CHICAGO -- For two years, Sandra Bollacker told school officials something was wrong with her son. Unlike his peers, he struggled to write and could barely hold a pencil.
It was only after an outside physician diagnosed Eric Bollacker with autism that Chicago Public Schools acknowledged his disorder in a special education plan. But the boy's mother, like many Chicago parents with special needs children, believes the plan is woefully insufficient. Eric, 10, is now in fourth grade and still struggles to read.
A recent state report shows that Bollacker's experience is far from unique: 40 percent of the 96 schools still scrutinized by the state were not properly implementing these crucial special education plans.
That's just one of 11 findings in the Illinois State Board of Education report, which excoriates the district for its continued failure to comply with federal disability laws.
