NC disabilities group files complaint against state school board
A North Carolina learning disabilities group has filed a complaint with the federal government, alleging that the State Board of Education is discriminating against minority students with disabilities who attend low-performing schools.
Posted — UpdatedThe group, Learning Disabilities Association of North Carolina, filed the complaint on June 1 in response to a policy change the board made in February that determines how students are selected for special education services.
When determining if a student with a specific learning disability is eligible for special education, the state should compare the child's academic achievement to state standards, according to the group. Instead, the state board has altered the policy so that students are compared to other children of the same race in their classroom, school or district, the group said.
"In Y.E. Smith Elementary School in Durham, North Carolina, about half the school's students are black, and only 5.7% of these students pass both the State Reading and Math tests," Barnes wrote. "So, under the current NC Policies, when determining if a black student at Y.E. Smith Elementary has demonstrated 'inadequate academic achievement,' he will be compared to the nearly 95% of black students at Y.E. Smith who do not pass the State Reading and Math tests."
Manning is still a special senior Superior Court judge and continues to oversee the state's efforts to meet the dictates of the Leandro ruling.
In a statement to WRAL News, State Board of Education Attorney Katie Cornetto said staff will review the complaint and respond to the Office for Civil Rights at the appropriate time.
"It is premature to provide comments at this time," she wrote.
"They want to keep these kids out of special ed," Sharpless said in an interview Friday. "It all comes down to money."
"What they're doing is wrong. Keeping disabled children out of special education is wrong, and it’s 2016," she added. "And they knew it was wrong and they did it anyway, and it kills me."
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