The $30 Million Question: Where is SFUSD’s Special Education Support
SFUSD is bankrupt—financially and ethically.
How can $30 million disappear from Special Education without notice until a month into the school year? Let’s break it down and see how SFUSD got here.
In 1993, a dedicated group of parents pushed for real inclusion, forming an Inclusion Task Force. Through years of hard work, they created a model program, placing students with disabilities in general education classrooms, supported by paraeducators and Special Education teachers. By 2006, it served 500 students—genuine inclusion for some.
But as demand grew, SFUSD’s answer was to expand quickly, stretching resources dangerously thin. Then, when costs mounted, the district caved, negotiating a disastrous union contract in 2011 and slashing essential services in 2012.
What followed was nothing less than a systematic dismantling of Special Education. In just two years, SFUSD shut down 110 Special Day Classrooms, replacing them with resource specialists. This may have sort of worked, except enrollment exploded by 1,100 students between 2011 and 2019. Caseloads became unbearable, while students’ needs grew, and their support shrank to a trickle.
Then came another blow: SFUSD directed teachers to remove paraeducator support from IEP services, reclassifying it as an “accommodation.” Next, the district cut 70% of paraeducators—2,659 down to a mere 801. In one summer, SFUSD ripped out the backbone of inclusive education, throwing students with IEPs into general education classrooms with no support, a calculated move that amounted to abandonment.
From 2015 to 2019, turnover tore through Special Education, burning through 685 new teachers to cover just 477 positions. That's a turnover of 25-35% per annum. By maxing out resource specialist caseloads, SFUSD made it clear it had no intention of honoring real inclusion—just filling quotas.
A survey with 172 Special Education teacher responses showed nearly 60% couldn’t meet the IEP service minutes their students were entitled to. Representatives from Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF), University of California at Berkeley, San Francisco State University (SFSU), and California State University (CSU) East Bay all condemned SFUSD’s violation of rights in 2020. For students, this is the grim reality of a system obsessed with cost-cutting, where administrators boost “inclusion” numbers while turning their backs on actual support.
In 2021, the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) had to step in. This state-appointed watchdog now monitors SFUSD’s every move to prevent a full collapse. Meanwhile, the Mayor’s School Stabilization Team has been deployed to enforce “fiscal discipline” and support the clean-up of the mess left from years of mismanagement.
The latest SpEd budget request tried to secure $60 million to address these crises, covering overdue raises and crucial new positions. But Superintendent Matt Wayne and his team slashed this amount in half—only enough for raises, leaving nothing for the 200+ needed positions and ignoring the Community Advisory Committee’s full approval of the original budget.
The Community Advisory Committee (CAC) signed off on a budget with real provisions for raises and new positions, recognizing a new surge in Special Education enrollment due to mental health needs. But high-level cuts swept in, gutting the gains before they could start. Special Education remains in crisis, robbed of resources and support at every turn.
What would it take to fully fund Special Education? Let’s start that conversation in a follow-up column.
William Patterson
william.patterson.tutoring@gmail.com
About the Author:
William Patterson is a former Resource Specialist with SFUSD, member of the Community Advisory Committee for Special Education, and founder of William Patterson Tutoring, specializing in dyslexia support.