Commissioner of Education Mike Morath announced that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) has posted a final strategic action plan for special education. The TEA plans to spend nearly $212 million over the next five years in an attempt to address special education in Texas schools, according to a final action plan.
Significant actions that are part of the final plan include:
- TEA will roll out a large scale statewide special education professional development system, including multiple opportunities for follow-up support for all educators (general education, special education, and others).
- TEA will create a suite of resources intended to be shared with the parents of children suspected of having a disability to help fully inform them of their rights to a free and appropriate public education and accompany those resources with a large outreach effort.
- For students who are found to have needed services that did not receive them, the school system is responsible for providing compensatory services. TEA has identified $65 million to assist school systems in the effective delivery of services.
- TEA will further strengthen its staffing and resources devoted to special education, allowing for greater oversight as well as additional on-site support to local school districts.