Bay Cove Academy Joins Drive to Benefit Children with Special Needs

On January 13, Bay Cove Academy in Brookline, joined the “All Kids Count” Campaign. The campaign is a new effort aimed at equalizing funding for special needs schools and to restore a special education account known as the “circuit breaker.” 

The campaign shows that there are large discrepancies between the amount of funding provided to state approved special education schools and public schools. The drive also hopes to raise awareness of and restore the circuit breaker account. The account helps local school districts pay for out of pocket special education expenses.

 According to members of the campaign, general education received triple stimulus funds this year and was only cut 2.5 percent. Special education monies were cut by 42 percent. The unequal cuts and disparities in funding deny some students the right to “equal education,” according to James Major, the Executive Director of maaps, the non-profit organization which represents the private special needs schools.

As part of All Kids Count, and to raise awareness of the need for an increase in funding, maaps and its members plan to hold a series of regional legislative meetings across the state.  The meetings will allow maaps’ staff, member schools and parents, to meet with their state senators and representatives to discuss boosting special education funding.