Special Education
Laws & News
Across the States
IL: Prescott Elementary School parents upset over displacement of special education students
CBS Chicago
Parents of special education students at a Lincoln Park Chicago Public School say there’s a lack of equity in their children’s classrooms. They say they’ve been asking for changes since last school year and nothing has been done. “It’s a simple problem of displacement,” said parent Eboni Howard. At Prescott Elementary School in Lincoln Park, parents of special education students say their kids are learning in stairwell landings and storage areas converted into makeshift classrooms — nothing like traditional classrooms, they say. “Those are the most vulnerable in the school and they are being treated like second-class citizens, being put in spaces not appropriate for them,” said Ana Ribeiro. Last year, the school approved and built a brand new dance room and a new music room, moving into a space where special education instruction occurred, according to parents. “This was a choice to make room for that dance room and displace those children,” Ribeiro said
KS: Kansas awarded $4.5 million to help recruit special education teachers
ksn.com
As Kansas continues to deal with a special education teacher shortage, a new federal grant could help the state address the growing issue. The Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) announced on Thursday that the state will receive $4.5 million to expand education opportunities for special education teachers in Kansas. “This federal award recognizes the need to significantly expand capacity to meet the demand to fill the vacancies for fully licensed special education teachers in Kansas,” said Kansas Education Commissioner Jake Steel. According to data from KSDE, there are currently 361 special education position vacancies across the state. Officials report this new funding will provide education to 291 special education trainees, who will work toward earning a Kansas special education teaching license
OH: Ohio Republican bill would create a $360 million special education cost reimbursement fund
Ohio Capital Journal
A pair of Ohio Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill that would increase special education funding. Ohio state Reps. Andrea White, R-Kettering, and Cindy Abrams, R-Harrison, recently introduced Ohio House Bill 1012, which would create a $360 million special education threshold cost reimbursement in the General Revenue Fund. “As more students need specialized services and the cost of providing these services continues to grow at an exponential pace at the school district level, we need more financial support from the state so that no matter where a student lives, they can have access to meaningful learning and supports to help them achieve their goals,” White said in a statement. Under Ohio law, school districts can request reimbursement for special education costs exceeding the threshold to educate students, which ranges from $27,375 to $32,850 depending on the child’s specific disability category
TN: Knox County special education plan draws concerns from teachers, parents
wbir.com
Knox County Schools is moving forward with a five-year plan to improve services for students with disabilities, but some parents and teachers are questioning whether the district has enough staff and resources to make it work. The initiative, called PACT, stands for Performance, Accountability, Collaboration and Transitions. The plan focuses on improving outcomes for students with individualized education programs (IEPs) while increasing collaboration between special education and general education teachers
NC: Parents ‘skeptical’ about Wake Schools’ special education initiative
ABC11 Raleigh-Durham
Some Wake County parents of students in special education are expressing concerns about a proposed multiyear initiative aimed at improving outcomes for special education students, saying the proposal does not address what they view as fundamental needs, including additional support staff. Wake County school leaders discussed the proposed plan during a nearly two-hour meeting Tuesday. The proposal is designed to address issues including test scores, graduation rates and other disparities between special education and general education students. But some parents said they left the discussion unconvinced. “Many of us are really skeptical that this plan has any hope of actually working,” said Susan Book, a Wake County schools parent of a child in special education…
TX: Texas vouchers leave students with disabilities with few school options
NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
Shundelon Ross hoped the seventh school would be the one to work. Her son wandered the hallways, clutching his favorite stuffed animal. He threw high fives to the employees. He stared, mesmerized, at the chickens pecking around the coop. Ross believed a private school would better serve her 5-year-old son, who has autism. Affording tuition became possible after he was approved for a school voucher. That’s why, as they toured First Baptist Academy in Dallas, her anticipation soared. After the visit came the application, then the admission decision. The school didn’t accept him. The Texas Education Freedom Accounts promised vouchers would give students with special needs options beyond public schools. Despite being awarded taxpayer-funded accounts, many families struggled to find a suitable school to spend it on. This means private education is still out of reach for Texas’ most vulnerable children, critics of the voucher program say. “Private does not always mean better,” Ross said. “With more opportunity, comes more work, more heartbreak, more disappointment.” Proponents believe private schools will proliferate and meet demand. The comptroller’s office, which oversees TEFA, plans to survey families to understand why they opted out, and their responses will inform the improvements made to the program, a spokesperson said…
GA: Federal staffing cuts leave hundreds of Georgia special education cases stalled (VIDEO)
Atlanta News First
Hundreds of Georgia students with disabilities are waiting for help from a federal agency facing an exploding backlog of civil rights complaints and fewer staff to handle them. One of those students is 8-year-old Theo Hutchings, who has Down syndrome. His parents placed him on an individualized education program to help him in school. The plan required his teachers to use a device to improve his vocabulary and help him communicate. According to his mother, Chelsea Hutchings, Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) failed to use the device for years. Hutchings said the family faced hurdles not only in obtaining the device, but in getting the school to actually utilize it. “We were told it was being used in great detail, but I tracked it and could see that it wasn’t,” she said. “Four years of not implementing the device is such a waste of his precious time in his language development, communication, and learning.” Hutchings voiced her frustration at nearly two dozen school board meetings.
NY: Parents, lawmakers push to overhaul school bus system
Spectrum News NY1
New York City parents and lawmakers are calling on the state to pass legislation that would allow the city to overhaul its school bus system and provide better service for students with disabilities. Each September, parents say they face many of the same problems: Children, many of them with disabilities, whose school buses never arrive to pick them up or take hours to bring them to and from school. “Our school buses have been failing our children, our families, our schools, and it never, ever gets better. Why? Because the same school bus contracts have been in place for almost 50 years,” City Council Member Lincoln Restler said. About 150,000 students take the school bus to class, relying on a system operated by more than 50 bus companies with city contracts that have not been rebid since 1979
TX: HISD says its controversial special education overhaul is showing results after just 5 weeks
Yahoo News
Five weeks into HISD’s special education overhaul, district leaders and some parents say the reforms have helped students. Others remain unconvinced. The district’s new Special Education Success Program, which sent thousands of students to new campuses this year, has drawn both state scrutiny and a federal investigation for potentially discriminating against students with disabilities. The new program led to a chaotic first week for some families after state officials ordered the district to meet with families before sending students to new campuses. Despite the controversy, HISD said the program has accomplished its intended goal: placing students in smaller classrooms with similar-aged peers. The number of students with disabilities in classrooms with more than two grade levels has reduced drastically, and almost every classroom is meeting the district’s capacity goal, former Deputy Superintendent Kristen Hole said at a Sept. 10 board meeting.
Other families say the new program is still adding stress to their daily routines. Parent Naxhiely Ramon had to sign her son up for transportation services this year after he was assigned to a campus further from home. More than a month in, she said the service is inconsistent, and her son’s lack of routine or relationships at the new school have led to some behavioral issues she believes could have been avoided
TX: Texas school choice boom leaves many public school kids behind
NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
The Catholic school tour ended, and Maria Contreras felt an overwhelming desire to enroll her 7-year-old. But first, a difficult question for the principal. The second grader has trouble focusing. He doesn’t listen to teachers and runs around the classroom, she explained. Could he be expelled? More families across the country are experimenting with private school as states — and soon the federal government — use taxpayer-supported scholarships to encourage them to leave public school. Soon, half of all American schoolkids will be able to apply for state money to finance a private education, and many states will offer the scholarships even to families with high incomes. In theory, these programs are supposed to give children an educational opportunity they wouldn’t otherwise have. In reality, students already in private or home school are most likely to benefit, an analysis by The Associated Press shows. The reasons are complicated. In some cases, public school families don’t know about these scholarship programs, known as vouchers or education savings accounts. They may lack transportation to get their kids to private school. Some worry their child won’t survive in a more strict disciplinary environment. Sometimes, as in Texas, the latest state to join the already $10.5 billion private school choice movement, the law is written to benefit families who know how to navigate complicated education systems