A Cost-Based Approach to the Funding of Educational Programs: An Application to Special Education

The paper reviews state categorical funding programs to serve special need populations among school age children (including handicapped, educationally disadvantaged, bilingual, and vocational education students); examines the literature on costs of categorical programs; and presents an alternative framework for addressing the problem. A cost based funding approach is advocated which would provide equal access to educational resources across local districts serving similar student populations. The model also makes provisions for systematic differences in access to resources to districts serving special populations. It is explained as an approach which gives policy makers a basis to examine cost savings in trade offs among resources and programs. Applications of the resource cost model are presented along with a section on the step by step process of constructing a cost estimate in a hypothetical school district. A final section addresses equity and efficiency issues of the model. (CL)