By Christina Samuels
Improving the academic outcomes for California students with disabilities will require an extensive revamp of the states education system, a task force said Wednesday. Among them: a revision of teacher preparation, support for early learning, and an overhaul of special education financing with an eye to more local control and accountability.
Those recommendations are part of a 100-page report drafted by Californias Statewide Task Force on Special Education and submitted to the state board of education. (The task force also released an executive summary of its findings, as well as four subcommittee reports.)
About 613,000 students ages 6 to 21 receive special education services in California, about 10 percent of the nations total special education population of 5.8 million in that age range. The graduation rate for California students with disabilities is about 60 percent, compared to 80 percent for the student population as a whole.