The State of Special Education: Wins, Worries, and What's Ahead

States, districts, and schools are navigating an increasingly complex special education landscape. Severe staffing shortages have long been a challenge, but rising student needs combined with declining overall enrollment are stretching already-strained systems even further. Where compliance has always been critical, the bar for demonstrating it is rising. Adding to this complexity is the rapid expansion of private, charter, and virtual learning environments, each with different structures and varying levels of state oversight. As students move across these settings, leaders are asking how they can ensure consistent support for students with disabilities no matter where they learn.

These challenges are real, but so is the progress. States are finding ways to move beyond stopgaps – rethinking service delivery, leveraging new technology tools, and building more sustainable systems.

Led by Penny Schwinn, former Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Education, this interactive roundtable will bring together a group of state and district leaders, policymakers, and practitioners for a candid conversation about what's working and what's not. State leaders will kick off with reflections on wins and worries in their own contexts, followed by small-group discussions where participants can dig deeper, compare notes, and exchange ideas across roles and regions.

RSVP recommended due to limited capacity: https://forms.gle/Qa3MgJDDqkeKHxUdA