Oversight of Education for Students with Special Needs
Committee of the Whole
November 4, 2026
Good afternoon, Chairman Mendelson and members of the Committee of the Whole. I am Dr. Michelle Walker-Davis, Executive Director of the DC Public Charter School Board (DC PCSB). Thank you for holding this important hearing on education for students with disabilities.
As this committee knows, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) serves as the District’s lead agency for special education with DC PCSB playing an important role in ensuring that public charter schools meet their responsibilities to students with disabilities.
Through ongoing oversight, DC PCSB reviews school practices and data to assess compliance with federal and local law—including how schools track enrollment, monitor student progress, and communicate with families. For instance, we designed our academic accountability system, ASPIRE, to provide more information on specific student populations, including students with disabilities. In a couple of short months, we will release the full school by school ASPIRE scores and levels. Finally, our work extends beyond compliance: we bring school leaders together to share approaches, discuss challenges, and learn from one another.
Today, the public charter sector includes 65 local education agencies serving nearly half of the District’s public school students. Students with disabilities account for roughly one-fifth of all public charter school students, a figure that continues to grow annually.
But these students are so much more than a number. They are friends and family, neighbors, and vital members of their communities. So how are we doing by them? On the one hand, we are gratified to see continued progress.
Last year, English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency among students with disabilities increased from 10.1 percent to 11.5 percent and math proficiency increased from 6.8 percent to 7.5 percent. ELA proficiency is 4.7 points higher and math proficiency is 1.2 points higher than before the pandemic. On the other hand, nearly nine of every ten District students with disabilities are not proficient at ELA and math—a sobering statistic that only underscores the scope of the challenge. Simply put: we are not where we should be, where we want to be, where we need to be.
Improving outcomes also requires opportunities for schools to learn from one another. Through our Professional Learning Communities, educators share practices and discuss challenges in serving students with disabilities. During an in-person site visit to Perry Street Prep PCS last month, participants explored the school’s systems for engaging students and providing accommodations, observed special education classrooms, and reflected together on how those practices support students with disabilities.
Alongside this work, adequate funding remains essential. We recognize the District’s fiscal constraints and continue to support a new Level 5 weight in the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula for students with the greatest needs—an approach endorsed by the Deputy Mayor’s 2023 school funding study and the 2024–2025 UPSFF Working Group. If that is not feasible this next fiscal year, we support increasing the special education schools weight from 1.17 to 1.9.
That stability is especially important for St. Coletta PCS, which serves students with the most intensive disabilities and which the Chairman has called a “jewel of the District.” Hearing its student choir recently was a powerful reminder of the school’s impact. We appreciate this committee’s ongoing support for St. Coletta, including $2.7 million in supplemental funding last year, and we urge you to provide sufficient, stable funding as we approach the FY28 budget.
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify and for your partnership in working to improve the lives of students with disabilities across the District. I look forward to your questions.