K-12 Dive Arizona’s ESA program launched in the 2011-12 school year with 144 students, and over the next few years, it served mostly targeted populations such as students with disabilities. In 2022-23, the program opened up to all students. ESAs provide K-12 families...
In the News
CA: Opinion | CA lifeline for youngsters with special needs is in danger
Cal Matters When my daughter’s development stalled and then regressed, her bright personality dimmed. Doctors said to wait. But as a clinician I suspected she needed urgent help — the kind that Early Start, California’s early intervention program, provides....
GA: ‘Students like Theo shouldn’t fall through the crack’: Parent propose a law to mandate inclusive graduation for students with disabilities
2020 was a significant year for millions of graduating high school seniors, as some schools right here in South Georgia hosted drive-thru, socially distanced, or virtual ceremonies, while others did not even have a ceremony. But one family remembers that time as a...
LA: Federal oversight of special education in New Orleans could soon end
Louisiana Illuminator A decade of court oversight of special education services in New Orleans public schools, the result of a legal settlement, will most likely cease by the end of the year, the judge presiding over the legal settlement said Wednesday. The decision,...
TN: LGBTQ+, disabled students face exclusion from private schools
Nashville Banner More than 170 of the 241 Tennessee private schools eligible to receive state-funded vouchers in the first year of the Education Freedom Scholarship program have a publicly listed admission inclusion policy. Many of the schools post a version of this...
Congressional Democrats Decry Dismantling of Disability Labor Protections
A coalition of 56 Democratic lawmakers, led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Reps Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Lateefah Simon (D-CA), sent a letter to Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer condemning what they describe as the “most...
WH Issues EO to Modernize Foster Care System
The White House (WH) has issued an executive order (EO) titled Fostering the Future for American Children and Families. The EO directs federal agencies to modernize the child welfare system and expand support for young people in or leaving foster care. It tasks the...
Special education: Department of Education cuts are leaving kids with disabilities behind
Slate When reduction-in-force notices went out to hundreds of Department of Education employees as part of the shutdown, more than 100 of these DOE workers were part of the team that oversaw special ed around the country. They ensured resources got distributed...
Federal special education staff may get their jobs back. But for how long?
OPB The deal Congress reached to re-open the federal government requires the Trump administration to reinstate federal workers who were fired in October, including those charged with overseeing the nation’s special education laws. But it’s not clear how long they’ll...
