Students Lose Out After CPS Secretly Crafts New Special Ed Manual

CPS Logo
CPS Board of Education photo from Jan. 26, 2017. Andrew Gill / WBEZ
CPS Logo
CPS Board of Education photo from Jan. 26, 2017. Andrew Gill / WBEZ

Students Lose Out After CPS Secretly Crafts New Special Ed Manual

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Last year, Chicago Public School overhauled its special education program—in secret, and behind closed doors, with consultants who had no special education experience. The result was a set of guidelines that limited services many special education students in CPS had come to rely on.

 A WBEZ investigation into CPS’s overhaul of the program found that some students lost out on services like access to physical therapy, psychological support, busing, and summer school.

WBEZ education reporter Sarah Karp stops by the Morning Shift to break down the new guidelines, what cuts were made and why, and how students and families were affected.