The District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), as the State Education Agency (SEA) for the District of Columbia, is responsible for ensuring Local Educational Agency (LEA) compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, at 20 U.S.C. § 1400, et seq.). In FFY 2011, the District of Columbia included 55 LEAs and served 12,536 students with IEPs. However, in the District of Columbia, public charter LEAs may elect to have the District of Columbia Public Schools (“DCPS”) serve as the LEA for the purposes of IDEA, in which case DCPS becomes responsible for ensuring IDEA compliance. In FFY 2011, 15 public charter LEAs made this election. Therefore, 40 LEAs are referenced when examining performance related to IDEA compliance. It is important to note that some performance indicators addressed in this report utilize previous FFY data as required by the United States Department of Education’s (USDE’s) Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). In the case that prior year data is utilized, its use is referenced accordingly.
