Bill > H546

This bill aims to improve educational equity in Massachusetts by requiring more detailed and comprehensive data collection and reporting on student demographics and special education services. Specifically, the Massachusetts Department of Education will be mandated to annually analyze and publish student-specific data across various categories, including race, gender, socioeconomic status, disability status, English learner status, and homeless youth status. The data must be presented in an easily accessible, cross-tabulated format that is anonymized to protect individual student privacy. School committees and charter schools will be required to report detailed information about special education services, such as related services, assistive technology, behavioral interventions, and transition services, broken down by demographic groups. The bill also introduces a provision to monitor potential disparities in special education service assignments, particularly noting any statistically significant increases in students with disabilities being placed in substantially separate classrooms following the COVID-19 pandemic, with a specific comparison to the 2018-19 school year baseline. This legislation is designed to help identify and address educational inequities by providing a more granular, data-driven approach to understanding student experiences and service delivery.

Budget and Finance, Education

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H546