State of Illinois Board of Education Approves Monitor for Special Education
Written by Jon-Michael Foshee
In the fall of 2016, Chicago public radio station WBEZ reported on a group of special education advocates to get the attention of the State of Illinois Board of Education.
These advocates had uncovered troubling changes to special education programs at the Chicago Public School system, many of which these brave people believed were illegal and “driven by budgetary concerns.”
Their actions triggered a series of investigations into special education regulations and practices at Chicago Public Schools, which resulted in three public hearings in March of 2018, followed by a full report in mid-April compiled from over 8,600 pages of documentation.
And on May 16th, the State of Illinois Board of Education voted unanimously to appoint an independent state monitor to oversee Chicago’s special education program.
“The corrective action and recommendations we offered today are the right first step to helping CPS fully serve all children and families,” State Superintendent of Education Tony Smith said in a statement. “The common good requires uncommonly good public schools. With the State Board’s action today, the public inquiry process concludes, and the road to transformation begins.”
The State of Illinois Board of Education officials found that program reforms made in 2016 violated multiple federal laws and regulations, most notably under the Individuals With Disabilities Act.
“The corrective action and recommendations we offered today are the right first step to helping CPS fully serve all children and families,” Superintendent Tony Smith said in a statement. “The common good requires uncommonly good public schools.”
“If they’re going to say we’ve turned over a new leaf, and we’re going to hear you and we’re going to now fix the problem — I want to know why they didn’t do anything to fix this problem for over a year when we brought them specific instances of this system being broken,” Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey said at a news conference on May 16th.
But some special education advocates do not think one monitor is enough. Superintendent Smith referred to the upcoming reform planning between the Illinois State Board of Education and the Chicago Public School system as the “road to transformation.” The independent monitor position will be appointed for three years, and the general counsel for ISBE and the state’s director of special education will serve in the interim.
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