Texas Illegally Excluded Thousands From Special Education, Federal Officials Say

On January 11, 2018, officials with the federal Department of Education informed the Texas Education Agency (TEA) that the state’s special education policies implemented in 2004 had resulted in illegally excluding thousands of students with disabilities from receiving special education services. In 2004, TEA had implemented a performance guideline indicating that local school districts should have no more than 8.5% of the student population receiving special education services. The school districts interpreted the guideline percentage as a cap, and according to the federal review, many local school districts failed to adequately address the needs of students with disabilities . . .