Act 16

ACT 16 OF 2000

  • Act 16 of 2000 (Act 16), in part, amended section 1372 of the Publc School Code of 1949 and requires the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) to annually compile information listing the number of students with disabilities for which expenditures are between $27,303.08 and $54,606.16 (Category 2), between $54,606.17 and $81,909.25  (Category 3A), and over $81,909.25 (Category 3B) for the prior school year.

    Act 55 of 2022 (Act 55) further amended section 1372 to require PDE include in the February 2023 report the number of students with disabilities for which expenditures are under $5,000 (Category 1A) and between $5,000 and $27,303.07 (Category 1B) for the prior school year. 

    Data submitted by charter school via the Pennsylvania Information Management System (PIMS) was used to generate the Legislative Report.

    The data reported by the school districts and charter schools are each entiity's assessment of the individual cost of the delivery of special education services to each child in each category.

    All 500 school districts and 176 charter schools submitted expenditure data for fiscal year 2021-2022.

    In fiscal year (FY) 2021-2022, a total of 313,446 students received special education. The table below includes comparsion FY 2020-2021 and FY 2021-2022 data for students with disabilities.

    Category

    Cost Range

    FY 2020-21

    # of Eligible

    Children

    FY 2021-22

    # of Eligible 

    Children

    Change

    1A

    $1.00 - $4,999.99

    Not Reported

    74,844

    74,844

    1B

    $5,000 - $27,303.07

    Not Reported

    255,759

    255,759

    2

    $27,303.08 - $54,606.16

    23,207

    24,401

    1,194

    3A

    $54,606.17 - $81,909.25

    6,673

    7,257

    584

    3B

    Over $81,909.25

    2,776

    3,333

    557

     100% of charter schools reported in 2021-2022.

    The table below shows the total number of charter school students in each expenditure category. The School District of Pittsburgh paid charter schools $42,569.95 for each special education student in 2021-2022. This table exemplifies the vast disparity between the monies charter schools receive to educate these students and the amount charter schools actually spend educating these students. 

     

    Charter School

    Total # Special Education Students

    Under $5,000

    $5,000  -  $27,303

    $27,303 - $54,606

    $54,606 - $81,909

    OVER $81,909

    Catalyst Academy

    19

    *

    *

    *

    *

    *

    City Charter

    114

    *

    120

    11

    *

    *

    Environmental

    153

    *

    171

    13

    11

    *

    Manchester Academic

    50

    25

    29

    *

    *

    *

    Passport Academy

    30

    *

    54

    *

    *

    *

    Propel – Hazelwood

    43

    13

    31

    21

    *

    *

    Propel – Northside

    82

    *

    60

    30

    *

    *

    Provident

    212

    *

    38

    192

    *

    *

    The New Academy

    34

    *

    47

    *

    *

    *

    Urban Academy

    43

    *

    60

    *

    *

    *

    Urban Pathways 6-12

    82

    23

    64

    *

    *

    *

    Urban Pathways K-5

    66

    70

    *

    *

    *

    *

    * - 10 or Less Students Reported