A proposed bill on Beacon Hill sponsored by Newton’s state senator would require the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to publish more detailed student data each year, with a particular focus on special education access.

Filed by Sen. Cynthia Creem, the measure would require school districts to report exactly which special education services students receive, allowing the state to identify disparities in how support is delivered.

It would also require the state to make this information easily searchable and cross tabulated by race, gender, disability type, socioeconomic status, English-learner status, and homelessness to give families and policymakers a clearer picture of inequities across districts and individual schools.

“S.317 ensures that families, educators and the state finally have clear, transparent data to better identify problematic demographic patterns in our education system,” Creem said in an interview. “Better data will help support earlier interventions and assist policymakers in creating more tailored and targeted policy solutions.”

Beth Berman, a Newton resident and social worker, said her daughter received special education services in the Newton Public Schools from kindergarten through age 22 after being diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, epilepsy and multiple learning disabilities.

At Underwood Elementary, her daughter had a one-on-one aide, occupational therapy, reading pullouts, summer services, and even supervision during the after-school program—support Berman said is rare today.

Those services changed when her daughter moved to F.A. Day Middle School. She was placed in a sub-separate program, a small classroom with students who had higher support needs, which Berman said caused her daughter’s academic progress to stall.

When she sought an alternative placement, Berman said the school did not provide support, forcing her into what she described as an “expensive and acrimonious” legal process to secure an out-of-district therapeutic school.

“It’s a fight for parents every step of the way, because resources are few, and it depends on the political landscape of how supported teachers and specialists are,” she said. “Socioeconomics is one of the biggest barriers in Newton.”

Berman said measurable and readable data would be helpful to show how special education resources are being used.

“I’ve had some parents say she was using a lot of resources,” Berman said. “I thought, if you want a brain-damaged child, then you can have her aide.”

NPS Superintendent Anna Nolin said she welcomes the data collection proposed in Creem’s bill.

Nolin said she does not believe special education students are denied access to support any more than non-special education students in Newton. She said the district’s programs are strong and even “dominate the support landscape” in NPS.

She noted that the district has built an internal dashboard capable of breaking down the types of information outlined in the bill.

“We believe parents should see how their kids are doing in real time and be empowered partners at the table,” Nolin said. “The data helps make Individual Education Program and non-IEP meetings more productive and ensures parents have equal footing and understanding when they meet with educators.”

Responding to concerns from parents who said they needed legal counsel to secure services, Nolin said that while few general-education supports have been integrated since the COVID pandemic, NPS has added staff and resources to expand and integrate five in-house special education programs.

“Parents also need to know that unless we are given the resources to support their children—staffing, training and support—we cannot effectively meet their needs,” Nolin said. “And in Newton, after six years of budget cuts, we struggle at times to provide what I would call the best level of support for all kids.”