There's a big cost in education that nobody's talking about - extraordinary special education. Districts work hard to give kids with special needs the best education possible, and in many cases, they’re getting squeezed by the State to cover those costs while the revised school funding formula shrinks their budget.

When we deprive students with special needs of the funding they need to succeed, children across New Jersey are forced to struggle and compete for vital funding and resources.

When it’s clearly unfair to force local taxpayers to shoulder the costs for these expensive programs, it’s time for someone else to step in. That “someone” is the State of New Jersey - and it comes with the potential for millions of dollars in extraordinary special education funding.

If our state devotes a much heftier chunk of the budget to meeting the needs of children in special education programs, we can give straining school districts and their students a fighting chance to succeed.

Add your name to our petition below to tell New Jersey that #EveryKidCounts, and that no student's education should be held hostage to a lack of funds. Because when every child is given the chance to excel - when every kid knows that they matter - everyone succeeds.