5th Circuit upholds feds' $33 million penalty for Texas decrease in special education funding

[TexasTowelie]

By Aliyya Swaby, Texas Tribune


Texas' decision to spend $33.3 million less on students with disabilities in 2012 will likely cost it millions in future federal funding after a Wednesday afternoon 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling.

According to the New Orleans-based court, the U.S. Department of Education was within its rights to try to withhold the same amount from Texas' special education grants, since a 1997 federal statute prohibits states from reducing their funding for kids with disabilities from year to year. Texas had appealed the department's decision, arguing that statute was vague and unenforceable.

A little more than a month after hearing both sides, and the day after a momentous midterm election, the three-judge panel effectively upheld the education department's decision to financially penalize Texas in an opinion that called the state's argument "unpersuasive." The 13-page opinion questions Texas' current system for funding special education, saying it could give the state reason to minimize the needs of kids with disabilities in order to save money.

The court also ruled that Texas must pay the federal government's appeal costs. Texas has not publicly indicated whether it will try to appeal the ruling.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2018/11/07/texas-special-education-funding/

[They_Live]

1. Idiots- we told you so.

And so the expense for education again filters down to a local level.