The U.S. Department of Education releases an annual assessment of states’ performance under the Education for Students with Disabilities Act. (Thinkstock)
States are increasingly struggling to meet their obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, with federal officials saying a growing number of states are failing to meet their requirements for several consecutive years.
The U.S. Department of Education says just 20 states are “meeting the requirements” under federal special education law to educate students with disabilities ages 3 to 21. The department considers all other states to be “in need,” and most of them have been so rated for at least two consecutive years.
Under IDEA, the Department of Education is required to evaluate each state’s provision of special education services each year and assign it to one of four categories: “meets requirements,” “needs assistance,” “needs intervention,” or “needs significant intervention.”
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The decision announced this month comes after a review of the 2022-2023 school year.
Of the states deemed in need of assistance, 25 states and Washington, D.C., have received the designation for two or more consecutive years, three more than last year, according to the Department of Education.
Failure to achieve “meeting requirements” status over multiple years is significant, and under the law, the Department of Education must take enforcement action, which could include requiring states to access technical assistance or redirecting funding to areas deemed deficient.
No states were classified as “intervention needed” or “significant intervention needed.”
The states that met the “meeting requirements” criteria were: Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Another evaluation of programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities up to age 2 found that 29 states were “meeting the requirements.” Two states were classified as “needing intervention,” and the rest were in the “needs assistance” category.
The Education Department said it would release more detailed information on how states performed in August.
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