A sweeping look at school removals nationwide, Oregon looks to pay parents who provide full-time care for children with disabilities, a prom for people with disabilities in Idaho gets a whopping 300 RSPVs and more news for the week ending June 24, 2023.

Spotlight

This is a sweet one: Disability Rights advocate smashes celebrity birthdays record A U.K. disability advocate who has Down Syndrome does it for the record books. (Guinnessworldrecords.com)

Education

‘She just wants a friend’: Families push for full school days for children with disabilities Advocates say schools across the U.S. are removing students with disabilities from the classroom, often in response to challenging behavior, by sending them home or cutting back on the days they’re allowed to attend. (ABCnews.go.com via AP)

Food

Eater and Disability Visibility Present: Low and Slow Low and Slow is a partnership with Eater featuring a series of interviews, essays, and reported pieces on eating and cooking by disabled people. (Eater.com)

New York

MTA Expands Paratransit E-Hail Pilot, But Boosts Price and Caps Number of Rides

Very happy to learn that NYC started this pilot program that gives riders more freedom. The boosted price, FYI, is $5, which is what participants pay in Westchester. It adds up fast. (thecity.nyc)

States

Chicago: CPS boosts school budgets with focus on special education — and more property taxes Buoyed in part once again by federal COVID-19 relief funding, Chicago Public Schools will spend about $220 million more in the 2023-2024 school year to hire teachers and other support staff. (chicago.suntimes.com)

Oregon: Oregon bill looks to pay parents who provide full-time care for children with disabilities After a number of hurdles, the bill now has a good chance of reaching the finish line. (kpic.com)

Washington State: WA Legislature expands public school oversight of private special ed schools Recent investigations by The Seattle Times and ProPublica showed some key metrics of student progress at the schools weren’t being tracked, and the state failed to address alleged incidents of abuse. (kuow.org)

Idaho: A prom for adults with developmental disabilities is a huge hit in Nampa  The prom for people with special needs wasn’t in and of itself unusual, except that this one had more than 300 RSVPs. (ktvb.com)

Intl.

Europe’s hidden shame: Forced sterilisation of women with disabilities is still a concern Forced sterilisation of women with disabilities is still happening in Europe. The European Parliament is currently debating a binding legislation that would make this practice illegal. (euronews.com)