DELAWARE-The Delaware Senate unanimously passed a bill Tuesday aimed to close a funding gap in special education services for children in kindergarten through third grade.
'HB 86' is a bill Democratic Rep. Kimberly Williams worked on for about six years.
"There's three types of funding systems for special education students, one is basic, one is intensive and one is complex, and currently, the state funds intensive and complex students for Pre-K to 12th grade and our basic students, which are the students that have the least amount of needs, are funded from fourth grade to 12th grade," she said.
Rep. Williams explained that there is no additional money for students in K-3rd grade who may also be eligible under that basic category.
The funding will allow more one-on-one time with students who need it the most, reducing the current 16.2 students per teacher ratio to one teacher for every eight students.
Delaware Republican Rep. Richard Collins was the only one in the House of Representatives who opposed the bill.
According to Tuesday's minutes, he questioned why money needs to be spent on a program that may potentially diagnose a child with a special need too early on, saying, "(he) wondered at what point students are held accountable for their own learning."
On Wednesday afternoon, Rep. Collins sent WRDE a statement via e-mail saying:
"I used my vote on House Bill 86 to take a stand against a problem in Delaware. In recent years, we have lowered the ‘special education’ standard. School districts get more money for special education and have thus had a financial incentive to designate a growing number of children as requiring it. This trend troubles me because it is driving up the cost of public education while creating needless division. We need to be investing in initiatives to improve classroom performance, not designating a growing number of our children as requiring special education.”
Still, Delaware Secretary of Education Susan Bunting believes it's a positive step forward.
"The earlier we can intervene when there is a disability or a special need, the earlier we intervene, the more successful we are in remedying that situation and it really does has a long term effect for that child as he or she goes through the school system," she said.
The bill is set to cater to more than 2,000 students across the state, phasing in over the course of three years, which will eventually add about $11.8 million in state funding. The bill now heads to governor John Carney's desk for a signature, to be implemented effective immediately.