Attorney General Bonta Opposes Proposal to Remove Reporting Requirements that Help Shine Light on Race-Based Disparities in Students Identified for Special Education

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today co-led a coalition of 16 attorneys general in filing a comment letter opposing the Trump Administration’s proposal to remove certain reporting requirements that help the U.S. Department of Education determine whether local education agencies have significant disparities in representation in special education programming for children with disabilities based on race. Data and research have shown for decades that students are disproportionately identified for special education and related services, and disproportionately placed in segregated, restrictive special education settings, based on race and ethnicity. As such, it is necessary for the Department to evaluate whether states are using approaches that accurately identify and address this imbalance, rather than obscure it. California has a longstanding commitment to gathering and reporting detailed information on student’s educational experiences to promote equitable access to education for all students regardless of race, ethnicity, and disability status.  

“The Trump Administration wants to get rid of reporting requirements that help shine a light on race-based disparities in special education for students with disabilities,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The disturbing reality is that children of color are disproportionately — and often mistakenly — represented in special education. Transparency in identifying and reporting this data is critical to addressing longstanding racial and ethnic inequities that remain pervasive and deeply problematic in our classrooms today. I stand with attorneys general from across the country in defense of efforts to improve, not obscure, how this data is collected and measured to build a better educational system that lifts up and supports all our students.”

Children of color are identified as children with disabilities at substantially higher rates than their peers, and there is a strong concern that some of these children may have been improperly identified as children with disabilities, putting them at a disadvantage in their education. Misidentification interferes with a school’s ability to provide children with appropriate educational services and raises concerns of potential inequities in both educational opportunities and outcomes. The U.S. Department of Education, through its Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) regulations, has for years sought to bring critical awareness to the problem, and to ensure that state and local educational agencies are working to address it — until now. Under this proposal, the Department seeks to improperly remove the requirement for states to report changes to their methodology for calculating significant disproportionality, falsely claiming that it will relieve states of administrative burden. Yet the data collection is far from burdensome for states — states are only required to submit standard methodologies one time and then resubmit upon any revisions to the standards set. Completing and submitting the form imposes minimal burden, and the benefits of tracking this important information outweigh any conceivable burden this data collection involves. 

If the U.S. Department of Education eliminates the reporting requirement it will be impossible for the Department’s Office of Special Education Programs to assess the reasonableness of any changes that states may make to their policies. Some states may revert to prior practices that could prevent them from identifying the magnitude of racial and ethnic overrepresentation in special education. Without publicly available information on how states calculate this imbalance, decisions about which local education agencies are identified as having imbalances and required to take corrective action will occur behind closed doors, shielded from both Department oversight and meaningful public scrutiny. Reporting is necessary for the Department to evaluate whether states are using appropriate approaches that accurately identify and address disproportionate representation in special education, rather than hide it.

In the comment letter, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition urge the Department of Education to withdraw its proposed rule for these reasons: 

1. Eliminating the states’ obligation to report changes to their methodology for calculating significant disproportionate representation in special education undermines the states’ interest in ensuring equal educational opportunities and outcomes for all students, including students of color and students with disabilities.
2. Removing the reporting requirement will end much-needed oversight and prevent the Department of Education from fulfilling its obligation to evaluate the rationality of changes states may make to their methodologies for calculating significant disproportionality.

Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Illinois, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington in filing the comment letter.

A copy of the letter can be found here.