There's good news and bad regarding the state's special education students. Achievement is improving overall, the rate of classification is slowing and more special education students are being integrated into regular classrooms. But the number of black and Hispanic students in separate special education classes is still disproportionately high.
Noncompliance can result in the state losing federal funds.
Also, disproportionate numbers of minorities in special education can signal a civil rights problem. To check the numbers, SED is sending letters to 430 districts. The encouraging data shows that significantly more special education students are taking the Regents exams 12,516 took the English Regents last school year compared to 5,731 the year before. And 7,480 passed with a score of 55 or higher. Deputy Education Commissioner Lawrence Gloeckler attributed the increased performance to special education curriculums that are more in line with the tougher Regents' standards.