EFE Releases Striking New Findings About Students With Disabilities In 45 Chicago Charter Schools

CHICAGO, March 16, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Chicago Public Schools Board of Education will soon vote on reauthorization for charter schools operating in Chicago. Reauthorization is essentially the only opportunity for meaningful public oversight of these schools for the next 5 years. These schools must be judged not only by how they serve students overall, but by how they serve the students who most need a quality education including students with disabilities.

As the organization that serves the highest number of students with disabilities in Illinois, Equip for Equality calls on CPS to strengthen the reauthorization process and investigate the troubling new findings about charter school services for students with disabilities.

These findings show, for example, that among charter school students with an IEP (Individual Education Program), just 4% of the students receive an intensive level of services, which is 75% less than in non-charter CPS schools, where 15% of students with disabilities receive this level of services.

New research about the experience of students with disabilities in charter schools includes never-before released data. These findings come from a year-long investigation, and focus on 45 schools that will be considered for renewal in 2015 and 2016.

Visit www.equipforequality.org/charterrenewal/ for more information, including the full letter to CPS and facts sheets with graphs, maps, and information about each campus up for renewal.

Equip for Equality, Inc. is an independent not-for-profit organization designated by the Governor to administer the federal protection and advocacy system for children and adults in Illinois with disabilities. EFE's mission is to advance the human and civil rights of people with disabilities and is accomplished through self-advocacy technical assistance and training, legal services, and public policy initiatives.

CONTACT: Charlie Wysong, Staff Attorney and Skadden Fellow
(312) 895-7340 (office), (773) 633-0206 (cell) or [email protected]

SOURCE Equip for Equality

Related Links

http://www.equipforequality.org

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