Vermont lawmakers press Agency of Education on special education costs, Act 173 rollout

The Agency of Education told a joint hearing of legislative committees on Oct. 12, 2025, that special education is a fast-growing driver of K-12 costs and that the state must improve the quality and scale of services while refining how those services are funded.

The discussion focused on three linked topics: how much is currently spent and from what sources, whether Act 173 of 2018 has reduced unnecessary evaluations or paperwork and how the agency is supporting districts to deliver higher-quality services without undermining access for students with individualized education plans, or IEPs.

Agency officials and consultants outlined the funding picture and existing gaps. "We are looking at just over 90% coming from state and local money," Sean Cousinau, interim CFO at FAU, said while presenting finance slides, adding that federal funding accounted for about 8% of special education spending in recent years and that FY 2023 spending coded to special education was approximately $437,500,000.0. Amanda Brown of APA Consulting clarified that "local can include tuition... general education fund dollars" and that districts sometimes use other state grants and Medicaid to fill gaps left by federal and state special-education-targeted funding.

Why this matters: state leaders said they bracketed…