Spending More, Serving Less: The High Cost of Private Equity in Special Education

The West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) has significantly increased its spending on outside contractors, with $14 million paid to three private equity-owned firms in 2024-2025, which the report argues undermines the stability and quality of support for students with disabilities.

• Spending on outside vendors and contractors in the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) more than doubled between the 2019-2020 and 2024-2025 school years, rising from $59 million to $117 million, and increasing as a share of overall district spending from 16% to 23%.
• In the 2024-2025 school year, WCCUSD spent over $14 million on three private equity-owned contractors: The Stepping Stones Group (owned by Leonard Green & Partners), ProCare, and Sunbelt Staffing (both owned by Vistria Group).
• The report estimates that using school district employees instead of the three mentioned private equity contractors in 2024-2025 would have saved nearly six million dollars, an amount that could have funded over 200 permanent Special Education employees.

APA

Private Equity Stakeholder Project (2025). Spending More, Serving Less: The High Cost of Private Equity in Special Education. https://pestakeholder.org/reports/spending-more-serving-less-the-high-cost-of-private-equity-in-special-education/

Chicago

Private Equity Stakeholder Project. Spending More, Serving Less: The High Cost of Private Equity in Special Education. 2025. https://pestakeholder.org/reports/spending-more-serving-less-the-high-cost-of-private-equity-in-special-education/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Private Equity Stakeholder Project |title=Spending More, Serving Less: The High Cost of Private Equity in Special Education |date=18 November 2025 |url=https://pestakeholder.org/reports/spending-more-serving-less-the-high-cost-of-private-equity-in-special-education/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{privateequitystakeholderproject2025spending, author = {{Private Equity Stakeholder Project}}, title = {{Spending More, Serving Less: The High Cost of Private Equity in Special Education}}, institution = {Private Equity Stakeholder Project}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://pestakeholder.org/reports/spending-more-serving-less-the-high-cost-of-private-equity-in-special-education/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }