How Will Schools Provide Special Education During the Coronavirus Crisis?

With a pandemic pressing tens of thousands of the nation's school districts into extended closures, special education administrators across the nation are wrestling with a weighty dilemma: how to provide services to students with disabilities. Federal law mandates that individuals with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in everything schools provide-including online learning. But a mix of factors-lack of clarity in state laws, unclear guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, and a reluctance to run afoul of federal law-has left some school districts struggling to get their online learning programs off the ground. Uncertainty has handcuffed some districts, forcing them to shut down their online learning operations, at least temporarily. Read More