Special Education
Laws & News
Across the States
NY: Special education gap: NYC private school tuition payments flow mostly to white students
Chalkbeat
As Mayor Zohran Mamdani scrambles to plug a multi-billion-dollar budget gap, his administration is looking more closely at the money New York City spends on private school tuition for students with disabilities. The payments — which topped $723 million last school year, up more than 300% from a decade earlier, according to the Independent Budget Office — have long generated intense debate about which families are benefitting. Now, according to data the Education Department previously declined to share, officials have revealed a staggering inequity: The vast majority of students who have access to that money are white.
Black and Latino children, who make up about 75% of students with disabilities, represented just 24% of children receiving tuition reimbursements. (About 1 in 5 families did not disclose their race.) The families who benefit from those tuition payments are also much more likely to live in wealthier zip codes, the data confirms.
NJ: Paterson plans to devote a school to students with disabilities
NorthJersey.com
City education officials are planning to convert Dale Avenue School into a program for 118 children with multiple disabilities and autism, which they said will save the district $9.8 million in the coming school year. The district currently has 100 children in pre-K who have multiple disabilities and would have to go to out-of-district special education programs because of space limitations in the district’s current configuration when classes resume in September, officials said. Another 18 students with multiple disabilities currently attend outside programs, said Cheryl Coy, the district’s assistant superintendent for special education. But the out-of-district programs come at a heavy cost — ranging from $35,000 to $100,000 per year per child, not including other expenses like transportation, Coy said.
PA: Shapiro Administration Gives Ten Schools Funding to Teach Students about Disabilities
Department of Education | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
The Shapiro Administration today announced that it is giving 10 schools funding to join a pilot program designed to teach K-12 students about the political, economic, and social contributions of individuals with disabilities – another project that builds on Governor Josh Shapiro’s commitment to ensuring Pennsylvanians of all abilities are supported in their communities and free to live on their own terms. The Disability Inclusive Curriculum Pilot Program influences the overall culture and environment of schools by reducing stigma and including disability education as a part of a school-wide strategic plan. This is the second round of $30,000 grants, which cover the cost of implementing the curriculum over three years. With the second round of funding announced today, the Shapiro Administration has committed a total of $600,000 to 20 school entities to incorporate disability inclusive educational programming in classrooms since the Disability Inclusive Curriculum Pilot Program launched in 2023-24.
TN: TN parents of kids with disabilities ‘blindsided’ by voucher changes
The Tennessean
Malia Curtis confidently took the microphone as she addressed the Wilson County Schools board on May 4. The 20-year-old scooted her wheelchair closer to the board members before talking about how school vouchers through Tennessee’s Individualized Education Accounts program have benefited her over the years. She talked about in-home tutors who teach her a wide variety of topics, including English, math, science and the Bible, speaking fondly of one educator she called “Miss Amy.” “Miss Amy is one of my best friends,” Curtis said.
But a newly passed bill removes access to those educators, according to her mother, Julie Curtis, who also spoke at the meeting. The longtime Wilson County resident joined a growing chorus of Tennessee parents of children with special needs sounding the alarm about legislation they say significantly hampers how they can use IEA vouchers.
Until now, parents have been able to transfer voucher funds to a state-provided, tax-exempt savings account, known as an ABLE TN account. But the passage of HB2533 prohibits those transfers and relegates families to lengthy approval processes for services, more expense reports and a restrictive list of approved schools, according to Julie Curtis.
CO: Colorado overhauls school oversight for students with disabilities
MA: Disability bullying in schools: How 13 Massachusetts students are fighting back
masslive.com
Students with disabilities are bullied and socially excluded more than their peers. But a group of Massachusetts high school students is trying to change that. “I learned that disabilities are more common than you think,” said Isabelle Ogutt, who is part of the Hampden County District Attorney Youth Advisory Board. The group of 13 students created videos and a children’s book after talking to people with disabilities about how they want to be treated and how they navigate the world.
TX: Houston ISD plans to consolidate special education services, parent says after district meeting
Houston Public Media
Late last week, documents that leaked online and circulated on social media detailed proposed major changes to special education in Texas’s largest school district, which has been under state control since 2023. The documents appear to show plans to consolidate special education services to specific schools dubbed “specialty schools” in HISD. The plan, as outlined in the documents, would require many families to be transferred from their current or zoned school to a new school, where their special education services would be provided. The district has not responded to requests for comment regarding the documents, the SEPAC meeting, or any plans the district may have to change special education. However, Patman said at the meeting, district leaders acknowledged the documents and expressed regret over the leak. Patman said district officials said they were “early editions,” “incorrect,” and “no longer apply,” but that HISD leaders said they were still moving forward with consolidating special education students and services for the upcoming school year, with plans to announce the changes publicly as early as next week.
COPAA was pleased to join the amicus brief in the challenge to Utah’s voucher program
Voucher programs impede access to civil rights laws, including IDEA, Section 504, and ADA, for students with disabilities, leaving them with little “choice” and no rights.
OK: Democrat lawmakers express frustration over public school failures
OCPA
n recent years, most Democratic lawmakers have opposed school-choice programs that allow parents to use their tax dollars to send a child to private school rather than keep the child in a local public school. But during a recent legislative debate, two Oklahoma Democrats admitted that many Oklahoma public schools are failing students badly, particularly children with special needs, and said that threats of lawsuits and federal sanctions are routinely necessary to force Oklahoma public schools to provide legally required services. “I’m here to tell you, there’s state schools that aren’t going to follow the federal law,” said state Rep. Aletia Timmons, D-Oklahoma City.
A local advocate says the two Democrats are right, and that’s one reason so many families of children with learning challenges have embraced Oklahoma’s school-choice programs. “It’s both/and,” said Lucia Frohling, director of parent services at Oklahoma Parents for Student Achievement. “We want great public schools, of course. But when it’s not working, parents and students should not have to be stuck in a place that does not work for them and is actually detrimental to their child’s emotional well-being as well as their academic well-being.”
NE: Nebraska passes special ed bill without proposed protections for students
The 74
For Dave Murman, the issue was personal. The Republican state lawmaker knew Nebraska school districts were denying transfer requests at high rates to students with disabilities — kids who reminded Murman of his now-grown daughter. In 2025, he proposed a bill to ban the disproportionate rejections. Gov. Jim Pillen signed the measure last month, but by then, it was unrecognizable to the parents and disability advocates who had once backed it. Murman, facing opposition from schools and the state teachers union, stripped most of the protections for students with disabilities out of the proposal earlier this year. The new focus of the legislation: allowing schools to suspend their youngest students.