According to Voice of San Diego, students in special education programs currently make up nearly 20% of all students across San Diego County — a significantly higher figure than a decade ago. If this trend continues, forecasts suggest that by 2035, this percentage could reach 25%. This is not merely a budget question for school districts — it represents a structural shift directly affecting Vietnamese-American families in Southern California.
When school district budgets tighten and the number of students needing specialized services continues to grow, the silence of parents in school board meetings comes at the highest price that can be paid.
Financial Mechanisms: Who Pays the Price?
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), enacted in 1975, requires school districts to ensure that all children have access to appropriate and free education, regardless of disability status. The problem lies in how state and federal budgets are calculated: per-pupil funding. When total student enrollment declines, funding decreases — but the legal obligation to serve students with disabilities does not.
At La Mesa Spring Valley School District, the number of students with disabilities increased from 1,424 to 2,225 between 2015 and 2025, even as overall district enrollment declined significantly. At South Bay Union School District, the proportion of students with disabilities nearly doubled during the same period, reaching close to one-quarter of total enrollment. When per-pupil costs rise while revenue shrinks, school districts face a financial squeeze with no easy way out.
Why Are Students with Disabilities Increasing?
There is no single cause. Educators point to three converging trends: first, the definition of certain disabilities has broadened, bringing more children within the criteria; second, the long-term mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children; and third — particularly important for the Vietnamese-American community — the decline in social stigma surrounding disability diagnosis. In the past, many immigrant families avoided these labels due to concerns about their children's future prospects. Today, both schools and society encourage early identification.
The flip side is a warning that educators are increasingly concerned about: some children may be incorrectly placed in special education. This raises an important question for Vietnamese-American parents — not whether to accept or reject this label, but how to actively and informedly participate in the evaluation process.
What Vietnamese-American Parents Need to Know Today
This is where the Vietnamese-American community in Southern California faces a dual challenge. On one hand, language and cultural barriers prevent many families from understanding their rights under IDEA — including the right to request an independent evaluation, the right to attend Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings, and the right to dispute school district decisions. On the other hand, when school district budgets tighten, the quality and scope of services can be subtly cut — fewer hours of speech therapy, fewer mental health specialists, fewer classroom options.
Data from Governing confirms that the proportion of students with disabilities near 20% is a district-wide figure, not an anomaly in a few schools. This means any parent with a child attending public schools in San Diego County — from areas like Garden Grove and Westminster to Chula Vista — could be directly affected.
What to Watch Going Forward
The financial crisis facing school districts will force education boards to make difficult decisions in coming school years: which programs to cut, how to allocate resources, and whether to seek additional funding from the state. For the Vietnamese-American community, silence in school board meetings comes at the highest price. Parents have the right — and good reason — to show up, ask questions in English or through an interpreter, and demand transparency about how school districts plan to maintain the quality of special education services in an increasingly constrained budget environment.
Read the original reports at the source links below.