Special Education
Laws & News
Across the States
TX: 25K Texas school voucher recipients opted out. Here’s why.
Houston Chronicle
Marissa Gonzalez was one of the first parents in Texas to receive funding from the state’s $1 billion private school voucher program. Her two children have dyslexia, and their family income is below 500% of the poverty level, putting them in the lottery’s top priority group. It also meant that her children were eligible to receive more funding than most applicants. But when Gonzalez received $31,000 in voucher funding for her children, she had to turn it down, joining the 24% of recipients who haven’t used their voucher funding — including both families who opted out and those who have not decided yet. The user rate has puzzled leaders of the Texas Education Freedom Account program, who are trying to figure out why some families have outright rejected it or haven’t used thousands of dollars for their children’s education.
Families in Texas who opted out of the funding were often those who did not apply to private school in time and therefore did not have confirmed enrollment by the July 15 deadline. Others had enrollment offers, but tuition was still too expensive even with the subsidy. Some, like Gonzalez, couldn’t find a private school in their area that fit their needs, which proved especially difficult for families with children with disabilities. “Once I started pricing the private schools, I was like, ‘Okay, well, this will cover most of it, if not all of it,” Gonzalez said. “But I couldn’t find a school.”…
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NV: Advocates push for more staffing, safety measures in special education classrooms
News 3
Special education classrooms face unique challenges every day, and there’s a renewed push to improve safety for students and staff. These classrooms have some of the most vulnerable students and, in some cases, behavioral challenges. There’s now a call for more staff and more training, all while staying focused on learning. “Nobody deserves to be spit on, peed on, bit, kicked, anything, hair pulled, anything like that,” said Misty Olmos, Nevada State Education Association Special Education Committee chair. Olmos is advocating for the safety of support professionals in special education classrooms and the students they serve every day.
TN: Should Tennessee fully fund special education pre-K programs?
Chattanooga Times Free Press
A top committee of Tennessee educators wants lawmakers to include special education prekindergarten students in the state’s public school funding formula. The recommendation follows pleas from school boards and superintendents who say they’ve been saddled with the price tag of an unfunded mandate because federal and state laws require local school districts to serve students with disabilities as young as 3. “The problem is, they’ve legally compelled us to serve kids for whom they’re not proportionally funding us,” said Bob Nardo, the executive director at the Libertas School, a Memphis charter school, during a TISA Review Committee meeting this month…
WI: Low pay and outbursts: why WI schools face critical special ed staff shortage
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
As the number of K-12 students in Wisconsin slowly dwindles, there’s one group of students that’s been growing for decades: children with special education needs. Since the 2005-06 school year, the number of students needing additional support in the classroom has increased by about 5,000 students, or 4%, while the overall student population has decreased by nearly 10%, according to data from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. That increase is driven primarily by students with significant autism or developmental delays, two populations that, combined, have grown by over 23,000 students in the past 20 years. The increase has trickle-down effects, starting with the staff who work most closely with them. Under federal special education law, students with disabilities are entitled to public education that meets their needs. Schools must provide this education in the “least restrictive environment,” where students are in a regular education classroom for as much time as possible while still learning effectively. School staff workers called special education paraprofessionals help make that possible.
FL: Cursive writing and autism-specific teacher training among new laws for the new school year
Florida Phoenix
As Florida students settle back into their desks, there are a few new laws on the books, including required testing of cursive writing and providing teachers more training to work with students with autism. Take a look at which Florida education laws the Legislature and governor approved this spring to go into effect over the summer: HB 851: This law requires school districts to develop training for “autism-specific professional learning” annually for instructional personnel and administrators working in schools. The training must include academic instruction, behavioral support, communication strategies, and inclusive practices for students with autism…
NC: Union County parents say district failed special-needs kids
Charlotte Observer
Jack Davis, in many ways, is a typical 7-year-old: he likes Minecraft, Legos, and painting at his grandmother’s house. He’s fascinated with the military and has framed pictures of airplanes on the walls of his Waxhaw bedroom. But in 2024 — the last year Davis attended public school in Union County – he was evaluated for suicidal thoughts around seven times in three weeks, his mother Anika Davis said. He was 5 years old. “He was in a really bad place, and it was autistic burnout,” Davis told The Charlotte Observer. It was the climax of what Jack’s mother, Anika, said was a prolonged struggle to get her son the accommodations he needed as a child with pathological demand avoidance, a variant of autism. With it, Jack’s nervous system shifts easily into fight-or-flight mode. When it does, Anika said, Jack often resorts to aggressive behavior. On his last day in Union County Public Schools two years ago, he left the playground and clambered up a fence, attempting to get into a pond adjacent to the school building. Afterward, a substitute teacher assigned to watch Jack that day said she could not continue working with him…
PA: Special education services could suffer in Pittsburgh Public Schools’ school closures plan, families say
Tribe Live
Families of students with disabilities are worried about the continuity of special education services amid the Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Future-Ready Facilities Plan, a sweeping building reconfiguration that begins in the 2027-28 school year. The plan closes Woolslair, along with eight other district buildings. The anxiety stems from what parents say is poor or unclear communication from the district, which leads to questions about adequate special education staffing and providing sufficient, specialized support for children with disabilities once the transition to a new school takes place. “It’s going to really be a challenge, especially with their medical conditions and their learning disabilities, for a switchover,” said Hall, of Lawrenceville. “I have heard zero plans on how to help these kids transition away from their classmates that they’ve gotten used to, that they’ve worked with.”…
TX: Disability watchdog sues Klein ISD, alleging district blocked special education classroom monitoring
FOX 26 Houston
According to court filings in a pending federal lawsuit, an independent statewide advocacy organization alleges that Klein ISD has unlawfully blocked its advocates from inspecting special education classrooms for more than a year. The lawsuit was filed by Disability Rights Texas, a federally mandated, independent agency created to protect and advocate for people with disabilities across the state. Under federal law, the organization is authorized to monitor facilities—including public schools, psychiatric hospitals, and jails—to ensure individuals with disabilities are free from abuse, neglect, and discrimination. According to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Disability Rights Texas requested access to inspect several Klein ISD campuses following complaints from parents regarding special education programs. Court filings allege that when organization advocates attempted to inspect special education classrooms at Benfer Elementary in September 2023, Klein ISD police officers issued them criminal trespass warnings, threatening arrest. Shiloh Carter, a senior litigation attorney with Disability Rights Texas, said unescorted access is critical when monitoring vulnerable or nonverbal students…
CA: LAUSD students to return to classes Wednesday under new screen-time rules
NBC Los Angeles
Students in the Los Angeles Unified School District will return to classrooms tomorrow for the start of the school year, with the district implementing restrictions on the use of digital devices during the school day. Under a policy adopted by the Board of Education in June, digital device use will be eliminated for students in early education, transitional kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade, with limited exceptions. The restrictions are part of a broader district policy aimed at reducing student screen time across all grade levels.
Exceptions will be made for district- and state-mandated assessments, students enrolled in the LAUSD Virtual Academy, and students with disabilities who need devices under an Individualized Education Program or 504 Plan…
CT: $10.6 million in state grants announced for Connecticut special education programs
fox61.com
Connecticut is awarding $10.6 million in state grants to dozens of in-district special education programs, according to Gov. Ned Lamont’s office on Monday. Under the first round of a new incentive grant program, administered by the state Department of Education and created by legislation proposed by Lamont, 41 programs across the state will receive the funding. The governor’s office said the funding aims to support special education programs so that more students can receive services within their own district. “It is important that school districts have the resources to support special education programming that allows more students to learn alongside their peers in their own communities,” Lamont said. “Over the last several years, special education services have been one of the largest cost drivers for school districts due to the increase in the number of students eligible for special education services and the rapid increase in the cost of those services, particularly for students outplaced in approved special education programs.”…