Special Education
Laws & News
Across the States
WI: GOP legislators approve $220 million increase for special education, $1.3 billion in tax cuts
Wisconsin Examiner
After many delays, the Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee met Thursday evening to approve its plan for K-12 education spending that included a 5% increase to special education funding for schools and its $1.3 billion tax plan that targets retirees and middle-income earners. Lawmakers on the powerful budget-writing committee went back and forth for nearly three hours about the plans, with Republicans saying they made significant investments in education and would help Wisconsinites, while Democrats argued the state should do more for schools. The committee approved a total of about $336 million total in new general purpose revenue for Wisconsin’s K-12 schools, only about 10% of Gov. Tony Evers’ proposed $3.1 billion in new spending. Special education costs will receive the majority of the allocation, with an additional $220 million that to be split between the general special education reimbursement and a subset of high-cost special education services.
DE: Delaware school funding: Framework for new formula moves ahead
WHYY
The Public Education Funding Commission recently voted on a set of recommendations to change Delaware’s school funding formula, but big questions loom over what a new funding formula will look like and how much additional money, if any, state lawmakers are prepared to invest in the education system. Commissioners approved moving from a unit-based system to a hybrid model where funding would be weighted with additional money for students with higher needs using a block grant approach. The commission also recommended a three-to-five-year implementation plan, which considers additional revenue to support it. It would include a “hold harmless” caveat so no district would lose funding.
IN: ‘We can’t go back’: Special education advocates fear federal cuts
Indiana Public Media
Kristie Brown Loftland said the Autism Society of Indiana wants to make it easier on parents and families. “It’s already confusing for a lot of parents when they first get the diagnosis of autism,” Brown Loftland, the ASI board president, said. “Oftentimes the public doesn’t understand, necessarily, what kind of services are offered to a child with a disability,” she said. Many of those services in special education, such as special therapy or individualized education plans, are partially funded by the federal government. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) enshrined protections and funding for these students with disabilities in 1975. About 15 percent of children receive special education, more than 7.5 million students. In Indiana, about 200,000 students receive special education. But advocates, including Brown Loftland, believe the act and the rights it guarantees for those students are threatened as President Donald Trump reshapes education. “It’s going to affect millions of students with disabilities and their families,” Brown Loftland said.
NE: ‘Shot down at every turn’: Nebraska schools frequently deny kids with disabilities
Nebraska Public Media
Angela Gleason knew something was wrong with her son’s education by the time he began first grade in Omaha Public Schools. The district moved Teddy, who has autism and is nonverbal, from a behavioral skills class to general education. His struggles brought on outbursts of running around the room and disrupting his classmates, leading to near-daily phone calls asking Gleason to come get him. Feeling hopeless, Gleason applied for a transfer to Millard Public Schools in 2018. But the district said its special education program had no room for Teddy. Year after year, Gleason applied to Millard and received the same response, even as the district later accepted two of her other children who didn’t need special education services. She tried other Omaha-area districts. Westside. Then Bellevue. Both rejected Teddy. “It’s very disheartening as a parent to try repeatedly to get your child with disabilities accepted into a different school district, and to be told ‘no’ over and over and over again,” she said. A 35-year-old Nebraska law lets students transfer from one public school district to another — a policy known as option enrollment.
NJ: New Jersey has the lowest rates of inclusion for students in special education in the country
Hechinger Report
New Jersey students with disabilities are the least likely in the nation to spend their days surrounded by peers without disabilities. One underlying reason: a sprawling network of separate schools that allows districts to outsource educating them. New Jersey has more than a hundred private schools, plus eight county-run districts specifically for students with disabilities. Districts spend hundreds of millions of dollars placing students in private schools rather than investing in their own staffing and programs — placements that cost New Jersey taxpayers $784 million in 2024, not including transportation. That’s up from about $725 million the year before. This can create a self-perpetuating cycle that increases reliance on separate schools and, experts say, may violate students’ federal right to spend as much time as possible learning alongside students without disabilities.
NY: Parents say Mayor Adams’ Afterschool for All must include students with disabilities
Gothamist
Advocates for students with disabilities said Mayor Eric Adams’ Afterschool for All plan won’t actually be “for all” until the city updates bus contracts to provide late-day service, especially for students in special education. “When the mayor says ‘Afterschool for All,’ he doesn’t mean students like me,” said Lucas Healy, a student with autism who attends the High School for Telecommunications Arts and Technology. Healy spoke at a rally outside City Hall on Thursday, saying he’s able to take the subway now, but many of his classmates can’t. “They still need the busing because they can’t travel independently,” he said. “They miss out on the plays, the sports, the clubs, and the general opportunity to make new friends and have new experiences.”
TX: Texas’ new $8.5B school funding bill explained
The Texas Tribune
Texas is moving away from the long-scrutinized special education funding system that gives money to districts based on the classroom setting where a child with a disability receives instruction. Now, schools will receive dollars based on the individual needs of that student — an approach educators, lawmakers, and public education advocates consider more equitable. The new system, which Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath will design, will take effect at the beginning of the 2026-27 school year. The education chief must consider the nature of services provided to students, the technology and equipment required, and the professional needs of educators. When HB 2 takes effect later this year, districts will also start receiving $1,000 for each assessment they conduct evaluating kids for disabilities.
CA: California agrees to include religious schools as special education placements
K-12 Dive
The California Department of Education and the Los Angeles Unified School District will include religious private schools as potential placements for students with disabilities, according to a settlement agreement reached Monday between the school systems and a group of Jewish parents and schools. The agreement means public funding for special education could be used for tuition at religious schools. The parents and schools sued the state and district in 2023 because school systems wouldn’t consider Orthodox Jewish schools as potential school placements for students with disabilities, which they claimed was unconstitutional religious discrimination. The agreement is a “win for religious liberty,” the plaintiffs said, but public school advocates and those promoting the separation of church and state said it would expand the use of taxpayer-funded money being used for religious education.
CA: Orcutt parents voice concerns over student behavior and safety
Ksby.com
What began as a routine school board meeting turned into a charged evening of testimony for the Orcutt Union School District as a growing number of parents and guardians stepped forward to share stories of escalating student behavior in classrooms. Some parents described incidents they say are disrupting learning and putting their children at risk. At the heart of the meeting was a plea: do more to protect the safety and stability of classrooms. Dana and Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Susan Salucci said the district is taking the issue seriously and working within the limitations of both state and federal laws, especially when it comes to students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs).
LA: Parents sue Willow School over selective admissions process
nola.com
The parents of a 9-year-old boy with profound disabilities have sued a selective charter school in New Orleans, claiming that the school’s use of an admissions test violates legal protections for students with disabilities. In a lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Chris and Cristina Edmunds argue that the Willow School’s entrance exam excludes students with disabilities — including their son Oscar — from moving forward in the application process. As a result, they argue, the process violates state and federal protections for people with disabilities, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Louisiana Human Rights Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the federal law that gives students with disabilities the right to a free and appropriate public education. The Willow School, whose mission is to provide a rigorous education to academically gifted students, is one of several New Orleans charter schools that require prospective students to earn a certain score on a reading and math test.