Opinion: The state can’t be trusted to improve Austin ISD
The Austin Independent School District school board recently accepted a Texas Education Agency proposal that includes state oversight for special education. To move forward, Austin ISD needs to be bold and do more than comply with state accountability metrics to improve special education.
The Texas-appointed monitor comes after the district failed to ensure students suspected of having a disability were evaluated in a timely manner in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the nation’s federal special education law. The monitor will also oversee the implementation of additional training.
But there is a problem. The state cannot be trusted to monitor Austin ISD because it has played a significant role in its failures.
The state’s failures are both frightening and exceedingly well documented. Since 2000, the state has reported a shortage of special education teachers and personnel. From 2004 through 2018, the state engaged in an accountability scheme that effectively capped special education identification and led to the delay and denial of special education to thousands of eligible students. Countless students with disabilities from across the state never received services they were entitled to, causing irreparable harm.
Texas has also illegally cut special education funding and continues to be out of compliance with various state and federal special education requirements. Texas has been rated by the U.S. government as “Needs Assistance” in special education every year of the TEA commissioner’s tenure.
It’s true that Austin ISD needs to take responsibility for its shortcomings by taking some clear steps. The most basic is it should begin with a public acknowledgement of its failures beyond a shortage of qualified staffers to conduct evaluations.
Failures include a lack of systemwide planning and prioritization, high rates of turnover in key special education positions, and poor implementation within many schools, especially those serving low-income students of color. There are also no clear, measurable special education goals that extend beyond compliance indicators.
For example, the district should audit school inclusivity and the quality of each child’s individualized educational program and the progress monitoring data documenting growth (or a lack thereof). Publicly sharing the number and type of parent due process complaints as well as special education teacher staffing and turnover information would emphasize the district is taking improvement seriously.
What should be effective immediately is that the district randomly selects 50 students in special education each month. They can audit their records and observe them in classrooms. Based on my own experiences and research studying special education implementation, I think the district would find many students had timely evaluations but were receiving poor-quality services with incomplete or poorly developed learning plans.
Parents already know about these failures firsthand and now lack a sense of trust with the district. The lack of trust means the district cannot self-evaluate its progress and expect the community to accept its assessment.
And that is the biggest hurdle for Austin ISD. Trust. Trust must be rebuilt by partnering with families to collaboratively develop and evaluate measurable goals. A community-based campus evaluation of special education is a good starting point.
Austin ISD should also train staff members, parents and community members to observe and evaluate special education implementation using a co-developed rubric. The district should also provide a sustained program of professional development and support. Teachers need practical skills to teach and manage classrooms with diverse learners. Principals need help modifying budgets, teacher caseloads, and a master schedule that enables general and special education teachers to plan, teach and assess together.
Such training requires sustained efforts, not high-priced consultants who fly in and out, which is a strategy often used to signal an investment but does not lead to lasting change. Austin ISD has been dealt a tough hand given the state’s failures, but that is no excuse for maintaining the status quo. Now is the time for Austin ISD to move beyond compliance and strive for excellence in special education. Anything less is failure.
DeMatthews is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Opinion: The state can’t be trusted to improve Austin ISD
