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 $26,505.91 and $53,011.82 (Category 2), between $53,011.83 and $79,517.74 (Category 3A), and over $79,517.74 (Category 3B) for the prior school year. 

    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 178 charter schools submitted expenditure data for fiscal year 2019-2020.

    In fiscal year 2019-2020, a total of 307,827 students received special education. The table below includes comparsion FY 2018-2019 and FY 2019-2020 data for students with disabilities for which expenditures exceeded $26,505.90 per student.

    Category

    Cost Range

    FY 2018-19

    # of Eligible

    Children

    FY 2019-20

    # of Eligible

    Children

    Increase/

    Decrease

    2

    $26,505.91-$53,011.82

    23,449

    23,880

    431

    3A

    $53,011.83-$79,517.74

    6,864

    6,703

    (161)

    3B

    Over $79,517.74

    3,225

    3,094

    (131)

     100% of charter schools reported in 2019-2020.

    The table below shows the total number of charter school students in each expenditure category. The School District of Pittsburgh pays charter schools $42,851.39 for each special education student. This table exemplifies the vast disparity between the monies charter schools recieve to educate these students and the amount charter schools actually spend educating these students. 

     

    Charter School

    Total

    #Special Education

    Students

    $26,509 - $53,012

    $53,012 - $79518

    OVER $79,518

    City Charter

    130

    12

    *

    *

    Environmental

    127

    16

    *

    *

    Manchester Academic

    52

    *

    *

    *

    Passport Academy

    52

    *

    *

    *

    Propel – Hazelwood

    42

    11

    *

    *

    Propel – Northside

    77

    11

    *

    *

    Provident

    190

    159

    *

    *

    The New Academy

    73

    *

    *

    *

    Urban Academy

    35

    *

    *

    *

    Urban Pathways 6-12

    59

    *

    *

    *

    Urban Pathways K-5

    79

    *

    *

    *