| According to California's Statewide Task Force on Education, in 2015, schools were failing to fully educate all students with disabilities to the extent required by federal law. (CA Department of Education, 2015, p. 4). The number of students identified as needing special education increased greatly in the last decade, even as special education became more expensive to provide. This study investigated school budget allocations in several Southern California districts, comparing the rising cost of special education within each district's overall budget, and focused on one possible cause for this rise: the increase in legal activity and subsequent costs. A typical suburban Southern California district, Bloomfield Unified School District (BUSD), a pseudonym for an actual district with rapidly rising special education costs, was chosen as the subject for further study. Quantitative research found significant differences between special education costs in comparable districts, especially in the area of legal costs. Qualitative research, consisting of personal interviews with appropriate teachers and administrators, investigated factors contributing to increasing legal costs. The analysis of this data determined that BUSD is an "outlier" among its peers with significantly greater legal costs than comparable districts. Further research suggested factors involved in this rise in legal costs and possible solutions for addressing these factors. Analysis and discussion provided strategies for this district, and others like it, to reduce special education legal costs while maintaining required standards for special education students. |
