Testimony: Oversight of Education for Students with Disabilities
Senior Policy Attorney Danielle Robinette testified before the Committee of the Whole regarding special education in the District of Columbia. DC’s special education system has been shaped by decades of litigation as families repeatedly seek enforcement of their children’s educational rights. Persistent shortcomings show that students with disabilities are often treated as an afterthought, despite the District’s legal and moral obligations. Moving forward, we urge the Committee to make special education a clear priority in planning, funding, and implementation.
The District is Failing to Provide Transportation for Students with Disabilities
Parents and guardians of children with disabilities living in the District of Columbia, along with The Arc of the United States, filed a class action lawsuit on March 7, 2024 against DC’s Office of the State Superintendent for Education for failing to provide safe, reliable and effective transportation to and from schools for children with disabilities, thereby denying students equal access to their education and unnecessarily segregating them from their peers.