Disproportionality in special ed poses new federal hazard to districts
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By Tom Chorneau
Monday, October 15, 2012
More aggressive federal attention to schools potentially mislabeling minority children as disabled has created an operational headache this fall for nearly 50 California districts, with another big cohort targeted for sanctioning next year.
In fact, the push from the U.S. Department of Education’s special education unit to seek out and remedy instances of racial disproportionality in California’s K-12 special education programs is likely to become an ongoing hazard for districts to navigate, rivaling the pitfalls posed by the performance benchmarks mandated under the No Child Left Behind Act.
At issue are long-standing concerns that minority students are more frequently identified than white students as having emotional or mental disabilities.
A 2007 memo to states from the director of federal special education programs noted that more minority children