Are L.A. charter schools screening out special ed. students?

06-16-2011

Blog by Nirvi Shah/Education Week

A new report from the Office of the Independent Monitor in the Los Angeles school district looks at whether charter schools ask parents up front—before they can enroll—if their children have disabilities. Earlier this year, I wrote that in traditional Los Angeles public schools, about 13 percent of students have a disability, while in the district's 183 charter schools, only about 8 percent of students have special needs. The district is working to balance those numbers, in part because so many schools in Los Angeles are charters that for many students, the only schools they live near are charter schools. While traditional district schools are hard-pressed to turn anyone away, or must find a way to educate students regardless of cost or hardship, charters appear to be using a vetting process that may explain the stark difference in the percentages of students with disabilities enrolled in their schools versus district-run schools. (more...)

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