Note: ...and today? Your children....

We are well past the canary in the coalmine stage. The frog in the pot is well and truly cooked. As children in first world nations fall further behind their parents' and grandparents' generation and plummet into Special Education, the demographics for the future are rapidly shifting.  This article below confirms Anne Dachel's post about the skyrocketing expulsions in the UK.

From the Irish Times. Read the full article here.

A sharp increase in the numbers of school pupils diagnosed with autism since 2011 is among the factors that has led to a huge jump in the budget for special needs education, according to a Government report.

The report has prompted alarm about the rising costs in Government. A spending review carried out by the Department of Public Expenditure published yesterday finds that spending on special educational needs now accounts for almost one-fifth of the total education budget.

Spending on special education has grown by almost half a billion euros since 2011, a rise of 38 per cent. In the period since 2004, spending on the area has grown by 260 per cent. Special needs education now costs the exchequer more than third-level education.

Almost 90 per cent of special education funding goes on pay for teachers and special needs assistants.

Concerns about the costs and efficiency of the special needs assistants (SNAs) scheme have prompted the department to order a comprehensive review of the scheme, which is due to be completed next year. The number of SNAs has grown from 2,988 in 2001 to more than 13,000, an increase of 336 per cent. Expenditure on the scheme has grown by almost 1,300 per cent.

The increase in costs of the SNA scheme has been driven by a huge jump in the numbers of pupils being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Between 2011 and 2016, the numbers of pupils presenting to schools with a diagnosis of ASD has increased by 83 per cent, the report says.

• Extra 975 special needs assistants to be hired by September
• Over 2,400 children waiting for child mental health services
• Concerns over the ‘huge’ numbers of suspensions of school boys

“This is driving almost all of the increase in the number of pupils in special classes, in special schools and 50 per cent of the increase in mainstream classes. SNA support for children with ASD tends to be primarily around behaviour or communication,” the report finds.

There have also been significant increases in the numbers of students accessing other supports for children with special needs.... Read more here.