The administrative court handling the special education funding case dismissed the complaint, favoring the defendants for having no clear evidence of their negligence.
Special education funding complainants
June 26, 2019, three families filed a High court challenge with regards to the government’s funding for children with special education needs and disabilities. The complainants are arguing that school councils in England are not fulfilling their legal duties to provide the needs of special education students.
Lorraine Heugh, mother of 15-year-old Nico who has autism shared her reason behind filing the complaint;
No longer can we stand by and watch our children be neglected and denied the support that they deserve.
This is about or children’s legal rights and we must make a move so it won’t be taken away from them.
Mary Riddell, the mother of 9-year-old Dakota, shared her struggles;
My child has cerebral palsy, I had to fight for every piece of support I can get to help sustain my child’s needs.
Nothing prepares you at situations like this, the fight is real, exhausting and mind boggling.
Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and chronic insomnia
Benedict McFiggan, a 14-year-old from Scarborough, North Yorkshire also experienced the struggle in gaining access for mental health support. The boy is experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and chronic insomnia.
The court ruling inflicted disappointment to the complainants and their supporting parties. Disappointed families ushered out their sentiments on the court ruling:
– We will continue to fight for what we believe and what our children deserve
– On behalf of the parents and to those who supported us, we offer our sincerest thanks for believing
– Families and supporters are disappointed with the court ruling, but nonetheless, we are still thankful to the court for hearing the case. We’ll just have to come up with a more soild case next time for us to have a chance on winning the complaint.
Analysis of the lack of budget in special education
A Department of Education official said.
The government’s ambition for children with special needs and disabilities are treated equally. We are always looking forward to their successes in life.
Since 2014, there were a lot of changes that have been made in special education funding. One factor that the education program has not taken into consideration is the rise in the number of dependents. Due to the improvements made on the special education funding program, more families came out and applied for assistance.
In order to cope up with the drastic increase in applications with a limited budget, the department decided to assign prioritization based on the severity of the cases.
The government has been investing a significant fund in more complex special education cases – funds given summed up to £6.3 billion this year.
