Federal Report Says Texas Violated Special Education Laws
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday that Texas violated federal law when it comes to educating students with disabilities. The department released their report after investigating the Texas Education Agency over the past year.
Copies of department's report were sent to the TEA and Gov. Greg Abbott's office on Thursday morning.
It was one year ago when hundreds of Texas families met with federal education officials and told stories about their children being denied special education services. Students stood up and explained how, despite their disabilities, schools had refused to even test them to see if the kids needed any special services.
Texas ranks last in the country when it comes to the percentage of students who receive special education services.
The federal report notes that the State of Texas failed to ensure that free and appropriate public education was made available to all children with disabilities. The new report also lays out a plan and a timeline for when and how the TEA is to go about fixing these problems.