WA Legislature expands public school oversight of private special ed schools

Students with special education needs face an uphill battle in Washington state. The state has a constitutional obligation to provide basic education for all students, but Washington is among the majority of states facing a shortage of special education teachers.

For students with the highest needs, Washington school districts have increasingly outsourced their education to specialty private schools, which receive public funding. But recent investigations by The Seattle Times and ProPublica showed some key metrics of student progress at the schools weren’t being tracked, and the state failed to address alleged incidents of abuse.

That reporting got the Legislature’s attention. In April, lawmakers voted to tighten regulations and oversight of these schools, which are under the umbrella of "non-public agencies." These schools aren't strictly private schools per se, as they educate and support public school students.

But who was responsible for oversight in these schools has been hazy, the result of which is years of allegations of abuse and complaints regarding the quality of education students were receiving.

The new law will expand oversight of these schools under the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), which is currently overseeing a probe into allegations for one particular chain of schools. The new law will go into effect on July 23.

The new law was galvanized by reporting from ProPublica and The Seattle Times by investigative reporters Michael Reicher and Lulu Ramadan. They looked at one particular chain of schools: the Northwest School of Innovative Learning.

Soundside caught up with Reicher to talk about what they uncovered.

You can read Reicher and Ramadan's investigation here.

Listen to the full interview by clicking "play" on the audio above.