Mississippi isn’t ensuring special education students receive all the services they’re entitled to federally, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

A recent report shows Mississippi failing to comply with federal special education requirements in 10 categories, including supervision of how well districts follow laws and by allowing people with suspect qualifications to conduct dispute resolution hearings.

But nothing in the report was particularly surprising to longtime advocates and parents.

“People working with the system have been concerned Mississippi is not compliant,” said Danita Munday, a former Mississippi Department of Education employee turned advocate. “This is validation for what we have been saying for many years.”

The 47-page document outlines numerous areas of n

See Full Page