The Register Citizen

Flaws in Connecticut’s special education system are impeding the state’s ability to provide adequate services to students, according to a report released Wednesday by state Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker. Russell-Tucker commissioned the report six months ago amid concerns the state wasn’t doing enough to support students with disabilities. The findings affirmed many of those worries, revealing a system struggling with staffing shortages, arduous data collection software and a widespread lack of confidence in how disputes are resolved. As a result, children may struggle to access the resources they require for a free appropriate public education — a legal standard also known as FAPE.

Andrew Feinstein, an attorney who represents children with disabilities and a founding member of the group Special Education Equity for Kids in Connecticut, called the report “devastating.” “The fundamental problem appears to be that the Bureau of Special Education sees itself primarily as a conduit to transmit district-generated data to the federal Department of Education. It does not see itself as accountable to parents and teachers. The bureau is ineffective in improving results for students,” Feinstein told the board.