The economic analysis of a policy is used to assess the macroeconomic and microeconomic ramifications of the policy and analyze the opportunity costs. The macroeconomic view of the policy is how it affects the economy as a whole, including output, income, inflation, and unemployment. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) would mostly affect the economy through unemployment. One of the purposes of IDEA is to help students transition out of school and successfully find employment. If IDEA did not exist disabled students would not be provided with sufficient resources to be able to successfully transfer out of high school and into post-secondary institutions or the workforce. Students with disabilities who do have access to these
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Currently, 12.9 percent of students are enrolled in federally funded special education programs and the disabled make up 10.7 percent of the unemployment rate (National Center for Education Statistics, 2014; The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). In contrast, the microeconomic view focuses on how the policy affects the behavior of individuals, firms, and markets. From a microeconomist viewpoint, policies are created with the assumption that people will behave in a way that results in the greatest benefit and the lowest cost to them. The opportunity cost of a policy consists of all the outcomes or benefits that must be sacrificed if that particular policy is adopted, rather than an alternative policy. For example, there is the argument that if more money and emphasis were placed on early interventions of toddlers and young children with disabilities, then they would require less help from specialized education programs when they were …show more content…
Stakeholders are the most influential in creating and voicing their opinions about the policy. Stakeholders in special education are anyone who is invested in the welfare and success of a school and its students; this would include administrators, teachers, staff members, students, parents, community members, and elected officials such as school board members, city councilors, and state representatives. Major stakeholders as listed on the Cooperative Educational Service Agency 7 website involved with IDEA are: the National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of Protection & Advocacy Systems, Council for Exceptional Children, and National School Boards Association (http://www.cesa7.org). Stakeholders define and publicize the policy in ways that will further their agenda. The supporters of IDEA believe that the policy has positively changed the way children with disabilities receive an education. Conversely, the opponents of IDEA support the policy’s overall goal, but they feel like a reform is necessary. They believe that the definitions of services are too vague. The broad language of the policy allows for many different interpretations of how the services should be carried out, which results in everyone having their own solutions for solving the same problems. For example, Lusk (2015) writes in her
Currently, 12.9 percent of students are enrolled in federally funded special education programs and the disabled make up 10.7 percent of the unemployment rate (National Center for Education Statistics, 2014; The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). In contrast, the microeconomic view focuses on how the policy affects the behavior of individuals, firms, and markets. From a microeconomist viewpoint, policies are created with the assumption that people will behave in a way that results in the greatest benefit and the lowest cost to them. The opportunity cost of a policy consists of all the outcomes or benefits that must be sacrificed if that particular policy is adopted, rather than an alternative policy. For example, there is the argument that if more money and emphasis were placed on early interventions of toddlers and young children with disabilities, then they would require less help from specialized education programs when they were …show more content…
Stakeholders are the most influential in creating and voicing their opinions about the policy. Stakeholders in special education are anyone who is invested in the welfare and success of a school and its students; this would include administrators, teachers, staff members, students, parents, community members, and elected officials such as school board members, city councilors, and state representatives. Major stakeholders as listed on the Cooperative Educational Service Agency 7 website involved with IDEA are: the National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of Protection & Advocacy Systems, Council for Exceptional Children, and National School Boards Association (http://www.cesa7.org). Stakeholders define and publicize the policy in ways that will further their agenda. The supporters of IDEA believe that the policy has positively changed the way children with disabilities receive an education. Conversely, the opponents of IDEA support the policy’s overall goal, but they feel like a reform is necessary. They believe that the definitions of services are too vague. The broad language of the policy allows for many different interpretations of how the services should be carried out, which results in everyone having their own solutions for solving the same problems. For example, Lusk (2015) writes in her