House committee Passes Seclusion & Restraints Bill

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The Committee on Education and Labor of the House of Representatives approved a bill limiting the use of seclusion and restraints on students. Here is the official release. The official name of the bill is H.R. 4247. Here is website with additional resources concerning the bill. An article in Disability Scoop also discusses the legislation

Among other things, the bill limits the use of these techniques to cases of imminent danger; requires that staff using these techniques be properly trained; outlaws mechanical restraints; requires parental notification and establishes oversight mechanisms.

The legislative effort follows the GAO report last spring that detailed a ton of abuses of school children, most of whom were children with disabilities. The GAO study followed a similar report by the National Disability Rights Network entitled "School is Not Supposed to Hurt."

The bill now moves to the full House for a vote. If you care about this issue, please call or write or email your Representative in the House. This website will help you find and contact your Congressperson.

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2011 Federal Education Budget: What's in it for Special Ed?

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The 2011 budget proposed by the Obama Administration provides 12.8 Billion Dollars for Special Education Programs. Here is the analysis by the U. S Department of Education. I tend to get overwhelmed by big numbers, perhaps inspired by former Senator Dirksen who used to say, "... a million dollars here, a million dollars there, and pretty soon you're talking about a lot of money." Maybe modernly we should change "million" to "billion" or even "trillion," yet I digress.

When the Congress passed IDEA, the federal special education law, in 1975, it promised full funding of IDEA which was supposed to be 40% of the excess cost of special education. The proposed budget continues the 17% funding level. Many groups have commented that this is not in keeping with the full funding campaign pledge. For example, here is an article by the Council for Exceptional Children.

Another issue will be the hole created by the disappearance of stimulus funds. The Recovery Act poured a lot of money into education, including special ed. The 2011 budget provides no help for school districts who will no longer have access to these funds.

I am aware that the economy is not doing well. I also am not among those who necessarily equate the number of dollars budgeted to the quality of services received. Nonetheless, this budget is disappointing. Special education remains the biggest unfunded mandate in the federal system. I was hoping for more funding!

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Is Special Ed Too Litigious or Not Litigious Enough?

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The number of due process hearings in special ed disputes has increased nationwide over the last two decades. This link is to a pennlive.com article discussing the topic. The article quotes Professor Perry Zirkel for some of the reasons for the increase, including the recognition of autism and ADHD as disabilities for purposes of eligibility.

I have great respect for Professor Zirkel and I generally agree with him. One area where we differ, though is whether the special ed hearing system is overlegalized, as he contends. I contend that in the ten busiest jurisdictions, the system probably is overlegalized. In other places, especially in rural or isolated areas of the country, however, I think that the system is underlegalized. I am active in ACRES, the rural special education organization, and many of their members agree with me on this point. There are many places where parents, and sometimes even school districts, cannot find a lawyer familiar with special ed law. As the article above suggests, the income of the parents may be the best indicator of whether they can assert their rights under the procedural safeguards.

I don't think that increasing the number of due process hearings is a goal, but if the problem is that there are parts of the country where legal representation is unavailable, that is not healthy. Similarly, if there are people not assessing procedural safeguards because they are not wealthy, maybe we should design a new and different system.

What has been your experience? What do you think?

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Charters: Students With Disabilities Need Not Apply?

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That is the title of a very good op-ed piece that recently appeared in Education Week by Professor Thomas Herir of the Harvard School of Education. Here is a link. I want to thank professor Herir for giving me permission to quote from his article in this blog.

Here is a quote:

"With the Obama administration and many state governors calling for more charter schools, it may be time for policymakers to address directly the issue of these schools’ imbalanced enrollment of students with disabilities.

The enthusiasm for charter schools, which was also high during the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, reflects the desire of many parents to have choice within the public system. This desire has only been heightened by research showing superior results obtained by charters.

In a performance comparison of Boston charter school students with those not admitted, for example, Harvard University professor Thomas J. Kane found that the students attending charters outperformed their peers at traditional public schools. His research, however, was designed with the recognition that charter students are different along some critical, perhaps immeasurable, dimensions from students attending traditional schools. This is especially true in relation to students with disabilities: Traditional public schools are serving far greater numbers of them than charter schools, particularly those whose disabilities require significant special education services."

The article then goes on to cite a number of studies that show that students with disabilities are under-represented in charter schools. This is disturbing and brings to mind the recent post on these pages about the law review by Professor Mark Weber regarding some issues with charter schools and kids with disabilities. As the political support for charters increases, we need to keep a vigilant eye on how charters are welcoming and educating kids with disabilities.

What has your experience with charters been like?

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