U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights Sees a Rise in Disability Complaints
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has released its annual report for the fiscal year ending in September. Overall, there were 16, 720 complaints submitted to the office which is a dramatic increase from the 10, 392 submitted the previous year. According to the report, 36 percent […]
U.S Department of Education Officials will be in Texas December 12-15
The U.S. Department of Education is sending officials to Texas to ask residents and educators whether the state is illegally denying special education services to students with disabilities. Department officials said they will hold public “listening sessions” as part of a probe into a large decline in services in the […]
TEA Warns Districts Not to Use RTI to Delay Special Education Referrals
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) recently sent a letter on November 17, 2016 to school districts urging them to not delay or deny special education referrals in order to complete Response to Intervention strategies (RTI). In its November 2016 letter, TEA stated: “There have been reports that some school districts […]
New article in the Houston Chronicle about the declining Special Ed Numbers in Texas
There is a new article in the Houston Chronicle about the declining Special Education numbers in the state of Texas focusing on mentally ill students. The article addresses how mentally ill students have disproportionately been affected by the 8.5 percent target for Special Education enrollment imposed by the Texas Education Agency […]
Part Two of the Houston Chronicle article “Denied” has been Published
This part of the story details how some Texas schools dramatically decreased their special education rolls by taking away needed services from children with autism, dyslexia, speech impairments, mental illnesses and other disabilities in response to the state’s 8.5 percent cap on the number of students with disabilities. The article focuses […]