Philadelphia: Hundreds of SPED students not getting services; 87% increase in demand
- The end of childhood
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Nov 10, 2025, Philadelphia Inquirer: Some Philly special education students get no speech language services, despite being federally guaranteed them. Here’s why.
Hundreds of Philadelphia School District special education students are not getting services they are legally entitled to receive, those on the ground in city schools say — including speech, occupational therapy, and other supports.
Amid a surge in students needing speech services, there are 25 vacancies, current speech language pathologists said in public testimony to the school board Thursday night. Each of those unfilled speech language pathologist positions would serve one or more district schools.
More than 10,000 district students are federally guaranteed speech services based on their Individualized Education Plans, according to data from the Speech Language Pathologists Initiative for Pennsylvania Schools, a group of district SLPs.
“We need to adequately staff the service providers,” said Emily Joy Goldberg, a speech language pathologist at Benjamin Franklin High School and Science Leadership Academy. “I’ve seen up close that we need to fully staff schools with district SLPs and other related service providers to provide our students what they need to learn.” . . .
But “unfortunately, this scenario” — students going completely without services for extended periods of time — “is not uncommon across the district,” the district SLP group said in written testimony submitted to the school board this month. . . .
A dramatic increase in demand for services
The number of Philadelphia district students entering kindergarten who received Early Intervention services — a program for children with developmental delays — is increasing dramatically, the Philadelphia speech language pathologists’ group said.
In 2024, there were 1,826 students entering kindergarten from Early Intervention; this year, the number jumped to 3,413 — a whopping 87% increase.
“Most of these students will continue to require special education, including speech and language services,” the speech language pathologists wrote.
And while the district hired more special education teachers to accommodate those children — it created 151 more special education positions — “there is no evidence to show a similar increase in the number of related service positions in the budget.”
It is not clear precisely how many students are going without services. . . .
‘They’re not getting what they need in school’
The situation is urgent, said one district speech language pathologist, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal.
“Kids are missing out on services,” she said. “They’re not getting what they need in school.”
Because many schools have unfilled positions, “there is an increase in legal cases, there is an increase in independent evaluations, and it’s a strain on the district’s resources,” the speech language pathologist said.
Even in schools that do have district-related service providers, caseloads are large, the speech language pathologist said. . . .
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