Special Education
Laws & News
Across the States
CA: California K-12 schools brace for another year of uncertainty: 2025 in review
Local News Matters
Last year was tumultuous for California K-12 schools and their 5.8 million students — at least at the federal level. President Donald Trump slashed funding to schools, set about dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, and launched an immigration crackdown that left countless families afraid to send their children to school.
In hopes of boosting reading scores, California also rolled out a mandatory dyslexia screener and passed a law to overhaul literacy instruction. The new curriculum doesn’t go into effect until 2028, but many schools are already implementing and using the dyslexia screener to get extra help to children who struggle with reading disorders. California also passed a law creating an Office of Civil Rights, intended to eliminate discrimination in K-12 schools, especially antisemitism. The new law, which stems from a surge in antisemitic incidents statewide, is expected to provide more transparency and accountability in how schools handle discrimination complaints.
ID: UPDATED: Critchfield pulls plug on $50 million special education plan
ID ED News
State superintendent Debbie Critchfield is walking back her top legislative priority for 2026: a $50 million special education grant proposal. The money simply won’t be available in a cash-strapped 2026-27 budget year, Critchfield told fellow State Board members Wednesday. “We want to be careful, we want to be deliberate in what we ask,” Critchfield said. “The first priority for me is to maintain current budget levels.” Gov. Brad Little has shielded Idaho’s K-12 system from budget cuts, so far. He cut 3% from most state agencies in August, but he exempted K-12. But the state still has a projected $40 million deficit for the budget year ending June 30. And for 2026-27, Idaho faces a $555.2 million gap between agency requests and projected revenue. Special education remains a priority, Critchfield said. There is still an estimated $100 million gap between state and federal special education funding and the local special education expenses.
NY: NY bills demand data on lengthy suspensions of students with disabilities
Chalkbeat
New York City lawmakers are scheduled to vote Thursday on a bill that would force the Education Department to disclose detailed statistics about long-term suspensions of students with disabilities. A similar bill was recently introduced in the state legislature and would apply to districts across New York. The flurry of legislation comes after a Chalkbeat investigation found that New York City’s public schools have for years flouted rules designed to protect students with disabilities from lengthy classroom removals.
TN: Tennessee Disability Coalition says state earned ‘incomplete’ for failing to address needs of people with disabilities
wbir.com
The Tennessee Disability Coalition is made up of more than 40 groups working to promote equal participation of people with disabilities. For the past four years, the organization has released a scorecard grading the state on several aspects such as access to care, housin,g and education. This is the first year the state has received a grade of “incomplete.” The group wrote that the state has been doing positive work, but uncertainty tied to support from the federal level has hurt progress.
TX: Here’s what to know about disability evaluations for school vouchers
Caller Times
Families of children with disabilities have the potential to get the most out of Texas’ new program to pay private school tuition or educational expenses outside of the public school system — so long as they have the right documentation. The Texas Education Freedom Account program, also known as school vouchers, offers students with disabilities access to higher funding. Families will be able to apply for the program in the spring. Students with disabilities could receive up to $30,000 compared to current estimates of $10,800 for other students. Additionally, students with disabilities are at the top of the state’s priority list for distributing the limited funds. For prioritization, families of children with disabilities need to submit a licensed expert’s evaluation. But to unlock the additional financial support, children must have an individualized education program, known commonly as an IEP.
WV: Legislators looking to make changes to school aid formula, weighing several options
WV MetroNews
Lawmakers are considering a few options for changes to the state education code and state funding formula.
Senator Vince Deeds, R, Greenbrier, 10, Vice Chair of the Health and Human Resources Committee, says one of the points of emphasis for him this session is special education in public schools. “Children with critical needs require a lot more attention, a lot more one-on-one time, and right now, the school aid formula doesn’t take that into account,” Deeds said last week.
DE: Delaware Dept. of Ed settles discrimination lawsuit involving incarcerated students with disabilities
Delaware Public Media
The Delaware Department of Education settled a federal lawsuit alleging incarcerated students with disabilities weren’t provided required services. The U.S. District Court approved a consent decree requiring Delaware’s Ed. Department to implement revised programs and ensure students receive special education services. Delaware’s Community Legal Aid Society partnered with Terris, Pravlik & Millian on the lawsuit filed in May 2024 against DDOE’s Adult and Prison Education Resources Workgroup. TPM attorney Todd Gluckman said the state made no meaningful headway after receiving reports of violations. “The students will start receiving the education that they need, and this is particularly critical because people in jails and prisons have disabilities at a much greater rate than the general population,” Gluckman said. “And a lot of these students had not been receiving needed special education for years.”
MI: Lawsuit, investigation target Mississippi’s special education failures
SPLC
E.J. and her mother are plaintiffs in a 2024 Southern Poverty Law Center lawsuit, Jamison et al. v. Greenville Public School District, and the other children are at the center of an ongoing SPLC investigation into the state’s longstanding practice of denying students with disabilities — disproportionately children of color — of a free and appropriate public education (FAPE), which is mandated under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). “While school systems in other states are fraught with the same inadequate screenings and evaluations and provision of services that begin for children as toddlers, Mississippi is unique in that it has the least resources for children with special needs, blatantly discriminates against them, and outright refuses to comply with federal special education mandates,” said Julian Miller, senior supervising attorney for the SPLC’s Democracy: Education and Youth litigation team. Miller is also the lead counsel for the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Mississippi, Greenville Division, against the Greenville Public School District in October 2024 and is pending. It alleges that the district wrongfully denied SPED services to E.J. for dyslexia, the nation’s most common learning disability. In what may become a related lawsuit, the SPLC is investigating the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) Office of Special Education for failing to investigate and resolve state complaints alleging violations of the IDEA
MT: Montana court blocks education savings accounts for students with special needs
Montana Free Press
A district court judge on Monday blocked Montana’s education savings account program for students with disabilities, ruling in favor of two Montana nonprofits that claimed that lawmakers did not fund the program when they created it. House Bill 393, the Students with Special Needs Equal Opportunity Act, passed by lawmakers in 2023, created Montana’s first education savings account (ESA) program. It allows parents of students with disabilities to redirect their child’s per-pupil school funding that normally goes to a public school district into an account administered by the Office of Public Instruction, the state agency that oversees K-12 schools.
The lawsuit was filed by two Montana nonprofits, the Montana Quality Education Coalition and Disability Rights Montana. They maintained that the bill required families to waive significant educational rights in exchange for funding that often would not cover basic needs. It was against the state, governor, OPI, the state superintendent of public instruction, and the lawmaker who carried the bill. In a press release Tuesday, MQEC Executive Director Doug Reisig said that “taking money from public schools for vouchers without clear limits on how much and where that money will be spent is unconstitutional, pure and simple.” Tal Goldin, advocacy director for Disability Rights Montana, added, “HB 393 was a lose-lose for students with disabilities.”
WI: Dems propose bill to restore Wisconsin special education funding rates
Wisconsin public school districts would receive the full special education reimbursement rate lawmakers pledged in the state budget under a new bill from Democratic legislators. The proposal comes after school districts learned they will receive a lower reimbursement rate for special education costs this year than anticipated. In an email sent to school officials Nov. 17, the Department of Public Instruction said the state will reimburse school districts at an initial rate of 35% of their special education costs from last school year – down from the rate specified in the current state budget. Under a compromise with Republican leaders, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers included in the state budget a 42% reimbursement rate this year and 45% next year. The previous rate was around 32%. A new bill authored by Rep. Angelina Cruz, D-Racine, and Sen. Jeff Smith, D-Brunswick, would require the state to pay for special education costs at the full rates set in the budget – known as a sum sufficient appropriation – rather than capping reimbursements when total claims exceed the budgeted amount.