Special Education

86th TEXAS LEGISLATURE PASSES BILLS RELATED TO GRADUATION FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

The 86th Texas Legislature passed a few bills related to graduation. The list below includes links to the full text and history of each bill (more available at Texas Legislature Online).

 

SB 213, Relating to the use of individual graduation committees and other alternative methods to satisfy certain public high school graduation requirements.

  • Signed into law on May 7

  • Extends IGC options to September 1, 2023

  • Note the rules for special education outlined in current version of TAC §74.1025 (n), with no anticipated revisions to this subsection:

“A student receiving special education services is not subject to the individual graduation committee requirements in the TEC, §28.0258, or the provisions of this section. As provided in §89.1070 of this title (relating to Graduation Requirements) and §101.3023 of this title (relating to Participation and Graduation Assessment Requirements for Students Receiving Special Education Services), a student's admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee determines whether a student is required to achieve satisfactory performance on an EOC assessment to graduate.”

 

HB 165, Relating to providing for endorsements for public high school students enrolled in special education programs.

  • Signed into law on June 10

  • Effective immediately; Applies beginning with the 2019-2020 school year

  • Expands the opportunities for students with disabilities to earn an endorsement with modified content to any course

  • Key language:

    • a student “may earn an endorsement on the student’s transcript…. with modification of the curriculum, provided that the curriculum, as modified, is sufficiently rigorous as determined by the student’s admission, review, and dismissal committee.”

    • The ARD committee “shall determine whether the student is required to achieve satisfactory performance on an end-of-course assessment instrument to earn an endorsement on the student’s transcript.”

  • Expect revisions to TAC §89.1070

 

TEXAS Releases its 'Corrective Action Response' for Special Education Programs

Over the last year and a half, Texas Education Agency has acknowledged gaps in services for students with learning disabilities and has recently submitted a plan to correct and improve public school practices in its Special Education Programs. Families of children with learning disabilities should understand how their child might have been impacted and how future plans will affect their child's learning environment.

The TEA released the 42-page draft strategic plan after a 15-month federal investigation concluded Texas had not been providing kids with disabilities the tools and services they needed to learn, likely failing to educate thousands of students and violating federal law. Federal officials found the state was effectively incentivizing school districts to keep their special education numbers low and that many teachers fundamentally misunderstood the legal requirements around educating kids with disabilities. (Update, April 26: The TEA released its finalized plan on April 24, taken Texas Tribune.)

The final version of the plan comes after months of draft proposals and feedback sessions with parents, educators, education advocates and students. The state is aiming to repair a decade-old practice that drastically reduced the number of students receiving special education services. TEA officials have repeatedly said the 8.5 percent benchmark was not a cap but an “indicator of performance.” But in practice, districts used the number as a cap, the Department of Education found, and denied or delayed services for children across the state ( taken from alejandra.matos@chron.com).