Financing Educational Services for Special Populations: The State and Federal Roles. Working Paper in Education Finance No. 28.

Introducing this paper is a discussion of the trend during the 1960s and 1970s toward greater state and federal involvement both in financing and in developing programs for special pupil populations. The authors then summarize, as of the 1980 fiscal year, the state and federal roles in programs for the handicapped and in bilingual and compensatory education. The number of students served and the level of funding are noted. The information is presented for the purpose of developing policies to streamline the various programs administratively and making concrete suggestions as to the need for program and fiscal changes at both the state and federal levels. The authors argue that a full range of programs for special pupil populations is a matter of good human services policy and should be seen as an element of good education policy at both the state and federal levels. They argue further that a great deal of attention needs to be given to streamlining special programs at each level and across levels of government. The future issue is how all these programs merge at the classroom level and what is the best set of strategies for providing special services along with regular classroom educational services. (Author/IRT)