Special needs is not a con - but it is a victim of mission creep.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

When 1.7 million children - one in five of England's classroom population - is described as having special educational needs, it seems clear the term has succumbed to mission creep. What do we know about these children? The Department for Education published an analysis of special needs this week. Five facts caught my attention:

1. There's a racial divide. Chinese pupils are least likely to have special needs at primary and secondary school. Black pupils are most likely to have special needs at primary. At secondary, black pupils are most likely to be on the lower tiers of special needs - known as school action and school action plus.