3 ms·

Sorry, why does one special ed student require 100K / year? That is insane, it's literally twice the median income of an adult in the U.S.

• dessimus 3y ago
  That student might require a full-time 1-on-1 aide whose sole responsibility is working with that student, plus additional interventionists who only work with a handful of students. Those labor/benefit costs would be the majority of the $100K. Then, start to tack on additional learning materials that may be needed for that student that may not be necessary for the rest of the students.
  • devoutsalsa 3y ago
    It also includes transportation. I couldn’t find the video, but I remember reading how one special needs student in a rural area would get a flight to school every day, as there was no special education program in their local area.
• badlucklottery 3y ago
  Equal access to education (a consequence of the 14th Amendment) means that the school district more or less has to do whatever it takes to educate each kid regardless of disability. A modern, functional district will have a small army of Speech Language Pathologist (SLPs), Occupational Therapists (OTs), etc. jumping between schools and/or special ed classrooms to work with kids. The more severe the needs of a kid, the more therapists and therapy sessions they'll need. This adds up quickly. I suspect a lot of this is covered by universal health coverage in other western nations.