Alan Borsuk:

Milwaukee Public Schools officials expressed confidence Wednesday that continuing improvements they have made in determining whether children need special education help will convince a federal judge that he does not need to force the school system to do more.
While U.S. Magistrate Judge Aaron Goodstein talked in a decision issued Tuesday about “systemic failures” in how MPS assessed children and got them into programs, Patricia Yahle, director of special services for MPS, talked about systemic improvements. Yahle said the Goodstein decision was based on the track record through 2005 and that things had gotten better since.
“We all believe we have made important systemic changes,” she said. “I think that you would definitely see a different picture now. . . . We have moved consistently forward and have made many, many improvements in many aspects of our service.”