Nov. 26--Chicago Public Schools said Wednesday it will add dozens of teacher and aide positions for students with special needs, a reversal from previously announced cuts to special education.
Some district-operated schools are still losing special education jobs, according to a CPS accounting of positions allotted to each building.
But after announcing shortly after the beginning of the academic year that it would cut special ed positions, CPS said an unspecified "flawed funding formula" and an appeals process led it to not only restore some of its earlier cuts, but add positions.
Overall, about 121 special education teachers and 24 classroom aides will be added compared with last year, CPS said.
The result is that this year's budget for special education spending is "largely unchanged" from the last budget year, district spokeswoman Emily Bittner said. The move comes at a cost -- Bittner said it will increase the district's budget deficit.
The cuts had sparked protests from advocates, parents and principals who questioned how CPS would adhere to legal regulations that govern funding and services for special education students.
The complaints led CPS to restore some of those positions even before the appeals process ended. Wednesday's announcement represented an even broader reversal of the earlier plans.
"It indicates that the school district has issued a complete refutation of the original cuts issued by the special education department that were presented to the board in September," disability rights expert Rodney Estvan said.
District CEO Forrest Claypool said in a statement that CPS was "committed to implementing an improved, bottom-up process for next school year."
"We recognize this process has been challenging for some of our families and school leaders," Claypool said.
Enrollment figures distributed shortly after the school year began indicated the district would lose dozens of special education positions, most of them aides, on top of other district spending cuts announced this summer by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CPS officials.
With Wednesday's announcement, Tanner Elementary in the Greater Grand Crossing area, which had been projected to lose two teachers and two aides, will gain five teachers and lose no aides.
