Copyright 2000 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
St.
Louis Post-Dispatch
July 5, 2000, Wednesday, FIVE STAR LIFT
EDITION
SECTION: METRO, Pg. B3
LENGTH: 636 words
HEADLINE:
MISSOURI, ILLINOIS RULES ON TEACHING CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
ARE ALMOST;
READY;
REGULATIONS INTERPRET COMPLICATED FEDERAL LAW,
REVISED IN 1997
BYLINE: Holly K. Hacker; Of The
Post-Dispatch
BODY:
This summer, Missouri
and Illinois expect to have new rules spelling out just how they'll comply with
a three-year-old federal law that required sweeping changes in the
education of children with disabilities.
Why has it taken the states so long? Special education
is an incredibly complex area, full of legal requirements and technical terms.
The federal government took two years to write guidelines designed to help
states interpret and follow the law. After the federal rules came out, states
went to work to create their own. "It is a big deal," said Jack Shook, a special
education administrator for the Illinois Board of
Education. "These are the most extreme changes since the
original law was passed."
The original law, passed in 1975, guaranteed
children with disabilities a free public
education that meets their special needs. Congress revised the
law, called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, in
1997. The revised law emphasizes that children with
disabilities should be taught in regular classrooms as much as
possible. Not only that, but schools need to help those students make academic
progress, just like their nondisabled peers.
The new law is also
supposed to give parents and regular classroom teachers greater involvement in
the education of children with disabilities.
The federal government reviews the state rules and returns them with any
changes.
Illinois' rules mirror the federal ones in some cases, but not
always. That's because Illinois has some state requirements that go beyond the
federal ones. For instance, federal law says children suspected of having a
disability must be evaluated "within a reasonable time."
Illinois goes a step further and defines that as within 60 school days, Shook
said.
Stephen Barr, Missouri's assistant commissioner of special
education, doesn't think people will see a big difference in
the state's new rules because many major changes have already taken place.
For instance, schools have already changed the way they
discipline students with disabilities, as the
federal law requires. Regular classroom teachers already sit on the team that
decides how to teach children with disabilities, as is
required.
"The things that have not been in place are not huge types of
issues," he said. "Not as you'd see laid out on a day-to-day basis."
Jean Haase, who belongs to parent advisory councils for special
education for the Special School District of St. Louis County
and the Hazelwood School District, said several changes will benefit parents.
For instance, the new rules state that parents can invite others to
meetings to discuss their child's education. "Before, it wasn't
spelled out, so schools were saying, 'You can't bring an advocate with you, or
you can't bring a parent or a friend.'"
But the new rules could also
keep some children from getting help, Haase said. For instance, in some cases,
criteria will be tougher for classifying a child as learning disabled.
Once the states get their rules approved, local school districts will
have to make sure they're in line with the new rules.
In the Special
School District, officials hope to have information available for teachers,
principals and others at the start of the school year, said Marsha Guilliams, a
diagnostic area coordinator.
"It's an ongoing process," she said. "It's
not going to happen overnight."
===
Proposed rules
on the Web
* A copy of Missouri's proposed state plan is online
at
www.dese.state.mo.us/divspeced/ stateplan.html
*
Information on Illinois' proposed rules can be found at www.isbe.state.il.us/
spec-ed/rules®s/index.html
* To find out more about the 1997
Individuals with Disabilities Act and the federal regulations,
go to
www.ideapractices.org/ lawandregs.htm
LOAD-DATE: July 7, 2000 
