§ 1-122. Special Education Funding Commission
Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated StatutesTitle 24 P.S. EducationEffective: December 13, 2023
Effective: December 13, 2023
24 P.S. § 1-122
§ 1-122. Special Education Funding Commission
(ii) Two (2) legislators from each of the four (4) legislative caucuses, to be appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives in consultation with the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate and the Majority and Minority Leaders of the House of Representatives.
(g) The General Assembly shall provide administrative support, meeting space and any other assistance required by the commission to carry out its duties under this section in cooperation with the department. The department shall provide the commission with data, research and other information upon request by the commission.
(3) Receive input from interested parties, including, but not limited to, charter and cyber charter school operators, and gather information on the identification of children as eligible students by charter and cyber charter schools. The commission shall also receive input and gather information on charter and cyber charter school funding reimbursements regarding eligible students. The commission shall draft proposed regulations and proposed legislation based on its findings.
(5) Issue a report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor, the President pro tempore of the Senate, the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the Senate, the Education Committee of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the Education Committee of the House of Representatives, the Secretary of Education and the State Board of Education not later than November 30, 2013.
(i) Three (3) cost categories of eligible students, established so that students with disabilities typically requiring the least intensive range of services would comprise Cost Category 1, students with disabilities typically requiring a middle range of services would comprise Cost Category 2 and students with disabilities typically requiring the most intensive range of services would comprise Cost Category 3. The commission shall determine a description of and parameters for each of the three (3) cost categories.
(ii) A student count for each school district averaged for each of the three (3) most recent years for each cost category of eligible students. For Cost Category 3, the number of eligible students residing or enrolled in the school district and classified in Cost Category 3 shall be calculated in a manner that limits the potential incentive for school districts to overidentify, except for the number of eligible students who are placed by the school district and served in public or private separate schools, residential placements or homebound or hospital placements.
(k)(1) Every five (5) years the commission shall be reconstituted in accordance with subsection (c) and shall meet and hold public hearings to review the operation of the special education funding provisions of this section, shall make a further report and shall issue the report to the recipients listed in subsection (i)(5). When in receipt of a further report recommending changes to the special education funding formula, the General Assembly shall consider and take action to enact the formula into law in accordance with subsection (j).
(2) The commission shall be reconstituted not later than August 15, 2019, and shall issue the report to the recipients listed in subsection (i)(5) not later than December 31, 2021. The commission shall limit the scope of the review provided for under this subsection to only the provision of special education payments to school districts by the Commonwealth through the funding formula contained in section 2509.5.1
(3) The commission shall be reconstituted January 15, 2026, in accordance with subsection (c) and shall meet and hold public hearings to review the operation of the special education funding provisions of this section, and shall make a further report and shall issue the report to the recipients listed in subsection (i)(5) no later than November 30, 2026. When in receipt of the report recommending changes to the special education funding formula, the General Assembly shall consider and take action to enact the formula into law in accordance with subsection (j).
(l) The General Assembly shall, through the annual appropriations process, determine the level of State funding for special education and the amount of any change in funding. The special education formula developed under this section shall determine only the distribution of any increase in special education funding among the school districts of this Commonwealth above the amount of special education funding in the base year and shall not be used for any other purpose.
(m) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, for the 2013-2014 school year and each school year thereafter, any State funding for special education in an amount that does not exceed the amount of State funding for special education in the base year shall be allocated in the same manner as the State funding was allocated in the base year.
“Base year.” Fiscal year 2010-2011.
“Commission.” The Special Education Funding Commission established under this section.
“Department.” The Department of Education of the Commonwealth.
Credits
1949, March 10, P.L. 30, No. 14, art. I, § 122, added 2013, April 25, P.L. 12, No. 3, § 1, imd. effective. Amended 2013, July 9, P.L. 408, No. 59, § 1, imd. effective; 2019, June 28, P.L. 117, No. 16, § 1, effective July 1, 2019; 2020, June 5, P.L. 223, No. 30, § 2, imd. effective; 2020, Nov. 25, P.L. 1294, No. 136, § 2.1, imd. effective; 2021, June 30, P.L. 158, No. 26, § 1, imd. effective; 2022, July 8, P.L. 620, No. 55, § 3, imd. effective; 2023, Dec. 13, P.L. 311, No. 35, § 1, imd. effective.
Footnotes
24 P.S. § 25-2509.5.
24 P.S. § 1-122, PA ST 24 P.S. § 1-122
Current through Act 10 of the 2024 Regular Session. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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