But she said district officials intend to meet with coalition representatives. Stephanie Petska, director of special education for the DPI, denied the coalition's allegations that the state was failing to adequately monitor and fund special education. Petska said the agency had conducted several on-site inspections of special education at MPS schools last spring and found no major problems. Topinka, who noted that MPS officials had met with the Coalition for Advocacy last spring and heard some of its concerns then, already had been taking steps to improve special education. Those steps are unrelated to the coalition's complaints.
Special education is . . .
We are aware that we need to continue to improve. In MPS, about 16,000 students qualify for special education services. The group's action is the result of nearly two years of investigating problems with special education at MPS as well as probing the DPI's response to problems in the Milwaukee district, the coalition said. Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Sept. 22, 2000. Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved.