Special Needs Schools Suffer Funding Cut

A piece from the Guardian shows that across the pond, government funding for special needs programs is just as big a problem.

LONDON -- More than 20 schools for children with special needs have suffered a £1m cut in government funding, which will lead to cutbacks in provision, affecting services such as translating books into braille and helping children with disruptive behaviour.

The cut affects private special schools that received money for programmes involving children at state schools.

The schools affected have suffered individual cuts ranging from £45,000 to £145,000. They include the West of England school and college in Exeter, which caters for pupils with visual impairment, and St Vincent's school in Liverpool, a specialist school for children with sensory impairment.

Claire Dorer, chief executive of the National Association of Independent Schools and Non-Maintained Special Schools (NASS), said that in terms of overall education funding, the £1m cut was a "drop in the ocean" for the Department of Education.

The cut follows a government decision to integrate cash for special schools into the mainstream school funding grant.