For decades, special education funding in Idaho and across the United States has been in crisis. The number of learners requiring special education services continues to grow, and the complexity of those needs is increasing as well. Funding special education is not optional. We now ask that this partnership extend beyond our classrooms and into the statehouses and congressional halls where special education funding decisions are made. Janelle Harris is the Director of Special Services for Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25 and a former special education teacher and school administrator with more than two decades of experience in public education.