Copyright 2000 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
St.
Louis Post-Dispatch
November 30, 2000, Thursday, FIVE STAR LIFT
EDITION
SECTION: METRO, Pg. C3
LENGTH: 590 words
HEADLINE:
MISSOURI, ILLINOIS FALL SHORT IN TREND TO MAINSTREAM DISABLED STUDENTS;
BUT
ST. LOUIS COUNTY EXCEEDS NATIONAL AVERAGE, SPECIAL DISTRICT CHIEF SAYS;
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RELEASES STUDY
BYLINE: Holly K.
Hacker; Of The Post-Dispatch
BODY:
Children
with disabilities are learning in mainstream classrooms and earning high school
diplomas at record rates, a federal report released Wednesday reports.
At the same time, the nation still has work to do to give those children
a proper education, the report states.
The report by the U.S. Department
of Education looked at the 1997-98 school year. Nearly half of U.S. children
with disabilities spent at least 80 percent of the day in regular classrooms. By
contrast, about 35 percent of disabled children in Missouri and Illinois spent
that much time in regular classrooms. The report was released exactly 25 years
after President Gerald Ford signed the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act. The law guarantees the nation's 6.1 million children
with disabilities a free public education and requires them to be taught in
regular classrooms as much as possible.
Before the 1970s, millions of
children with disabilities received poor, if any, special education services.
Sometimes, schools kept those children out completely.
"We've come a
long way," said Peter Kachris, superintendent of the Special School District of
St. Louis County. The district educates 25,000 students with disabilities in the
county.
More than half of children in the Special School District spend
at least 80 percent of the day in regular classrooms across St. Louis County,
Kachris said.
Ann Stackle, a parent in the Hazelwood and Special
districts, said Missouri needs to do a better job of integrating children with
disab ilities. Not only do those students benefit, but so do their nondisabled
classmates, she said.
"If you grow up with someone around you who has a
disability, they're just one of the gang. If you grow up not seeing anyone like
that in your life ..., you don't understand those people, you're scared of
them," she said.
In Missouri and Illinois, 12 percent of school-age
children have disabilities. The national rate is 11 percent.
The federal
study also reports that just over 25 percent of disabled children ages 17 to 21
earned a high school diploma in 1997-98, continuing a slow but steady increase
in recent years.
While students typically graduate by age 18, those with
disabilities can stay in the school system until they're 21.
Still, the
report says several areas need improvement. For instance, to reflect changing
demographics, schools need more special education teachers who are male,
minority or speak more than one language, the report states. Urban and rural
areas have the biggest need, the report says.
Another continuing
problem, the report says, is that many children are exposed to alcohol and
nicotine before they are born, which can cause serious health problems.
"Although it is unclear how many children are prenatally exposed to
alcohol and nicotine each year, it is apparent that significant numbers of these
children will continue to require special education and related services," the
report states.
Kachris said schools should keep working to boost
graduation rates and lessen the red tape that families often deal with in the
special education system.
The full report, called the "22nd Annual
Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act," is online at
www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/OSEP/OSEP2000AnlRpt
It can also be ordered by
calling 877-433-7827, or by sending an e-mail to Edpubs@inet.ed.gov. To request
a copy in Braille, large print, on audiotape or in some other alternate format,
call 202-205-8113.
NOTES:
To contact reporter Holly
Hacker: E-mail: hhacker@postnet.com * Phone: 314-209-0982
LOAD-DATE: November 30, 2000 
