North Carolina public schools aren’t evaluating students for special education in a timely manner, they’re not resolving complaints quickly enough, and they’re not properly helping most disabled students 16 and older prepare for adulthood. Those are among the findings of a new federal report that found the state has continued to fall short of federal special education standards. The U.S. Department of Education labeled the state as one that needs assistance with managing special education for the second year in a row, based on the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years — not the first time in the past decade the state has received consecutive “needs assistance” ratings. The designation means more federal oversight. That could include requiring the state to access federal technical assistance, designating the state as "high-risk" when considering grant awards, or directing the state to set aside federal funding to address shortcomings.