Spec. Ed. Designation Varies Widely Across Country

By Joetta L. Sack

In Compton, Calif., a Los Angeles suburb that has long been mired in poverty and poor achievement, one of every 12 students--about 8 percent--is classified for special education.

On the other side of the continent, in the well-heeled New York City suburb of Greenwich, Conn., the proportion is more than twice as high. In a district where the average price of a house is more than $1 million, about 18 percent of students fall into the special education category.

Those divergent numbers illustrate a stark and troubling fact: The criteria used to identify students as needing special education--one of the most far-reaching decisions in a child's educational career--vary widely throughout the United States and even among districts in the same state. The simple fact of where a child lives can play a greater role in that determination than test scores, teacher...