Funding Special Education

Considerable challenges face the school finance community relating to the implementation of such concepts as equity, adequacy, accountability, and efficiency within a policy environment. Although each of these concepts focuses on a specific aspect of public education, in practice they are often linked.

Although more work is needed to clarify these standards, it is already evident, as is pointed out in this volume, that the kinds of dual service systems that have been created for general and special education students can be better integrated in order to improve outcomes related to all four of these important concepts. Special education has become a vital component of the nation's overall education system. It is essential that future work to address fiscal policy challenges include the special needs of children with disabilities along with those of all children.

The purpose of this book is to contribute to a fuller incorporation of special education fiscal policy concerns into the mainstream of the education finance literature and fiscal policy.