Palin Slashed "Special Schools" Funding In Alaska

**UPDATE** There has been a revised document regarding the Special Education Budget [12/13/06 to 12/3/06]
***

Sarah Palin's speech received loud applause at the Republican National Convention (RNC), especially the talking points on America first and the strong language blasting Barack Obama and Joe Biden. She also won applause on issues regarding special needs of children. But in the "State of Alaska Fiscal Year 2008 Governor's Operating Budget" the "Department of Education and Early Development Special Schools Component Budget Summary" reveals that funds were cut by 38 percent for the fiscal year of 2008-09.

During 2006, children served by special education facilities and programs, including the Special Education Service Agency (SESA) and the Alaska School for the Deaf , received more state support; but as of 2008 and 2009, the proposed budget was cut from $7,949.30 down to $3,156.00.

Under Alaskan Budget Documents:

These funds provide supplementary educational services to students with severe disabling conditions. The resident school where the child would normally be placed does not have the resources to provide an adequate educational program. Without the supplementary services the child's needs would not be met by the local school district in most cases.

Palin sliced the program by more than half, laying out a mere $3,000 for special needs kids for the year and saving the tax payers of Alaska less than $5,000.

Follow Adrienne Williams on Twitter: www.twitter.com/tallexpression

Comments

[IdaTarbell]

I'm an Obama and Biden supporter because I feel John McCain and Sarah Palin would not be good for the country economically. However, according to www.factcheck.org, your article is not correct. Palin actually tripled funding for special need children. I just wanted to let you know. I still enjoy your site.

[Nichibek]

According to Education Weekly, Ms. Palin increased special needs spending from $26,900 to $73,840 per Student. According to Eddy Jeans at the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, the total increased from $203 million to $276 million. It looks like the special schools" budget was confused with the "special needs" budget. The former was reduced by 5 million because she moved the Alaska Military Youth Academy''s residential program out of the budget line for "special schools" and into its own line. So even that was not cut.

[reggie1298]

I urge and challenge all readers to check this - it only takes a minute and reviews the facts succinctly:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/157986

[miranova]

Bottom line - it doesn't make any sense to add the Alaska Youth Challenge Program (a boot camp for AT RISK kids, which has nothing to do with special needs kids which is probably why it was separated) back together with special needs funding.

So unless I'm wrong, if you don't know how much went to that program initially in 07 when they were combined, you have no way of telling what happened with special needs funding. I'm so sick of hearing about the adding the boot camp back to the special needs to show an increase! Come on....seri­ously?! Yeah, let's send all those "misbehaving" kids into boot camp...tha­t'll learn 'em!

Anyone? Please tell me I'm wrong.

[NewsJReview]

It Takes Exception Thought To Lead

Cuts to Special Education budgets are shortsighted. People with disabilities make up the largest pool of willing and ready to work individuals, yet they are 70 percent unemployed. A cut on the front end of special education certainly spells a downward spiral in what is already a dismal position in a society that promotes itself on a strong work ethic.
Do we care? Shouldn't our leaders care and act appropriately?
In the last thirty years investments in special education students to spending on regular education students have declined.
Some will argue that spending has not gone down, but rather, school enrollment has gone up, as people with disabilities become more engaged in their communities, as is their right. This includes access to a quality education that can lead to the dignity of work for people with every type of disability­—physical, developmental, sensory, mental, cognitive and intellectual.
And there are large companies, among them some subsidiaries of Walgreen’s, The Home Depot, supports athletes with disabilities to compete in the Para Olympics, IHG-(Inter­Continenta­l Hotels Group), WalMart’s and SunTrust Banks, have made it policy to hire people with disabilities, not as a matter of charity, but because they see clearly the value and strength gained in bottom line performance, output, profit and taxes. Special Education is about an investment in the future and a genuine uplift in real lives.
Exceptional leadership needs to have this understanding.
NewsJReview

[kdrWonders]

Well as usual, you can't belive everything you read. I just hope more people, on both sides, do their own fact checking rather than rely on headlines, blogs, and "news" reports. Back in April of this year Education Week offered up this article. There's no political motivation, as Education Week didn't know Gov. Palin would be the VP pick. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/04/30/35recaps.h27.html

"Gov. Sarah Palin and state lawmakers have gone ahead with an overhaul of Alaska’s school funding system that supporters predict will provide much-needed financial help to rural schools and those serving students with disabilities"
" part of the measure raises spending for students with special needs to $73,840 in fiscal 2011, from the current $26,900 per student in fiscal 2008, according to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Developmen­t."

[Clairemont]

I found the smoking gun in your link, kdrWonders!

"Advocates for rural and remote schools have LOBBIED for years for more funding, in particular noting the higher fuel, transportation, and other costs associated with providing education in communities scattered across the vast state."

Governor Palin LISTENS to LOBBYISTS!! Imagine that!

[reggie1298]

Smoking gun? Check my post of 9/9

[knicknack]

from 2006, the reason it looks like the special school budget looks cut by $5 million is because they split off the largest program, into a separate line item, and increased total spending by about $1 million.

http://www.gov.state.ak.us/omb/07_OMB/budget/EED/index.htm (in 07 the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy was part of the special schools section)

http://gov.state.ak.us/omb/09_omb/budget/EED/index.htm (in 09 it is on its own)

[Clairemont]

Good for you for getting the truth out and making it stick. I'll have so many deletions on this one topic alone and this will probably be the 7th one. A real shame. 297 diggs to compound the lie.

[miriamsong]

The budget figures are shown in the thouands, so multiply everything in the Williams article by 1000. That means $5 million dollars in cuts to special ed.

And these are figures from Palin's budget, not her predecessor. So GH raises a red herring.

For more on the Obama policy on disability, visit http://www.barackobama.com/issues/disabilities/

[Clairemont]

Yes, and that $5,000,000 is for the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy budget. on a separate line item. It's a factual read of an actual budget compared over 3 years. I've read the budgets and it's clear to me, especially after my 10 years on budget committees in school governance councils.

Amazing the energy that goes into spinning facts into misinformation, then sell people on the spin. I love primary documents for that reason. As a genealogist, as an educator, as a scientist, and as a person raised with common sense, if I wanted to know the truth I'd go to the primary document. And yet, some of you still claim you have. I've seen the documents. Give me more directions, tell me where to go in the document. Are we both looking at the words "Alaska Challenge Youth Academy"? I'd love to sit at a table and read it with you.

Bigger question: Does this budget experience say anything about Palin's V.P. qualifications. After seeing this, I'd like Palin to do the same thing I'd like Obama to do: Go home and work on your skills. Perhaps Obama would like to run for Governor of Illinois? Then we could watch him run something.

[Adrienne Williams - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks miriamsong for the link, I haven't seen this video.... Just so everyone know -- I'm a huge advocate for Children who are deaf...wor­king in the past in a deaf school, I know what services of this kind means to them.

[reggie1298]

This will only take a minute, Adrienne:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/157986

[GH]

Did she?

Ms. Williams begins ny noting the RNC - Well, she should have looked further. While these budget bills are often complicated, at the very least, they, like the D's, have a very good research department - and I bet that they got some of this context correct. Looks more like special needs has a friend in Palin, and "we the people" have a trouble maker for the truth in Ms. Williams.

"This charge is based on looking at the budget for Alaska's Special Education Service Agency for 2007-2009. In fact, the December 2006 budget document that they cite would have been prepared by the outgoing administration -- that of Republican Frank Murkowski, whom Palin defeated.

What's gone unmentioned is that the Palin signed into law a dramatic reform of the state's education financing system that equalizes aid to rural and urban districts, while significantly increasing funding for special needs students. ...

A second part of the measure raises spending for students with special needs to $73,840 in fiscal 2011, from the current $26,900 per student in fiscal 2008, according to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Developmen­t...

So the Netroots and CNN allege that Palin cut special needs funding by 62 percent, by crediting her with the budget proposed by a political opponent. And the truth is that rather than a 62 percent cut, she's actually increasing special needs funding by 175 percent."

[ImpressedByHonesty]

You are kidding me right? I think I may have spent more than $73,840 in special needs for my special needs kid alone. And the Muraski 2006 budget is the one that is 62 percent HIGHER.

Your story does not seem to make sense...

[Clairemont]

"I started with the FY07 budget for Special Schools (that was Gov. Murkowski’s last budget year). Indeed, Special Schools received $8,265,300. Now, one thing to keep in mind: this budget included the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy, which NR@DK referenced earlier.

Next up is the FY08 operating budget, and indeed, it only shows $3,156,000. Here’s the part DK and O’B forgot to mention: the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy is a separate line item in the operating budget - to the tune of $5,709,000. The funds total $8,865,000, an 7.26% increase, not a 62% cut.

The FY09 Operating Budget has the same separation. Add them together again, and you have $9,214,900, 3.95% more than FY08 and 11.49% more than FY07. Again, not a 62% cut.

This is something the NR@DK could have easily checked just by looking at the Alaska State Budget website and making a few clicks. Ms. O’Brien could have also checked this out in less than an hour if she had bothered to actually work at her craft rather than ball up bad numbers from Daily Kos and fling them with glee on unsuspecting campaign officials.

So, what we have learned? That Governor Palin did not cut special needs education funding, that DK still spews out sludge, that CNN has joined MSNBC (and many others) in sinking to the nut-roots’ level."

[Clairemont]

I keep trying to post a link with an explanation, but my posts get booted, 3 of them last night.

If you go to http://gov.state.ak.us/omb/08_OMB/budget/
and trace out the special ed budget, note that the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy now has its own budget. Add them back together and you've got the Murkowski figure and about 7.26 % increase.

This pushing of misinformation is so profound to me. No political ideology would so important to me that I'd accept lying as one of its strategies to push an agenda. So sad.

[GH]

Honestly.. pun intended.. the concept of context applies here. It appears that the blog post by Ms. Williams is in error. It appears that under Gov. Palin increased funding for special needs students - perhaps dramatically. Ms. Williams is welcome to now research and make a presentation as to what is, is. I didn't research it - but suspect from the lack of wall to wall attacks by the media on this issue, that Palin must have incrased funding here - not slashed it. If she increased it, the national media would never ever actually ask her about it.

I made no representation as to what actual costs are for parents with special needs -and have no doubt that they are extremely high. Ms Williams was not suggesting that the State of Alaska was funding special needs at 100% for parents prior to Palin. Are you? Why would you say to me "you are kidding right," and then talk about a different concept?