Via the Insideschools and GothamSchools blogs comes news that an ambitious series of changes to reform special education in the 1.1-million student New York City school system has been put on hold for a year.
The implementation plan would have required the city schools to dramatically increase their capacity for serving students with disabilities, but special education advocates in the city said there were few details promoted in how to make that work.
The Insideschools blog noted that one major question for principals is how the reforms will be paid for; right now schools receive more money for special education students housed in self-contained or “collaborative team-teaching” classrooms, but the reform initiative calls for placing more students in general education classrooms. For more on the way funding policies may influence special education placements, see this article I wrote on special education funding.