Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company
The Boston
Globe
October 29, 2000, Sunday ,THIRD EDITION
SECTION: NEW HAMPSHIRE WEEKLY; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1323 words
HEADLINE:
NEW HAMPSHIRE WEEKLY;
CHANGES DUE IN SPECIAL ED RAISE FEARS SOME FORESEE
DOWNGRADING UNDER US LAWS
BYLINE: By Clare Kittredge,
Globe Correspondent
BODY:
CONCORD - Just three
years after Congress broadened a bold civil rights law guaranteeing disabled
children a "free, appropriate public education," a new special education battle
is brewing in the state.
At the Legislature's direction, the state
Education Department is revamping - some say downgrading - its special education
rules to meet new federal standards.
"Our state regs
exceed federal guidelines in a few areas," said outgoing Education Commissioner
Elizabeth Twomey. "The implication of that is that under one of our state laws,
if you exceed a requirement or extend beyond it, it's an unfunded mandate. And
the Legislature has been concerned that some state regs exceed federal
guidelines and it's not constitutional." There are 29,000 "special ed" students
in the state. And any change to the rules governing their education strikes at
the delicate balance between the state and federal laws promising them the same
access to the general curriculum as other children.
Next month, the
state Board of Education will launch public hearings on the Education
Department's proposed rule changes.
So new are these that many school
officials have yet to get their hands on them.
But here in the Granite
State, with its traditional allergy to over-regulation and Washington programs
that don't come with money, disagreement is already surfacing over such touchy
issues as parental consent.
This is gut stuff to special ed students,
many of whom would have been deprived of schooling before state and federal laws
protected them.
"If you're a parent of a child with a disability, it's
terrifying to think that other people could make a decision for your child, like
it or not," said Lori Salvi, assistant director of the Parent Information
Center, a Concord clearinghouse for parents of children with disabilities.
It's also a matter of moment to taxpayers footing the state's school
bills, with Congress paying a mere 9 or 10 percent share of special education
costs instead of the 40 percent it once promised.
And not to be ignored
are all the rest of the state's students, their parents, often overburdened
classroom teachers, and school admininistrators laboring under tight budgets.
"We have an opportunity now, through this standard-setting process, to
help make sure all New Hampshire students get the education they deserve - a
very good one," said Nicholas Donohue, state deputy education commissioner.
"The state Board of Education is holding a series of hearings. They are
very serious about listening to the comments and concerns of all parties
involved and will deliberate deeply about key issues including notification
timelines, the role of parental consent, and how to make sure parents' and
families' rights are ensured," said Donohue.
Twomey, who hands over the
reins to Donohue tomorrow
for the rest of her term, acknowledges that
some issues will be "very contentious." That is one reason why Twomey, a veteran
of past ideological spats over sex education, state standards, Goals 2000 and
creationism, will help oversee the board hearings.
"These are draft
rules," she cautioned. "They're not in concrete."
But already, advocates
for disabled children fear the state plans to do more than simply align its
rules with new federal standards.
The Parent Information Center is
issuing an alert to its 5,500 members about "significant changes" to the rules
protecting disabled children.
And Richard Cohen, policy specialist for
Concord's Disabilities Rights Center, worries the state could gut these rules to
save money.
Cohen warns that any "carte blanche" adoption of federal
standards could violate the state Supreme Court's Claremont II decision
guaranteeing all students an "adequate education."
"There's a
requirement under state law and our state constitution that all kids, including
special ed kids, get an adequate education," said Cohen. "So the state may be
under an obligation to exceed federal requirements where Claremont II applies."
But the head of the New Hampshire School Administrators Association says
most school districts feel state standards overburden them by going beyond
federal rules.
"The question is, what's best for schools and
communities?" asked its executive director, Mark Joyce. "For the vast majority
of communities and school districts, aligning the state with federal standards
is a desired thing."
Also digesting the new rules is Patricia Dowey,
president of the New Hampshire Association of Special Education Administrators.
"We're trying to get working groups together to look at various sections
and reflect in practice how these might impact special education," she said.
The state Board of Education chairman, John Lewis, says he recognizes
that "there's a lot of concern from a lot of people that they have their say,
and we're going to make sure they do. The board is approaching this with an open
mind. We have to hear all points of view on this, and hopefully, we'll do the
right thing."
Almost a quarter century after the federal
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act broke new ground in
the mid-'70s, its amendment by Congress three years ago gave disabled students
better access to the regular curriculum.
The update gave school
districts more leeway to discipline unruly or violent students, but said they
still have to educate those who are expelled or suspended.
With new
federal rules reflecting these changes now in place, it's the state's turn to
act.
Size-wise, the "initial proposal" for amendments to the state's
Standards for the Education of Students with Disabilities is a monster.
The official version is 123 pages long. The unofficial version, replete
with federal rules, swells to 187 pages.
It's riddled with crossed-out
sections. It's rife with abstract-sounding bureaucratese like IEP
(individualized educational program), SEA (state education agency), LEA (local
education agency) and LRE (least restrictive environment).
But buried in
the minutiae are several areas of controversy that will affect real students.
One hot issue is parental consent.
Right now, the state requires
parents to agree to most changes to a disabled student's schooling. The new
rules would match federal law and lessen parental consent requirements.
Cohen maintains "parental consent should be required every inch of the
way."
Dowey sees it differently. "In New Hampshire, we have to ask for
written parental permission at all these various points," she argues. "It's a
big deal because so much professional time goes into meetings and not into
teaching and learning."
Another issue involves timelines.
Federal rules say special education issues must be resolved within a
"reasonable" time. To put all districts on the same playing field, the state
says it wants more specific deadlines for resolving special ed disputes.
Other issues revolve around due process hearings.
Federal rules
do not require so-called "pre-hearings" when a parent or school district wants
to change a child's special ed status.
The new state rules require a
"pre-hearing" before a formal hearing.
Twomey says that's so folks can
settle matters before they flare into formal legal disputes.
Another
question is whether the official overseeing hearings should be a lawyer. The
federal rules don't require that; the new state rules do, at state expense.
The Board of Education will seek public input on the rule-changes during
three evening hearings, Nov. 28 in the Lincoln area, Nov. 29 in Manchester, and
Dec. 13 in Concord.
By late winter, the board hopes to have a packet
ready to ship to a legislative panel. US officials will also check out the new
rules for compliance with federal law.
"We take very, very seriously the
notion of getting input from the community," said state board member Jeffrey
Pollock. "It is a very important issue and a lot of people are affected by it. .
. . My sense is we're all in this together."
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