Details about this story

• Source: Washington Post
• Date: June 05, 2006
• URL: Read the story
• Bylines: V. Dion Haynes , Dan Keating
• Topics: Education
• Data Types: Local Data
• Description/Excerpt: The District spent $118 million last year on the tuition of special education students attending private schools, an expense that has increased 65 percent since 2000, and officials have covered the rising costs by transferring tens of millions of dollars a year from public school programs, records show. The huge expenditures have become a major financial drain on a troubled school system that has cut programs and struggled to keep classrooms supplied. Although the 2,283 students sent to private facilities represent 4 percent of the system's enrollment, they are consuming 15 percent of its budget.