The top local stories this morning from KERA News: Federal officials will return to Texas late next month to continue investigating whether the state deliberately excluded students from receiving special education services.
Last month, they held a series of public hearings across the state to hear parents talk about their experiences with special education. The Texas Tribune reports that during visits beginning the week of Feb. 27, federal officials will collect information on how the Texas Education Agency evaluated students for special education.
A Houston Chronicle investigation found the TEA capped special education enrollment at 8.5 percent. The national average is 13 percent.
TEA officials have repeatedly denied capping special education services. The agency in November told the federal government that school districts may have misunderstood the 8.5 percent rate as an absolute maximum for the rate of students served.
Other stories this morning:
- T.C. Broadnax takes over as Dallas City Manager next month. He has a big job ahead of him. He’ll oversee more than 13,000 municipal employees and a budget of $3 billion. But he’ll also have the troubled police and fire pension fund, crumbling streets, and a stray dog problem in southern Dallas on his plate. Broadnax says he’s okay with how the City Council handled one of the most pressing issues by delaying a bond election to November.
- Fort Worth surgeon Dr. Robert Anderson spent more than a week in Lebanon with Dallas-based LEAP Global Missions, caring for displaced Syrians living in refugee camps.
You can listen to North Texas stories weekdays at 8:22 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. on KERA 90.1 FM.
