When told about the Times' analysis, Education Commissioner Tom Gallagher was surprised and concerned. He is making an increased effort to look at the performance of specific groups of children, such as minorities, but has not focused yet on special education students. Some educators worry that the situation could grow worse as the stakes of standardized testing grow higher. Florida is launching into a new age of accountability this year, starting a controversial system in which schools will be graded A through F based primarily on FCAT test scores. Over time, children at the F schools could become eligible for vouchers, or taxpayer dollars, to transfer to private schools.
School districts get extra money to educate special education students.
To help keep track of spending, they have to stay within their projected enrollments of special education students. If they exceed the cap, they still have to educate the student, but they won't get more money from the state. Special education officials also say there is a careful process that must be followed to place a child in special education. Houston said the state is monitoring districts, checking on the numbers of children identified as special education students. Between the fall of 1993 and the fall of 1997, the number of exceptional students in Florida increased by 27.5 percent, according to Department of Education figures.