Jan 24, 2025, NWO News Watch: ‘A system in crisis’: Ontario Autism Coalition releases special education report
THUNDER BAY — A new report by the Ontario Autism Coalition shows that families of students being taught in Ontario’s special education classes are raising a number of concerns with how the system is functioning.
The special education survey was released on Thursday, which collected 429 responses from parents with children across 60 school boards. Among the findings were that half of families who were canvassed felt students weren’t getting a meaningful education, that over a third of families were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the development of their child’s individual education plan (IEP), and over half of families said that only some or none of the students’ IEP accommodations were followed consistently.
“The data paints a sobering picture of a system in crisis,” the report stated. “While educators and school staff are working hard to support students, they are doing so within a framework of chronic underfunding and systemic neglect.”
“School boards are left struggling to meet the complex needs of special education students without the resources to hire adequate staff, provide appropriate training or implement necessary support.”. . .
The report also highlighted families’ concerns around student placement, attendance and modified schedules, academic and personal support, student safety, and affected students being excluded from classes or activities.
“To be clear, there are six per cent of children who should be attending school in an Ontario school, and they are not because of a lack of resources,” Cameron said.
While the survey was done by the Ontario Autism Coalition, Cameron said that the respondents were families whose children are in special education classes for any reason, and their survey included families from 60 of Ontario’s 72 publicly-funded school boards, including across Northwestern Ontario. . . .
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