- More than 75 people attend a state meeting about special education
- Parents raised concerns about students receiving specialized services, communication with local schools and student discipline
- Attendees told Bridge they hope state officials take their concerns seriously and make changes
SAGINAW — Dozens of Michigan parents and advocates gathered Monday to demand that local schools and state officials provide more support for students with disabilities.
More than 75 people packed a State Board of Education Special Education Committee meeting in Saginaw. It was the committee’s first public meeting outside of Lansing since the state board formed the bipartisan group in June and charged it with finding ways to improve services for students with disabilities.
“We acknowledge that we are in a tough place,” State Board of Education president Pamela Pugh, a Democrat from Saginaw, told the audience. “We acknowledge that we do not have all the answers. We acknowledge that this process is something that we set out to do, not even knowing which direction to go in, but knowing that we needed to continue to hear from parents.”
Parents shared stories of students with disabilities not receiving enough specialized services to learn in their classrooms and instances where parents had to battle their local schools.
Terricina Jackson, an advocate in Saginaw and parent of a 9-year-old son with autism, said she hopes “the state holds the administrators and the district responsible for the violation of children’s rights, the implementation of IEPs (individualized education programs), the data that is not being provided to families.”
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“I want the board to hold these schools accountable, the ISD accountable for the lack that we are all experiencing. I’m not sure that’s going to happen. “
Jackson said Monday’s meeting involved “a bunch of photo opps. I think that they allowed us to express our concern because they know that families need to be heard, but actually implementing, I’ve not seen anybody do that in five years.”
Attendees told Bridge they want schools to provide support for students and for the state to hold schools accountable for their actions.
Sarah Earle, a parent of a 14-year-old, told Bridge she hopes her family’s and others’ concerns are heard and “that change is made” across the state.
“These kids deserve the very best just like everybody else.”
Attendees shared experiences in small groups with their discussions recorded on AI tools. The state plans to compile responses from multiple meetings.
In one small group, participants discussed students needing one-on-one paraprofessionals, changes to state teacher credentials, and concerns that students are losing out on key help that would allow them to learn.
“Parents should not have to reach a breaking point to get their children help,” said Jennifer Gruesbeck of Saginaw township during the public comment portion of the meeting. “We should not have to become experts in special education, constantly advocate, document every incident, attend endless meetings, put our jobs in jeopardy, and fight for basic services just to ensure our children have access to an education.”
Some traveled far to share their experience. Carrie Dickerson, a parent and advocate, said she travelled two hours to attend the meeting.
“While efforts to travel the state are appreciated, many families cannot make a trip like this.” Dickerson said. “Parents of children with disabilities often face significant barriers, including work schedules, caregiving responsibilities, transportation challenges, and disability-related needs of their own or their children.”
The committee plans to hold meetings in Oakland, Grand Traverse and Marquette counties in the future, according to a news release. The dates for these meetings have not yet been publicly released. Pugh said the committee also plans to hold virtual sessions.
There were 226,800 Michigan students receiving special education last school year in Michigan public, private or homeschool settings. They’re part of a system some say is filled with problems.
Schools continue to face high special education teacher shortages, and as of last year, Michigan had one of the nation’s highest rates of special education drop outs.
Michigan reimburses local districts for a percentage of the cost of providing special ed services and transportation. That’s in addition to a per-pupil foundation allowance from the state’s School Aid Fund. Last year, advocates called for the state to move toward a weighted funding model that provides more state money for students with the highest needs., arguing the current system is inequitable.
Meanwhile, parents and advocates have raised concerns about the state’s complaint process which allows a parent to file a free complaint against their local district.
A 2025 Bridge examination of state records found that since 2018, state investigations stemming from parent complaints had jumped 21%, while the overall population of special education students increased just 3.6%. Advocates previously told Bridge the system was stacked against parents — making them fight for services that are supposed to be guaranteed by law.
Kourtney Sabourin, a parent of an 11-year-old with autism, told Bridge she has filed four state complaints and “every time I’ve been dissatisfied.”
She said districts know they “are going to get a slap on the hand” by the state if they violate rules, but “they’re not afraid of anything and students continue to suffer.”
The meeting on Monday comes as the Michigan Department of Education analyzes public comment over a set of changes it’s proposing to special education rules.
One contentious idea is to scrap the so-called “stay put” provision. Currently, when a parent or guardian files a special education complaint with the state, the department can require that the student remain in their current classroom or specialized program while it investigates. But MDE says the stay-put provision applies to legal proceedings rather than departmental investigations and that it has only been invoked once in the 47-year history of the state complaint process. It says the change aligns with federal disability law.
The Autism Alliance of Michigan and other student advocacy groups are opposed to the proposal
State Superintendent Glenn Maleyko, who attended Monday’s meeting, said that since he started a listening tour in February, special education is the top concern.
“We know it’s very important,” Maleyko said. “It’s probably one of the more challenging areas of education, but we really need to work together.”
This article first appeared on Bridge Michigan and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. 
