Black Children in Special Education in Houston | The Atlanta Post | African-American

Black Children in Special Education in Houston The Atlanta Post African-American News, Business News & Black Politics: "Black Children Incorrectly Labeled As Students With Special Needs April 25, 2011 02:48 PMBy Charlotte Young Like many schools across the nation, lunch price increases and teacher layoffs are some of the issues that plague the Houston Independent School District (HISD). But the district’s minority students face an additional challenge—they are quickly and incorrectly placed in special education classes. It’s an issue that Terry Grier, the HISD superintendent, knew would be a major concern since his first day on the job, he told Politic365. Research conducted in the fall of 2010 by Grier’s administration, as well as an accompanying audit by Boston firm Thomas Hehir and Associates, compared HISD statistics with other school districts. The results were clear: there are 16,386 students classified as special education in HISD schools. Of this number, African American students are the overwhelming majority. Grier believes that the district is also failing in properly assisting its Hispanic students. For instance, they are often ill-prepared in English classes during the early elementary years. As they face difficulties in middle and high school grades, these students must also fight against labels of English language deficiency and special education. Placing substantial amounts of children in special education classes is a problem that has long haunted the minority community. Although the school system is quick to label minority children, they provide a slow response and approach to reversing their mistake."