Maine’s funding formula for special education is being criticized in a study by a New York research group.

We’re skeptical of the report, which says that school systems have an incentive to classify kids as handicapped in order to get more funding. Maine funds special education programs based on the number of students enrolled. The authors of the study call it a “bounty system.” The study advocates allocating a lump sum for special education, regardless of the number of children in qualifying programs. Sixteen states use this system, but we don’t care much for the idea.

Here are the facts as we see them: Programs for special needs students often cost localities more money than they attract from federal and state sources; Maine’s many small school districts provide individual contact between kids and teachers, making identification of special needs easier; there are specific criteria for diagnosing a child as special needs; and the numbers of children needing extra help is going up across the country.

According to the study, 15.4 percent of Maine’s students in 2002 were in special needs programs, the third highest rate in the country. David Stockford, team leader for special services at the Maine Department of Education, told The Associated Press that Maine has been among the leaders in identifying special needs students for more than 20 years.

There’s no denying that the high numbers are troubling. We should actively pursue an explanation for our level of special education needs. We are just not convinced that finances have caused our enrollment rates to outpace other states.


Still no answers


We are not satisfied with CIA Director George Tenet’s performance behind the closed doors of the Senate Intelligence Committee Wednesday.

Word from the meeting says that Tenet took the blame for allowing the infamous 16 words into the State of the Union. At the same time, Tenet told the committee that his staff did not tell him of the statement before the speech, but as the boss it’s still his responsibility that the information was not removed.

The story line has a hole. Tenet, four months before the State of the Union, had a similar remark about Iraq trying to buy uranium removed from a Bush speech.

Somewhere, the system fell apart. Reports from this hearing haven’t answered the questions of how or why. To date, majorities in both the House and Senate have been reluctant to agree to demands for a full congressional airing of U.S. intelligence in regards to Iraq. These questions aren’t going away until there’s a legitimate answer.
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