A Contextual Overview of the Modified Consent Decree in the Los Angeles Unified School District

Since 1996, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), located in Southern California, has been under a federal court consent decree requiring compliance with laws pertaining to the delivery of special education services and the elimination of architectural barriers in schools. In 2003, the consent decree was modified, creating performance-based outcomes. This article presents a contextual overview of the modified consent decree (MCD) in the LAUSD and provides a brief discussion of the major provisions of the MCD. It discusses how the MCD's performance-based approach has led to dramatic changes in the way special education is designed and delivered in the LAUSD and how it has improved the district's ability to ensure compliance with federal and state policies and increase the performance of the students it serves. This article also discusses the importance of a data system to a performance-based consent decree, which provides accurate data on which the performance of the district can be measured and through which the district can know where to target interventions and assess their effectiveness. A brief discussion of the three data systems, such as (1) individualized education program (IEP) development and management system; (2) student information system; and (3) decision support system, is presented.