Special Education
Laws & News
Across the States
AZ: Bill aims to improve Arizona’s complaint process for students with disabilities
Arizona Capitol Times
As the federal office investigating and resolving discrimination cases involving students with disabilities dissolves, advocates are turning to the Legislature to bolster and peer deeper into the state complaint system. The Office of Civil Rights, housed in the U.S. Department of Education, previously stood as advocates’ first recommended stop for students with disabilities denied a free appropriate public education. But in the past year, the Trump administration halved the office’s staff and closed more than half of its regional offices, leaving the vast majority of complaints either dismissed or unresolved.
Arizona is required by federal law to offer a state-level complaint system, too. But advocates say the mechanism in place now falls short, leading to a push to require the Arizona Department of Education to offer greater assistance to parents navigating the process and to publicly report the outcomes of prior and ongoing investigations.
“How well is this system working in Arizona?” Karla Philip-Krivickas, chief policy and strategy officer for Champions for Kids, said. “Well, we don’t know.”
DC: DC judge allows lawsuit over special education bus service to move forward
WUSA
A D.C. Superior Court judge has ruled that a class-action lawsuit accusing the District of failing to provide reliable transportation for students with disabilities can move forward, marking a significant step in a case that has been ongoing for more than two years. The lawsuit was first filed in 2024 by six parents, including Elizabeth Daggett, who alleged that the District’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) failed to provide safe, reliable, and effective transportation to and from school for children with disabilities. The case has since expanded to include nearly 4,000 students.
FL: Lawsuit against Florida voucher funding organization seeks ‘reform’, attorney says
WUSF
The group of private school owners suing the organization in charge of handling half a million student vouchers in Florida are seeking amendments to improve the private school choice movement in Florida, their attorney said on Friday. This comes after state audits into the funding organization and Florida’s Department of Education revealed that funds disbursed to families through the organization, Step Up For Students, have been mismanaged and the program has been plagued with inconsistencies and accountability issues that have resulted in many cases of voucher payment delays — and frozen funds — to students and schools. At the press conference in Jacksonville, the schools’ attorney, Lamont Carter, explained the reason for the lawsuit against Step Up For Students. “We’re pushing for transparency, accountability, standard operating procedures and sound fiduciary responsibility,” he told media. “It’s not only monetary… we’re, once again, looking for reform.”
IA: Iowa house panel votes to require cameras in special education classrooms
kcrg
In their final meeting before the first deadline of the 2026 legislative session, the House Education Committee moved forward with measures on Wednesday requiring cameras to be installed in special education classrooms and allowing firearms on school premises, among other topics. House File 2218, approved in a 14-9 vote, would require public and charter schools install video recording systems in each special education classroom at school facilities. The bill requires these systems and recordings created “must be consistent” with state and federal privacy laws, and states the cost of installing these would be paid for by school districts from state School Foundation Aid.
MI: Vitti wants change to special education certification in Michigan
Bridge Detroit
As the Detroit school district continues to experience special education teacher shortages, its superintendent is proposing ways for more teachers to enter the field. Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of Detroit Public Schools Community District, said due to the increase in children being diagnosed with autism statewide, he wants the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) to expand access to special education programs and offer incentives to bring in more people to the profession. “That’s the challenge we’re facing here (in DPSCD), but this is a statewide challenge,” Vitti said during a school board meeting last month. “There’s just so few teachers that are generally going into the profession, but especially special
TX: Mother of special needs child reports challenges getting paperwork for $30,000 school voucher
CBS Texas
Applications are open for families wanting to apply for the Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA), but some students with special needs are having difficulty getting a new Individualized Education Program (IEP) to receive the largest voucher. Students with special needs are eligible for a voucher up to $30,000. Per TEFA guidelines, whether the student is already a private school attendee or making the switch, they must obtain a new IEP from a local public school district. Many districts across the state already have a backlog of IEPs they are working on for public school students. Add in private school students needing new IEPS for vouchers, and some parents say it’s created a headache. There are concerns that IEPs will not be completed by the March 17 deadline for TEFA applications. If an IEP is not completed in time, families will not be able to obtain the full $30,000 voucher.
TX: As charters grow, HISD serves more students with disabilities
Houston Chronicle
Charter schools now account for one-third of public campuses in Houston ISD’s boundaries, a new report shows, contributing to the rapidly declining enrollment that is prompting officials to call for the closure of a dozen HISD campuses. Additionally, HISD has been left with a higher share of students with costly special education needs, straining the district’s finances, according to the report by the Texas Education Leadership Lab at the University of Texas at Austin.
NM: New Mexico lawmakers debate bills on special education, student restraint
Santa Fe New Mexican
New Mexico lawmakers are taking another pass at two measures that have stalled in previous years but that, supporters say, are critical to protecting vulnerable children and fixing the state’s special education system. Senate Bill 64 would formally codify the Office of Special Education in state statute, embedding it within the Public Education Department and centralizing oversight of special education services statewide. And House Bill 120 would more tightly regulate the use of restraint and seclusion in schools — emergency interventions used when a student’s behavior presents what staff determine to be imminent physical danger to the student or others. Such restraints are most frequently used on special education students. The two bills have passed the Senate and House, respectively, and are working their way through committees in the other chamber.
TX: Austin ISD Exits State Oversight of Special Education Services
Austin Today
After three years of state oversight, Austin Independent School District has regained control of its special education services. The Texas Education Agency had stepped in after an investigation revealed non-compliance with state mandates and a backlog of over 600 special education evaluations. To exit state oversight, AISD completed thousands of evaluations, established district-wide standards, and hosted family engagement sessions.
AZ: Voters could have say on reforms for controversial ESA program
ABC15
Several education groups and advocates have come together through a coalition and filed a petition to put reforms on the state’s controversial Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program, or ESA. ESA advocates say these reforms are unnecessary, feeling like the program is already transparent and accountable. Since the program became universal in 2022, criticisms have followed, some saying that the program is unaccounted for and is ripe with fraud. Several