The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has begun its public inquiry into CPS special education policy. The inquiry team will collect evidence and testimony on these issues and present its findings to the State Board in a final report. The findings will then be made available to the public.
The ISBE inquiry is focused on four key questions:
Do CPS' documentation and data collection requirements result in unlawful denial or delay in the identification of eligibility or provision of special education and related services to students?
Does CPS' budgeting system (e.g., staffing formulas, appeals, co-mingling, having to pay for special ed services with general funds, etc.) result in unlawful denial or delay in the provision of special education and related services to students?
Have CPS' policies regarding transportation (e.g., limiting criteria, pre-school, etc.) resulted in an unlawful denial or delay in the provision of needed transportation services to students?
Does CPS' electronic IEP system (e.g, district sign-off requirement, date window restrictions, auto-populated language, etc.), either alone or in conjunction with CPS's Policies and Procedures, result in an unlawful denial or delay of required services or limitations on the required continuum of services to students?
I am encouraged to report that ISBE specifically requested the raw data and summary from CPAA’s 2016-2017Special Education Survey, which we will provide to them with names, schools, and other identifying information removed.
Additionally, CPAA will take this opportunity to collect updated information on the specific key questions at the heart of the ISBE inquiry process. Tomorrow, you will receive a very short “Yes” or “No” survey focused on the four questions listed above. Please share and discuss these questions with your IEP teams if you believe it will help you to provide complete and accurate feedback on the survey.
Thank you for supporting CPAA’s work. It would not be possible without you.