Cutting professional development and assistive technology, freezing open positions, and shifting money from general education are among the ways that districts are coping with the $600 million that across-the-board federal spending cuts known as sequestration have carved out of the nationwide budget for special education so far.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that don't allow dramatic reductions in special education funding, other educational programs eventually could bear a heavier weight from the reduction in federal support, setting up what could be seen as a damaging competition for resources.

Over the past two decades the growth in means-tested welfare spending (292%) has outpaced the combined growth of Medicare and Social Security spending (213%) as well as the growth in education (143%) and defense spending (126%). The Welfare Reform Act of 2011 would save $2.43 trillion by 2021 by gradually reducing the costs of the 77 existing welfare programs as unemployment decreases.