National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” program sought out the expertise of UW–Madison’s Julie Mead for a report on how parents of special education students are advocating for their children who have lost access to essential programming and services due to schools going remote during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While distance learning has been difficult for students generally, the report explains, it has been devastating for the more than 7 million special education students in the U.S. Some parents, who have seen their children regress, are filing lawsuits against school districts to improve the situation.
Mead identifies a potential problem with these suits: “Students with disabilities require programming that is special, right? That’s the whole point of special education,” she says.
“For the very reason that each of these students is different and needs different services, it may be hard to get courts to recognize them as a class,” Mead adds. “Instead, states and districts may be overwhelmed with individual special education complaints, which ironically could delay decision-making.”
Mead is the associate dean for education at the School of Education and a professor with the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis.
Access the full report on NPR’s website, here.