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Special education in Arkansas: student counts, spending and staffing pressures outlined to committee
Summary
Bureau of Legislative Research reported about 63,935 students with disabilities (13.4% of enrollment) and roughly $458 million in district special-education expenditures in 2019; presenters noted rising autism and emotional-disturbance categories, changes to catastrophic funding, teacher shortages and paperwork burdens.
Adrienne Deck of the Bureau of Legislative Research presented the committee with a comprehensive review of special education in Arkansas, covering student counts, placement, assessment, funding and workforce issues.
Deck reported about 63,935 students with disabilities ages 5'21 in the 2019 school year (around 13.4% of the public-school population). The largest disability category was specific learning disabilities (approximately 31% of students with disabilities). Deck noted notable growth since 2013: autism diagnoses rose by roughly 55% and emotional disturbances by about 44%.
On placement and assessment, she said just over half of students with disabilities spent 80% or more of their time in a regular classroom; Arkansas has a higher-than-average use of resource rooms (40'79% of regular-class time) compared with national patterns. The state moved from the MSAA alternate assessment to the Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM), which adds a science component and is more instructionally embedded; Arkansas has applied for and received federal waivers related to alternate-assessment caps in prior years.
Deck said districts and charters reported approximately $458 million in special-education-specific expenditures for 2019 (about $7,300 per special-education student among districts); charters reported about $8.8 million (around $4,300 per special-education student). Foundation funding, local funds and activity funds accounted for the largest shares of district expenditures, while IDEA and Medicaid were important federal contributors. She explained 2020 changes to catastrophic (high-cost) reimbursement formulas that shift the distribution to favor the highest-cost cases and noted the General Assembly historically funded only a portion of requested claims.
On workforce, Deck said the state had over 12,500 special-education licenses on record and roughly 3,788 full-time district special-education teachers in 2019. The department has created new licensure pathways and expedited endorsements to address shortages. Survey responses and site visits highlighted stress, paperwork burdens and high caseloads: about 29% of responding special-education teachers said they were considering leaving K-12 instruction, citing workload and paperwork.
Committee members asked about breakdowns by disability dollar cost, IDEA determinations and whether paperwork had been reduced. Lisa Tyler (Department of Education Learning Services) said the department had worked to reduce required paperwork by roughly 50% in recent years but acknowledged local districts may require additional documentation. Deck and department staff offered to supply follow-up data on categorical cost breakdowns and implementation impacts.
