The state of Michigan will pay nearly $10 million into a special education fund to help children in Flint Community Schools and other Genesee County schools.
The settlement brings to an end a 10-year federal lawsuit against the state for its role in the Flint water crisis.
Jessica Levin is with the Education Law Center, one of the groups that sued on behalf of the plaintiffs.
"What this settlement does is address those systemic problems that were underlying, even before the water crisis," she said, "and then ... encompass the students who had disabilities that were exacerbated or may have been caused by the water crisis."
Part of the fund will pay for financial incentives to encourage University of Michigan-Flint students to become social workers or special education teachers in Flint Community Schools. It will also pay to improve preschool education and to hire additional special education support staff and literacy specialists for K through 12 schools in Genesee County.
Other parts of the agreement include a Special Education Fund administrator, who will issue bi-annual audits on how the fund is being spent, and who will be paid by GISD, not the fund.
According to the ACLU of Michigan's summary of the settlement, there's also $2.5 million for five years for a three-person Education Benefit Review team that will "create special education plans tailored to meet students' individual needs, train teachers, and ensure students receive an education free of disability discrimination."
And there's hundreds of thousands of dollars that could go toward hiring an outside firm to evaluate Flint Community Schools, its special education services, and its preschool programs.
