House wising up on special-ed funding

The House Finance Committee has followed the wisest course in providing $70 million for special-education services.

The bottom line here is that inclusion of these funds in the state budget should appease federal Judge David Ezra, who had threatened to take over part or all of the public education system if the state didn't move to comply with the soöcalled Felix consent decree.

The appropriation, assuming it survives a House-Senate conference, will avert what a state official called a "catastrophic situation" in which both the Department of Education and the Department of Health had run out of money for Felix services and were using money earmarked for other purposes. It was a sure way to make Judge Ezra see red.

to be sure, House members were in a difficult situation. It was becoming clear that huge problems are cropping up with Felix spending, which has increased enormously in the last couple of years. The state auditor has indicated, for instance, that even the most basic standards for approval of services do not yet exist.

House members are duty-bound to insist on aggressive monitoring of this spending. It's a monumental burden on our state in the best of circumstances; it's tragic and criminal if much of this money is wasted or misapplied.

But all bets would have been off had Judge Ezra stepped in. Indications are that he might step up spending even more if he thinks the state hasn't been generous enough. We must satisfy him first on the question of compliance with federal law, and then hasten to improve efficiency and fairness of spending.