Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Education is investigating the District of Columbia Public Schools for what it says are failures to meet the needs of students with disabilities, the agency's Office for Civil Rights announced Wednesday.
- The Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 probe will look into if the district is failing to evaluate or reevaluate students with disabilities and whether parents are relying on due process complaints to receive appropriate special education or related services, according to a March 5 letter that OCR sent to DCPS.
- The investigation is one of the first announcements by newly sworn-in U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, and could indicate the agency's direction moving forward to examine rising school-family special education complaints nationwide.
Dive Insight:
The D.C. school district historically has one of the highest rates of special education complaints per 10,000 students of any other state or territory, according to a December report from the District of Columbia Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, an independent, bipartisan group that advises Congress and the president.
Data from the 2018-19 school year found D.C. schools received 245 due process complaints per 10,000 children served compared to the national average of 30. And in the 2020-21 school year, the district got 127 due process complaints per 10,000 children served compared to a national average of 33. In the 2011-2012 school year, DCPS had 805 due process complaints per 10,000 students and the national average was 26.
Due process complaints are when parents request that their grievances be heard by an administrative hearing officer.
More recent data analyzed by the Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education for the 2022-23 school year showed DCPS with 151.4 due process complaints per 10,000 students, compared to 45 in states and territories.
“The Department of Education has a solemn responsibility to protect all students from discrimination, especially our most vulnerable,” said McMahon in a Wednesday statement. She added that the agency will make sure schools fulfill their commitments for equal access for students with disabilities and not put "unnecessary burdens on families to fight for special education services" guaranteed by law.
DCPS said in a statement on Thursday that it will fully cooperate with OCR's review and "remains dedicated to continuously improving our special education programs and reducing barriers for families."
The district added, "We stand by our ongoing efforts to ensure that all students have access to the resources they need to thrive."
The D.C. Advisory Committee, in its report, noted that DCPS has improved its complaint process over time but the number of complaints is still much higher than national averages. No data is currently available about settlements given to families where there is no hearing — "for example, whether parents obtained what they wanted, or whether they settled because it was going to be too expensive to continue," the committee said.
Among total special education dispute resolution activities in the 2022-23 school year, CADRE's analysis found New York with the highest rate at 441.7 per 10,000 students, compared to 206.7 in the District of Columbia and 71.38 overall in the U.S. and territories. Dispute resolution activities include due process complaints, written state complaints and mediation requests.
Special education experts say severe special education teacher shortages and lack of specialized service personnel — including counselors, psychologists and therapists — is contributing to a backlog of evaluations and services for students with disabilities. Teacher vacancies can also lead to noncompliance with a student’s individualized education program.
