One out of every eight students in Idaho receives special education services. That means somewhere between 1 in 4 families likely has a child with special needs. I am one of them. We have four children, and one of them receives extra support at school because of his special needs.

I am deeply grateful for our local schools and the teachers, aides and staff who work hard every day to care for every child. It is not perfect, and that is not their fault. They simply do not have the resources to do everything the law requires and everything they want to do as teachers.

The best outcomes happen when families, schools and communities work together. Parents know their children better than anyone else. They know what motivates them, what frustrates them and what routines help them succeed. Time at home can be just as important as time in the classroom.

That is why we should support parents. We should give families more tools, more flexibility, more training and more opportunities to help their children succeed. We should encourage partnerships with therapists, nonprofits, churches, mentors and private providers when those resources are available.

Home support can strengthen what schools are doing. It cannot replace what schools are required to do.

Not every family has the same capacity, resources, schedule, transportation, insurance coverage or ability to provide specialized support at home. Some parents work two jobs. Some live in rural areas with few providers. Some are already overwhelmed caring for immediate and extended family.

Public schools are still responsible for serving every child who walks through the door. That responsibility is not optional. When an Individual Education Plan, or 504 plan, is created together with the school and parents, it must be followed. It is required under federal law, Idaho law and our state Constitution. Federal law requires schools to provide students with disabilities a free appropriate public education. Idaho law requires school districts to provide instruction and training for children with disabilities. Our state Constitution says we are responsible for maintaining a general, uniform and thorough system of public education.

Students with disabilities are part of that promise.

Innovation matters. Private partnerships matter. Parent involvement matters. But none of those things eliminates the need for state involvement in a sustainable solution that must include enough trained staff to support our students.

Idaho’s special education teachers are doing everything they can, but they are stretched far too thin. Caseloads are too high. There are not enough aides, therapists, paraprofessionals, school psychologists, speech pathologists or behavioral specialists. Rural districts struggle to recruit and retain qualified people.

It is easy to say schools should simply be more creative or work harder. But imagine if a school had 50 students for every teacher. Most people would not say they just need to work harder. They would say they need more teachers.

Special education is no different.

Over the years, Idaho has repeatedly been found out of compliance with federal special education requirements. Families have filed complaints, districts have been investigated, and schools have been forced to provide corrective actions and compensatory services. Much of the paperwork teachers are asked to complete is not meaningless bureaucracy. It is how schools document services, protect students and comply with the law.

Bureaucracy can certainly be part of the problem. But Idaho also continues to ask schools to do more without giving them the resources they need.

Schools, parents and private providers can often work together effectively. When therapy, school instruction and home support are coordinated, students often make more progress. Schools should absolutely encourage more partnerships, more flexibility and more opportunities for parents to reinforce learning at home. But those partnerships still require teachers, therapists, aides, transportation, evaluations, training and coordination. They still require schools to have enough staff and enough time to participate in those partnerships. Innovation can improve outcomes, but it does not eliminate the need for adequate funding.

Idaho’s special education funding gap has been estimated between $80 million and $100 million. The federal government should be providing much more support than it currently does. I sponsored and wrote a joint memorial urging Congress to step up and properly fund special education. I also helped write and pass the High Needs Education Bill to provide more support to our schools, but it is not nearly enough.

Nearly every neighborhood, church congregation, school, workplace and extended family is impacted in some way. These are not somebody else’s children. They are our children, our grandchildren, our nieces, our nephews, our neighbors and our friends. Special education is not just helping a small group of students. We are strengthening families, schools, communities and the future of Idaho as a whole.

We can talk about parental involvement, school choice, home learning and private partnerships. Those are all important parts of the conversation, but we can’t ignore the proper role of government, under the Constitution and current laws, in supporting those charged with teaching our most vulnerable kids. To do so shows a lack of understanding of the issue.

Our students cannot wait for incremental change and don’t need more explanations of the challenges. They need a system that is responsive, accountable and adequately supported — now. The question isn’t whether we can do better. It’s whether we will.