Chapter 4 Meeting the Needs of Students with Disabilities in the Inner Cities Anecdotal information suggests that special education programs in inner cities face unique challenges, and differ from nationally representative data on special education students, personnel, and services. This chapter synthesizes information from a variety of those sources to provide a profile of special education in the nation's inner cities. The chapter addresses the following specific questions.
Special education takes place within a community, a school district, and a school building.
It is nested within a broader educational environment, and this educational environment naturally affects the need for special education services and the ability of the system to meet those needs. An example of the conditions in New York City illustrates some of the many challenges faced by inner city schools. In New York City, poor and minority children are increasing as a percentage of total student growth. It is reasonable to conclude that a growing percentage of the educational budget will be needed to service the increasing number of at-risk students. Similar trends have been documented in smaller cities, such as Denver, Colorado.