Testifiers urge full funding, cap removal in House Bill 1310 to close special-education gaps

Olympia — Dozens of educators, district leaders and disability advocates testified in support of House Bill 1310 on the grounds that current state funding falls short of the costs of special-education services.

"This is our agency request legislation on special education," said Misha Chernisky, speaking on behalf of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). She told the committee HB 1310 would change the three core mechanisms the state uses to pay for special education: the cap on funded enrollment, the excess-cost multipliers and the safety-net threshold.

The bill would, among other changes, remove an enrollment cap that limits how many students districts can receive special-education funding for, raise the tiered multipliers that increase per-student funding for higher-need students, and lower the safety-net threshold so districts receive aid sooner for very high-cost individual students. "If a student services in that year cost maybe $50,000 the school district is only eligible for that $10,000 difference in safety net funding. So bringing this down to around $27,000 would open up a lot…