse job might be just what you're looking for. The Children's Place, a children's clothing and gear company...more

Revolutionizing Education

There's a "revolutionary innovation" in education that could make it a lot easier for parents to track their kids' progress, according to a post at Education Week. Permanent Education Numbers, or...more

Ai-Tailored Bedtime Stories : Slumber Stories Ai

A new app called Slumber Stories uses artificial intelligence to help parents write bedtime stories for their kids, TechCrunch reports. The app tells stories based on a child's interests,...more

Students Plan Futuristic Service Station for M25

If you're an electric car driver in the UK, you're in for a treat: A team of students from the University of Bristol and a company called Roadchef have come up with ideas for a "service station of...more

A 4-Year-Old Died in a Hit-And-Run. We Need the Mayor'S Outrage

If you're an electric car driver in the UK, you're in for a treat: A team of students from the University of Bristol and a company called Roadchef have come up with ideas for a "service station of...more

Aaron Miller of Clarksville, Tn on Raising Kids in an Entrepreneurial Household

If you've got a kid who's into entrepreneurship, you may want to consider raising him or her in an " entrepreneurial household." That's according to Aaron Ramon Miller, who owns a contracting...more

Expanding Opportunities: Luke Afb Opens Innovation Lab

An Arizona military base has opened a $1 million innovation lab where kids can learn about 3D printing, virtual reality, and more, the Arizona Republic reports. "It's important that we allow our...more

Study: Rotavirus Vaccinations in Nicu Pose Minimal Risk

"Our yearlong, prospective study done in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that benefits of vaccinating NICU patients against rotavirus outweigh risks,"...more

The Benefits of Building Classrooms out of Recycled Plastic Bricks

For nearly a decade, UNICEF has been working with women in the Ivory Coast to turn their plastic waste into bricks that can be used to build new schools. Now, the charity says, 383 classrooms...more