SD Unified Legislative Priorities for New Year Put Focus on Reforming Special Education

Board of Education Passed Resolution for Disability Awareness Month Ahead of Outlining a New Effort to Fight for more Special Education Funding as Part its Legislative Agenda

SAN DIEGO (DECEMBER 10, 2025) - San Diego Unified School District's legislative priorities in the New Year (2026) will focus on the push to advocate for fully funding special education amongst the eight priorities areas. The Board of Education on Wednesday night unanimously approved the district's legislative priorities 2026.

"We have a variety of needs that we must advocate for at the State and Federal levels, but the greatest of them all right now is drumming up support to fully fund special education," said Superintendent Fabi Bagula, Ph.D., San Diego Unified School District. "This challenge extends far beyond San Diego. The chronic underfunding of special education is a nationwide issue and districts across the country. We will work to ensure our efforts generate ongoing financial support."

Along those lines, it's important to point out the Board of Education on Wednesday also passed a resolutionintroduced by Trustees Shana Hazan and Sharon Whitehurst-Payne recognizing December as Disability Awareness Month, which comes on the heels of Superintendent Bagula and a coalition of special education advocates announcing on Tuesday a multipoint strategy to fight for more funding and fix systemic special education challenges (View the announcement at this link).

Trustee Hazan said,"Fifty years after the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was passed, the promise our nation made to children with disabilities remains unfulfilled. Every day, we see students' needs growing while the systems meant to support them are stretched beyond what current funding allows. Disability Awareness Month is more than a recognition - it's a call to action. If state and federal leaders are serious about supporting children with disabilities, they must finally step up and fully fund special education. Every student, in every school, deserves nothing less than the opportunity to reach their full potential."

With regards to Special Education, San Diego Unified will advocate for the state of California to make Investments in behavioral health supports and early interventions; and Federal advocacy will include working to secure increases in Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding.

Special Education services cost San Diego Unified more than $400 million annually. Yet, the school district only receives about $125 million from state, federal, and local sources. The remaining $275+ million must come from the district's general fund. This is not sustainable.

Other areas of state and federal advocacy San Diego Unified will pursue in 2026 include:

Strengthen Equity-Focused Investments

• Adequately fund the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) cost-of-living adjustment.
• Strengthen the LCFF formula to more equitably reflect student needs

  Prioritize Student Safety

• Seek local, state, and federal funding and collaboration to ensure students are safe en route to school and on campus, so they can focus on learning.
• Physical safety is a prerequisite for students to learn and thrive at school

Support Success of English Learners

• Support policies that remove barriers to reclassification for English Learners.
• Advance policies to ensure English Learners have equitable access to an enriching, meaningful, and choice-filled high school experience.

Support Military-Connected Students

• Increase federal Impact Aid funding to support military-connected students.
• San Diego Unified receives ~10% of the Impact Aid funding it would be entitled to if the program was fully funded.

Protect Federal Title Programs

• Preserve Title I and Title III which support low income, English Learners, and immigrant students.

Maintain Education Programs at Federal Department of Education

• Only the Department of Education has the technical expertise and experience to successfully administer education programs in order to provide stability, funding, and resources to school districts, educators, students, and families.