TEA says it will suspend special ed target that penalizes school districts
The Texas Education Agency said Wednesday that it will stop penalizing school districts for giving special education services to more than 8.5 percent of their students.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Education, state officials vigorously defended a policy that arbitrarily set 8.5 percent as the ideal number, saying the policy was not a "cap," was not meant to save money and did not seriously punish school districts that failed to comply.
Still, the officials said they would suspend the 2004 policy and, eventually, end it altogether.
"TEA has been engaged in consistent conversations over the last four years to adjust and eventually eliminate this indicator," wrote Penny Schwinn, the agency's Deputy Commissioner of Academics. "We would like to highlight again that TEA will send a letter to all school districts in the state reminding them of the requirements of (federal law). In addition, TEA will ... not use (the policy) for the purposes of interventions staging moving forward."
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