Reach out to your legislators: Fill the special education funding gap

By WASBO Research Director Anne Chapman • Published February 2, 2026

During the 2025-27 budget process, K-12 leaders, including WASBO and many of our members, were united in naming the number one state budget priority for public schools – special education funding. The final budget included funding increases that were projected to bring the special education aid reimbursement rate up from 31% to 42% in 2025-26 and 45% in 2026-27.

However, because special education continues to be funded using a fixed dollar amount (rather than a guaranteed reimbursement rate), the actual available funding to pay for mandated services for students with disabilities is projected to cover 35% of eligible costs, significantly short of the budget’s stated reimbursement rates. (Note: Estimates of the 2025-26 reimbursement rate may vary from 35% to perhaps as high as 38%, depending on final eligible costs incurred in 2024-25. The final reimbursement rate will be determined in June 2026).

Using the most recent available data and assuming yearly cost increases of 8% based on prior year trends, WASBO practitioners have estimated the dollar amount of the gap between prorated reimbursement at 35% and the reimbursement rates adopted in the 2025-27 state budget to be:

• $69.8 million in 2025-26 to reach 42% reimbursement
• $114.3 million in 2026-27 to reach 45% reimbursement

The total, $184.1 million over the course of the biennium, is the estimated amount of funding that would be needed to fill that gap for all school districts statewide.

Earlier this month, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau updated its projections on the state’s general fund to close the biennium with a balance of $2.37 billion, $1.53 billion higher than estimates of the state surplus when the 2025-27 budget was enacted.

The $184.1 million needed to fill the 2025-27 special education funding gap represents 7.8% of the updated state surplus.

With a few short weeks left of the legislative session, now is the time to reach out to your legislators, school board members, local media, and communities to explain what filling this special education funding gap would mean for your district’s ability to serve your students and community.

We hope this information is helpful to your efforts to inform your school boards and lawmakers. Thank you for your commitment to your district’s students and for your efforts to advocate for them at this critical moment. Please reach out to Anne Chapman at [email protected] with any questions.