What is Special Education?

Special education is designed to address the needs of handicapped and learning disabled students within the public school setting and to ensure that each child receives a Free and Appropriate Public Education.  
Special Education is one of the most contentious sites in the parent / school relationship.

Both students and parents possess legal due process rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Parents have the right to be the legal advocate for their child. The IDEA guarantees that each special education student must have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and that parents are equal status participants with professionals on the IEP team that designs the appropriate educational plan and services rendered for each special needs child.

California Students

The California Department of Education reports serving 6, 224,403 within the public school system during the 2002-2003 school year (figure includes youth authority students and students within special schools).

In California, during 2002-2003 school year, 1,565,675 K-12 students were enrolled in special education.  

Los Angeles Unified served a total of 1,736,248 students (general and special education combined). Los Angeles Unified served 372, 185 special education students.
Orange County served 512,105 students with 50,236 of those students enrolled in special education. 

Each student has an Individual Education Plan, created by an IEP team.