N.J. Warned in Report on Special Education

TRENTON -- New Jersey’s oversight of local special education programs -- ever a complex and contentious topic -- won some praise but also received warnings from federal monitors in their latest compliance report.
The report from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services includes year-old data, in this case 2009-2010. Still, the federal monitoring represents an annual report card on how well a state serves its special education population, numbering more than 200,000 students in New Jersey.
The state for the first time in three years was placed in a “needs assistance” category in two areas for how quickly it investigates and resolves complaints against districts for not meeting requirements -- from class sizes for students with disabilities, to the availability of programs, to the handling of disputes with parents.