Why children with disabilities are missing school

A special ed staffing crisis is taking a toll.

View this email online May 19, 2024 Fahmida Azim for NPR Happy Sunday, NPR reader/listener/supporter/fan/friend! I’m Cory Turner, a correspondent on the Ed team, and this week I’ve got something special to share with you. It’s an inside look at a handful of new, deeply reported stories we just released. These stories are all set in Del Norte County, Calif., which is, as I report, hidden like a secret at the northernmost edge of the state, tucked in between Oregon, the frigid Pacific and some of the largest redwood trees in the world. Producer Lauren Migaki and I went to Del Norte because half a dozen families there are suing the school district and state education leaders, arguing that their students with disabilities aren’t getting the education they’re legally entitled to. There are lots of reasons for this, but the main one is that the district is in the throes of a special education staffing crisis.  Lauren and I spent time with two families who are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. One student, Emma, who has a constellation of disabilities including cerebral palsy, missed two months of school earlier this year because the district could not provide her with the aide she needs. The other student, Shawn (a pseudonym), has autism and was also forced to miss two months of school after he was choked by a fill-in aide and the district couldn’t provide him with another one.  I chose to amplify Emma’s and Shawn’s stories for a few reasons. More than 7 million children in the U.S. receive special education services, and, as extreme as things in Del Norte sound, what’s happening there is happening in lots of school districts across the country. A recent, federal survey found that special education jobs are among the hardest to fill nationwide and many were unfilled, even at the start of the school year.  And the stakes are high, especially for Emma, Shawn and their families. Both students are nonverbal – but they do communicate, using an iPad-like device. When Emma and Shawn missed two months of school, though, they lost some of their ability to use this device. Translation: They lost some of their ability to communicate with the world.   The problem here goes way beyond the district itself. Nearly half a century ago, Congress passed a law that said children with disabilities have a right to a “free appropriate public education.” Lawmakers promised to cover 40% of the cost – but they’ve never come close.  You can find the full reporting project, including links to both audio stories, here.  One last thing: This Del Norte project is just one of three new stories Lauren and I reported out during a monster, 2-week trip to California and Oregon in April. We drove 1,900 miles, including one harrowing day that began in Portland, took us through a snowstorm over Mt. Hood, and ended with a pizza dinner in Idaho. We can’t wait to share the next two stories with you.    Thank you so much for reading and for supporting NPR’s journalism. Without you, there’s no us. — Cory Turner, Correspondent, NPR Ed Read More Newsletter continues after sponsor message In other news... Announcing this year’s College Podcast Challenge Honorable Mentions. The College Podcast Challenge, now in its third year, received nearly 500 entries from students in 39 states and the District of Columbia. Back in March, we announced our 10 finalists, and earlier this month, we shared the story of Michael Vargas Arango, grand prize winner of the 2023 competition. Beyond these entries, though, we also received 22 podcasts that caught our ears and that our judges thought had a strong story to tell. Here are the honorable mentions. ALSO ... Deadline Extension! NPR Student Podcast Challenge entries are now due May 31. — Janet Lee, Assistant Producer, NPR Ed A Girl Scouts troop offers hope and “sisters for life” for migrant children. The scouts of Girl Scout Troop 6000 are all recently-arrived migrant children from Latin America. "We share everything here,” says Girl Scout Tahanne during a troop gathering at one of New York City’s largest migrant centers for families. “We come here to be friends, these are my sisters now." she says. Read more here. — Jasmine Garsd, correspondent, NPR National Desk Colleges are bringing the wild things back to campus. Re:wild Your Campus is a national organization that "helps campuses become climate resilient, biodiverse spaces." One college in New Jersey created a pilot program this year, and students are digging it.  — Buffy Gorrilla, NPR freelancer reporter Student protests caused mostly minor disruptions at several graduation ceremonies. Universities from California to New York have struggled to find the right balance in responding to the pro-Palestinian encampments that have sprung up in recent weeks. Read the story here.  — Rebecca Rosman, News reporter, NPR Support your local station with NPR+ NPR+ is a great new way to support mission-driven journalism while getting something great in return (aside from that warm fuzzy feeling of making a difference). Enjoy Sponsor-free listening from your favorite NPR podcasts, and even get fun bonus episodes from select shows like Fresh Air, Planet Money, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me! And more. All in return for a simple recurring donation to your local station. Get NPR+ And here's something to make you smile... Hello! Art director LA Johnson here because I want to share with you that this week we launched a new education video series on Instagram Reels, TikTok and on the NPR homepage.  In our first video, Elissa Nadworny dives into the question: “What will college campuses look like, now that race is no longer a legal consideration in the admissions process?” and she speaks with a researcher who has modeled exactly that query, with intriguing results.  Check out the whole one and a half minute-long video here, and come back every other Wednesday to see the rest of the Ed team get on camera and do some weird things with Legos, clay, balloons and even shadow puppets. I’m very excited about bringing our stories to new audiences, and I welcome your feedback. — LA Johnson, Art Director, NPR Ed As always, thanks for listening, reading and watching. — The NPR Ed Team Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from Central Florida Public Media (edit station). 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