1The Impact of Census-Based Special Education Funding in Pennsylvania1

· In 1991-92 the Pennsylvania Legislature radically changed the state’s system of funding special education from an excess cost formula to a census-based approach, representing a fundamental change in the philosophy of financing special education. · Over the first five years of census-based funding in Pennsylvania, special education costs have risen at a greater rate than general education costs, and state aid increases have not kept up with these rising costs. · While the presumed percentages of special education students in the state funding formula appear reasonable, the standardized allocations per student have not kept up with rising costs. As a result, local districts now fund the greatest share of special education in the state. · This diminishing share of state funds, which can occur under any type of formula, is a likely source of dissatisfaction with the state’s census-based system. Census-based funding for special education has been a growing phenomenon in the states over the past decade. It has also been incorporated as the basic principle underlying the allocation of federal special education funds.2 Pennsylvania was one of the first states to adopt this approach, which substantially departs from prior special education funding methods. Unlike virtually all prior approaches to special education funding, census-based funding is not based o