Special Education Needs Improvement

But last week the state Department of Education said much more needs to be done. It found that all of the city's 33 schools districts are failing to meet the needs of special education students and that 23 of them require "immediate intervention" to address low test scores and woeful high school graduation rates. Only 37 percent of all special education high school students in New York state graduate. But in New York City the number is far worse: Less than 17 percent of special education students receive regular diplomas.
Of the students evaluated as needing special education, a disproportionate number are black and Latino. While about a third of city public school students are black, more than half of the students classified as emotionally disturbed and more than 40 percent of those labeled mentally retarded are black.

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