Shelby Webb at The Houston Chronicle:
Students who receive special education services in Texas are more likely to be given some of the harshest punishments in schools, according to an analysis of Texas Education Agency data.
Since the 2013-2014 school year, special education students statewide were sent to alternative education programs run by local juvenile justice systems at the highest rates of any student sub-group, and the second most likely to be sent to disciplinary alternative education programs, which are not directly affiliated with juvenile courts.
Across three other types of discipline tracked by the TEA — including expulsions, out-of-school suspensions and in-school suspensions — special education students across Texas were punished at the second highest rates of any student subgroup, behind only African-American students.
