Developmental Disability News for Week Ending Aug. 30

Students in special ed disproportionately affected by school closures, PBS NewsHour looks at the housing shortage for people with disabilities, and more developmental disability news for the week ending Aug. 30, 2024.

Spotlight: Education

The Unequal Effects of School Closings

This piece on the Rochester City School District in New York — where school closures have dropped by more than 10% between 2020 and 2022 — tackles a traumatic issue affecting school districts nationwide. I’ve highlighted a few of the points related specifically to special education. (The article was co-published by ProPublica and The New Yorker.)

The effects of school closings fall hardest on majority-Black schools and special-needs students.
Critics say that the Rochester district’s long-running Urban-Suburban program, in which students can apply to transfer to smaller, reportedly very selective school districts outside of the city, “helps explain why close to a quarter of the students remaining in the city system qualify for special-education services. (The local charter schools are also selective.)”
“By the spring of 2024, parents at the 11 schools being closed ‘were too busy trying to figure out where their children would be going in the fall to worry about the long term. [One mother] was upset that School 29’s students with autism were being more broadly dispersed than promised; she worried that her son’s assigned school wasn’t equipped for students with special needs.'”

More Education News

How Much Does Special Education Truly Cost? No one really knows. But now, scholars who work for the U.S. Dept. of Ed’s Institute for Education Sciences (IES) and the American Institutes for Research (AIR) will execute a pilot study to lay the groundwork for a nationwide examination of the billions of dollars spent annually on special ed. (Education Week)

Ending the U.S. Dept. of Ed: What it would mean and why Trump and Project 2025 want it This article is a broad look at the Dept. of Ed plus a few Trump quotes on the matter. (Sample: The federal government could provide “a little monitor. You want to make sure they are teaching English, as an example. Give us a little English, right?”) (Chalkbeat)

The Harris-Walz Vision for Public Schools There aren’t a whole lot of specifics in this, either, although it does mention a focus on public schools, which is where special ed students do best. Hopefully, more policy information will be coming from both presidential candidates including a discussion of students with disabilities, especially given that the number of students in special ed has doubled in the past 45 years. (The Nation)

New York

CDPAP advocates push back against changes to NY home healthcare program (whec.com)

First Suffolk County park specifically designed for inclusivity Other county playgrounds are ADA accessible, but this one will go “above and beyond the minimum requirements” with inclusive design for everyone. (Suffolkcountynews.net)

Outside of New York

NJ announces $3M to boost training of disability aides as group homes face labor crisis Employees of group homes and therapy programs will be eligible for $1,000 apiece to put toward training and certification costs. (northjersey.com)

A sampling of articles covering the nationwide special ed teaching shortage

Stamford, Conn., schools struggling to find special education educators continue to outsource jobs (Stamford Advocate)

Providence, R.I., offering $10,000 salary increase for special-ed teachers (wpri.com)

Majority of Baltimore County Schools vacancies are for special education teachers (The Baltimore Sun)

Autism

‘I don’t want him to go’: An autistic teen and his family face stark choices A look at one family caught up in the “surging numbers of young people [who] have landed in emergency rooms in the throes of a mental health crisis amid a shortage of needed care.” Among those hit hardest by the crisis? Autistic youth. (Los Angeles Times)

Housing

People with disabilities face extra hurdles amid national housing shortage Judy Woodruff reports on the affordable housing shortage for the PBS series, Disability Reframed. (PBS NewsHour)

Health

Voting Rights

In Some States, Having a Guardian Means Not Having a Vote More than a million Americans, many with disabilities, live under a court-approved guardianship. Many states block them from voting. (New York Times)

For more on guardianships and voting in New York, check out The Boost’s Voting Guide, found here.

Vocational Rehabilitation

Feds Tell Voc Rehab Agencies Not To Limit Services To In-State Options New guidance from the U.S. Department of Education’s Rehabilitation Services Administration details how vocational rehabilitation agencies should respond to requests for out-of-state services. (Disability Scoop)

Travel

Practice Flights and Calm Spaces: Making Room for Neurodivergent Travelers Airlines, hotels, theme parks and others are working to ease the challenges of travel for people with autism, A.D.H.D and other “invisible disabilities.” (New York Times)

Paralympics

How to Watch the 2024 Summer Paralympics—and Why You Should The Paralympics, taking place in Paris through Sept. 8, is in full swing. The competition showcases the best athletes with physical (as opposed to developmental) disabilities from around the world. (Wired)