State policymakers attempting to bring down school costs should change or refine class-size mandates and other requirements and more closely scrutinize how money is spent on special education, a report recommends. Education Resource Strategies, a nonprofit organization based in Watertown, Mass., published the report.
It argues that state mandates should be reworked to focus class-size limits on classes where there is the greatest academic need, and that states and school districts should re-examine special education policies, particularly those that allow students with special needs to attend schools of their choice, regardless of whether schools have the resources to serve them.