According to NYSED, “Instructional Expenditures for General Education are K-12 expenditures for classroom instruction (excluding Special Education) plus a proration of building level administrative and instructional support expenditures. These expenditures include amounts for instruction of students with disabilities in a general-education setting. District expenditures, such as transportation, debt service and district-wide administration are not included.”

According to the New York State Department of Education’s district Report Card, this district’s per pupil instructional expenditure for General Education students is $9,594. The per pupil instructional expenditure for Special Education students is $26,624.

The Rochester City School District has reported that 56% of its students receive Special Education services with a classification rate that is 5.1% higher than the State average. One does not need to be a mathematician or an accountant to understand that the district received three times more money for classified, Special Education students than General Education students.

Rochester citizens are told that schools will have to close due to decreased enrollment yet the NYSED Report Card shows that enrollment at the Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten levels has increased.

The total number of teachers decreased from 3018 in 2009-10 to 2717 in 2011-12 (301) with the total number of assistant principals doubling in the same period.

According to the Accountability Report, the only group to achieve a Performance Index(A PI is a value from 0 to 200 that is assigned to an accountability group, indicating how that group performed on a required State test (or approved alternative)) greater than or equal to the EAMO or Safe Harbor Target for Secondary ELA Performance was African American Males which happens to be the group with the highest classification rate.

The resistance to change the focus of education so that it concentrates on the gifts and talents of every child is because districts receive three times more money to educate a “disabled” child. As well, a classified child can remain in the system two or more years longer than the average Gen Ed student.

It is time we stop using our children to fund an inefficient and ineffective system of education that produces nothing but failure.

Join the Movement to Save Our Children!