Parents of Montgomery County special education students say they are worried secondary learning centers are being phased out of county schools because minorities are over-represented in the learning centers, not because the centers aren’t working.

The learning centers will operate during the 2007-2008 school year, but they will not accept new classes of students. School officials have said they are concerned about disproportionate representation of blacks and Hispanics in special education programs, but they have maintained poor academic performance is the main reason for phasing out the learning centers.