K-12 Dive

While specialized charter schools may offer unique learning programs tailored for a specific disability, school leaders and management organizations should ensure they are following nondiscrimination laws and are giving students inclusive opportunities, CLE advises. The center found that there were 154 specialized charter schools with a total of 20,044 students. These schools have a special education focus or have at least 50% of their population identifying as students with disabilities. While specialized charter schools only represent 3% of all charters nationwide, they can “create tension with long-standing goals to provide students with disabilities access to inclusive learning environments alongside non-disabled peers,” a May 12 statement from CLE said.