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Inclusive Leadership Lab
The Changemaker
May 6, 2026 | For special education directors, superintendents, and school leaders
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Subject Line
But is it working? The harder question for SPED leaders this week.
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From the Lab
But is it working?
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IDEA was written 50 years ago with the intent to provide equitable access to a Free and Appropriate Public Education for all students. Even then, the authors knew this was a heavy lift. It required checks, balances, and adequate funding. The federal government committed to funding 40% of the cost of educating the “average pupil.” It has occasionally reached 18%. It currently hovers around 12%. States fill the rest.
In Kansas, the law says the state funds 92% of excess costs. That target would be easier to hit if the federal government met its obligation, but Kansas has not met its own fiscal responsibility since 2010-2011. The proposal for FY 26-27 covers 65-67%.
Schools are still mandated to provide every service a student with a disability needs to access FAPE. Regardless of funding. So the money comes from somewhere else.
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That is the question I asked in my dissertation on quality of life for recent IDEA graduates and completers with IDD. Many report being unemployed or underemployed. Lacking a network of friends. Limited access to their community. Why? Where did it break? They all had postsecondary transition plans with employment and independent living goals that were appropriate to their circumstances. And it still broke.
Courageous leadership is taking a deep breath and asking, “What else isn’t working?” Funding is broken. Yes. But if IDEA were fully funded tomorrow, would the majority of our graduates experience an equitable quality of life because they had equitable access to FAPE?
There are essentially zero federal supports right now. Ensuring FAPE is up to each leader. You have to rely on each other for the checks and balances that have been growing for 50 years and just stopped.
— Dr. Nikki Harding, Founder & CEO
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The Week in Context
What just happened, and why it sharpens the question.
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Three things hit the field in the past seven days that should be on every leadership team’s radar.
1. The federal civil rights backstop has functionally collapsed. On April 28, Senator Bernie Sanders’ office released a report titled Justice Denied. The Office for Civil Rights reached 112 resolution agreements in 2025 out of roughly 12,000 pending cases. One percent. Disability discrimination resolutions dropped from 390 to 83. Of 172 pending restraint and seclusion cases, OCR resolved zero. The next day, Education Secretary Linda McMahon told the Senate she is still planning to move IDEA programs out of the Department of Education entirely.
2. The shortage is structural, not seasonal. The Education Policy Innovation Collaborative reported this month that special educators are 31% more likely to leave their positions than elementary teachers, and 55% more likely to leave mid-year. Nationally, the field is losing more teachers than the pipeline produces. Every year.
3. AI is in IEP writing whether districts wrote a policy or not. 57% of special education teachers reported using AI to help write an IEP or 504 plan during the 2024–25 school year. Two states require districts to have an AI policy. Forty-eight do not. The teachers are not waiting.
Each of these is a story on its own. Together, they are part of the answer to the question above. The federal scaffolding around FAPE is thinner than it has been in decades. The workforce that delivers FAPE is shrinking. The tools educators are reaching for are unregulated.
If the question “is it working?” was uncomfortable five years ago, it is unavoidable now.
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One Resource
Worth your Sunday afternoon.
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The Sanders report is the single most important document published this year for anyone who runs special education in a school district. It is 39 pages. The executive summary is four. Read Justice Denied: How Trump’s Office for Civil Rights Reached a 12-Year Low in Protecting Students from Discrimination before your next leadership meeting. Bring the four pages with you.
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Ask Dr. Grimmwood
The Inclusion Inbox
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This week’s letter
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Dear Inclusion Inbox,
May 4, 2026
I am writing because I am frustrated and honestly, I do not know where else to turn. My son is in fifth grade and has an IEP for a learning disability in reading. We are now in May and I just attended his IEP meeting last week. When the team shared his progress data, I was shocked. He has made almost no measurable progress on any of his reading goals this entire school year.
When I asked the team what happened, I felt like I got a lot of excuses. I was told there had been several substitute teachers covering his resource room, that he had missed some sessions due to school assemblies and testing, and that he sometimes refused to work. I understand that school is complicated, but this is my child. He has been working hard and I feel like the school has not held up their end of the agreement.
I asked if we could change his goals or add more services and I was told that we would just carry the goals over to next year. That did not sit right with me. It feels like we are just going to start all over again in the fall with the same goals he could not meet this year and hope for a different result.
I do not know what my rights are in this situation. I do not know if the school did something wrong. I just know my son deserved better and I want to know what I can do right now, before the school year ends, to make sure this does not happen again.
Sincerely,
A Determined Parent
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Questions for consideration
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When a student makes little to no progress on IEP goals, what obligation does the district have to review and revise the IEP?
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What is a parent’s right to request an IEP meeting outside of the annual review cycle, and how quickly must the district respond?
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What steps can a parent take now, before the school year ends, to document their concerns and protect their child’s rights going into next year?
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Important Notice
Not legal advice. The scenarios and responses in this column are for educational and professional discussion purposes only. This content does not constitute legal advice. For questions specific to your district’s legal obligations or your personal legal rights, please contact your district’s legal counsel or a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.
Privacy reminder: Do not share specific names, student identifiers, district names, or any other personally identifiable information in this public forum. Hypothetical scenarios shared for consideration should be fully anonymized.
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Dr. Grimwood responds
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Your frustration is completely valid, and your instincts are right. A lack of measurable progress on IEP goals is not something a team should simply carry forward and hope for better results next year. IDEA has something to say about exactly this situation.
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Under IDEA at 34 CFR § 300.324(b)(1), IEP teams must revise the IEP when a student is not making expected progress toward annual goals. Carrying goals over without examining why progress did not occur is not a compliant response.
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If your son was regularly missing specially designed instruction due to scheduling conflicts, assemblies, or staffing issues, that raises a question of whether his IEP was being implemented with fidelity. IDEA requires that services be delivered as written. Inconsistent delivery is not a reason to lower expectations. It is a reason to fix the delivery.
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You have the right to request an IEP meeting at any time. You do not have to wait for the annual review. Put your request in writing, send it to the special education director or building principal, and keep a copy for yourself.
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Before the school year ends, ask in writing for:
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All progress monitoring data on your son’s current goals |
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A record of what services were delivered, how often, and by whom |
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Documentation of what changes will be made — not the same goals carried over, but a revised plan |
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Your son has a right to a free and appropriate public education. Appropriate means he must have the opportunity to make meaningful progress. You are asking exactly the right questions, and asking them in writing is where you start.
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About the respondent
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CG
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Dr. Crista Grimwood
Chief Academic Officer, Inclusive Leadership Lab
Special Education Teacher & Administrator
Former Special Education Dispute Resolution Coordinator
Kansas State Department of Education
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Important Notice
This response is for educational and professional discussion purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For questions specific to a complaint, due process matter, or your district’s legal obligations, please contact your district’s legal counsel or a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction. Do not share specific names, student identifiers, or district names in this public forum.
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Bridging the Divide | IRB-approved research
Help us answer the harder question.
If we are going to know what is working — beyond compliance, beyond funding — we have to ask the people doing the work. Our national study examines the relationship between special education and general education leadership. Where it holds. Where it breaks. What it takes to rebuild it.
If you are a special education director, principal, or assistant principal, take 12–15 minutes this week. If you know one, forward this newsletter to them.
Or copy this link: form.jotform.com/260954605814158
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