Oregon's cap on Special Education is hurting all students

I am a parent of kids who had IEPs from kindergarten through 4th grade. As a highly educated, involved parent, the process and system was overwhelming, daunting and scary. At one point, shortly after my twins started kindergarten, I learned they had been receiving *zero* support required by their IEPs for over 2 months. Nobody had told me. I learned only becuase one day I happened to ask "how's it going?"

We must do better.

Parents navigating the SPED system deserve to know:

• that we fund SPED services

• that funding SPED services doesn't cut into other educational programs, and 

• that their Board, their district and their school is behind them, not blocking them

Did you know that Oregon caps its additional funding for special education when students with disabilities in  district exceed 11% of total enrollment. However, the number of students receiving special education services is upwards of 15%. 

We have spent decades underfunding the system and programs that our educators rely on. It is time to change that. Funding SPED is a critical piece to funding our schools properly, raising literacy and math scores, and taking care of families.

I am working with a team of friends I trust who are heavily involved in their own SPED journeys. They are my team, guiding me on how we fund SPED.