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Document 112 of 234.

January 24, 2000, Monday

SECTION: NEWS Pg. A-6

LENGTH: 879 words

HEADLINE: Many states found deficient on special ed; Disabled kids getting substandard schooling

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

BYLINE: Karen Gullo

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

BODY:

WASHINGTON -- Many children with disabilities are getting substandard schooling because states are not complying with federal rules on special education, an independent agency reports.

U.S. officials are not forcing compliance and, as a result, parents often must sue to enforce the law, according to a review of more than two decades of enforcement of the federal special education law.

In too many cases, children with disabilities are taught in separate classrooms, and schools are not following other regulations meant to protect these students from discrimination, the National Council on Disability said in a report to be released tomorrow. The Associated Press obtained an advance copy. The problems have persisted for years in many locations, said the council, which makes recommendations to the president and Congress.

"Federal efforts to enforce the law over several administrations have been inconsistent, ineffective and lacking any real teeth," the report said.

Officials at the Department of Education, the federal agency responsible for overseeing compliance with the 1975 Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, said it has increased monitoring under the Clinton administration.

"We concur that the responsibility of enforcement of this law should not be borne on the backs of parents," said Judith Heumann, assistant secretary of the office of special education and rehabilitative service.

"Some states are not where we want them to be, and are not implementing the laws as they need to," Heumann said. "We've been spending significant time increasing our monitoring, technical assistance and enforcement."

Nearly 6 million U.S. children receive special education instruction and services at a cost of almost $40 billion, about $5.7 billion of which is federal money.

The special education law was meant to end discrimination against children with disabilities. Many of these children had been excluded from public schools, institutionalized or placed in programs that provided little or no learning. The law was strengthened in 1997.

Under the law, local education authorities that receive federal money answer to state agencies, which in turn answer to the federal Education Department. The department's monitoring division has 35 workers and a budget of about $2.7 million.

In its report, the disabilities council said Education Secretary Richard Riley has been more aggressive in seeking to improve monitoring and enforcement than the combined efforts of all his predecessors. Still, the report said, serious problems persist.

According to compliance reports covering 1994 through 1998:

** Thirty-six states failed to ensure that children with disabilities are not segregated from regular classes.

** Forty-four states failed to follow rules requiring schools to help students find jobs or continue their education.

** Forty-five states failed to ensure that local school authorities adhered to nondiscrimination laws.

States long have fought with local schools and the Education Department over costs, saying they need more federal money for special education.

Lilliam Rangel-Diaz, a council board member and parent of children with disabilities, contended that children are not getting the schooling they deserve because the government is not doing its job.

"We have created a segregated system of education, where kids are segregated with other children with disabilities and don't acquire the skills they need to function in society," she said.

The Education Department can withhold money from states that do not follow the rules but has punished only one state, Virginia. Federal courts reversed that decision.

Heumann said the Education Department has begun cracking down on states by requiring that shortcomings be corrected as a condition for continued federal payments. If they fail to fix a problem within a year, the department can refer the case to the Justice Department or withhold funding.

The council made dozens of recommendations to strengthen federal enforcement. They include giving the Justice Department independent authority to investigate cases and take states to court; providing more money for enforcement and handling of complaints; and creating a process for handling complaints at the federal level.

The special education report is part of the council's multiyear study for the president and Congress on the implementation and enforcement of the Americans With Disabilities Act and other civil rights laws.

The report said the most recent Department of Education monitoring surveys showed:

** Only Arkansas, Hawaii, Nevada and Oklahoma were ensuring that local school authorities adhered to nondiscrimination laws, compared to 45 who were not. No information for Mississippi was given in this category.

** Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota and Vermont were ensuring that disabled kids are not segregated from regular classrooms. The rest of states were not.

** Georgia, Nebraska, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Wyoming were the only states following rules requiring schools to help students find jobs or continue their educations.

LOAD-DATE: January 26, 2000

Document 112 of 234.


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