Unfortunately, special ed in most public schools is a trap to get more tax dollars out of the state and feds for these kids. You have a true "problem", but so many kids do not. Disorganization - the "disability" that time usually cures.
Here in my new SD, 24% of all kids in the SD are in special ed ! Unbelievable. Only 1% is for gifted ed, and that's only in high school. I put the high number down to the fact that there are a lot of illegals in this area and anyone whose 1st language is not English automatically goes into special ed.
My kids' new school had lots of illegal alien children in it, and those kids got tons of support. My daughter (with an MRI that literally shows she has about 1/2 a brain) who has worked so hard to stay at grade level and starts to slip in 3rd grade could not get any support. She was just supposed to go on to fourth grade unprepared.
My other daughter was in the gifted program, and that was a total joke. They did absolutely nothing. Plus the school was so bad they didn't have science, music, PE, and art was only once a month and run by parent volunteers. My gifted daughter was bored to tears.