Special Education

AMSD Believes

• Special education services provided by Minnesota’s public schools are critical to the education and quality of life of students with special needs.
• The reductions in children’s mental health services provided by the State and Counties have created a system where public schools are the frontline of children’s mental health services.
• A growing number of students are coming to school with increasingly complex special education disabilities and extraordinary mental health needs.
• State special education funding and policy must ensure a safe learning environment for both students and staff.
• Minnesota schools have been leaders in providing extracurricular opportunities to special education students outside of special education funding.

AMSD Position

At a minimum, the Governor and the Legislature shoud increase special education funding to a level sufficient to prevent the cross-subsidy from growing in the next biennium and develop and implement a plan to close the cross-subsidy in five years.