A Think Twice Review of:

Review of Outmatched: Special Education Can't Solve Problems Rooted in the Education Delivery System

Think Twice - Jan 22, 2026

Publisher/Think Tank - Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE)

Author(s) - Ashley Jochim and Alexander Kurz

While special education in the United States has advanced civil rights and educational equity, persistent concerns about inequity, labeling, and segregation remain. A recent Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) report proposes a dramatic restructuring of special education, arguing that rising identification rates and persistent achievement gaps stem from a general education system built for uniformity rather than diversity.

Reviewer(s) - Federico Waitoller, University of Illinois Chicago

However, in his review of Outmatched: Special Education Can't Solve Problems Rooted in the Education Delivery System, University of Illinois Chicago professor Federico Waitoller warns that the report moves prematurely toward solutions without establishing a sufficiently evidence-based understanding of the underlying problems-or those proposed solutions.