Special Education

Legal aspects

Who

Students who qualify as having a disability

…and need to have instruction not available or deliverable in general education

WHO (according to IDEA)

IN GENERAL- The term `child with a disability' means a child--(i) with mental retardation, hearing impairments

(including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious emotional disturbance (referred to in this title as `emotional disturbance'), orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities; and

(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.

From the introduction to IDEA 04

Disability is a natural part of the human experience and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate in or contribute to society…

From the introduction to IDEA 04

…Improving educational results for children with disabilities is an essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.

What is special education?

Specially Designed Instruction (SDI)RemedialCompensatoryAlternative

Where

Placement is not intervention.General education classroom

InclusionMainstreaming

Resource roomSelf contained with partial inclusionSelf containedHomeHospital

Educational policy must be:

Based on appropriate legal authorityFederalStateCase lawLocal School Board

Early Federal

Education is not mentioned in the constitution

Citizens were governed primarily by the constitution of the state they lived in

U.S. citizenship was secondary to state citizenship

Laws Specific to Education

Early 1900’s Compulsory Attendance laws 1957 National Cooperative Education

Research Program 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education

Act 1969 Jacob Javits Act 1973 Rehabilitation Act

Section 504

14th amendment

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.

No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;

nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Factors influencing practice

Laws IDEA ADA 14th amendment

Litigation Cases Interpretation of the

law

Ethics of practice

Why do we need laws on education for special education?

“While States, local educational agencies, and educational service agencies are primarily responsible for providing an education for all children with disabilities, it is in the national it is in the national interestinterest that the Federal Government have a supporting role in assisting State and local efforts to educate children with disabilities in order to improve results for such children and to ensure equal protection of the law. “

Public Law 94-142 1975

•Education for All Handicapped Children Act

•Now called IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Subsequent reauthorizations

1983 and 1986Laws enacted to help states plan and

develop early intervention servicesRequired IFSP: Individual Family Service

Plan

ADA

1990Americans with Disabilities ActCovers adults as well as childrenProvides for accessible buildings, etc. Discrimination on the basis of a disability

is not legal

IDEA 04

IDEA is a law that requires reauthorization periodically

Requires that students have a Free and Appropriate Public Education

Has led to a large body of case law

Six Principles of the IDEA

FAPEAppropriate evaluationIndividualized Educational PlanLeast Restrictive EnvironmentParent and Student Participation in

Decision MakingProcedural Due Process

January 8, 2002

ESEA: Education and Secondary Act Law responsible for majority of federally

funded K-12 education programsThis reauthorization period is 6 years

ESEA Basics

ESEA is the law authorizing the majority of Federal K-12 education programs

This year ESEA funding went up 24 percent to over $12 billion

ESEA was signed into law on January 8, 2002

New reauthorization period is six years, FY 2002-FY 2007

How Title I Funds Can Be Spent

Preschool programs Reduce class-size or provide other related

educational supports by hiring additional teachers

Hiring paraprofessionals Extended-day/Extended-year programs Implementing exemplary instructional

programs Professional development for teachers and

paraprofessionals

What do we know (according to IDEA 04)

(A) having high expectations for such children and ensuring their access to the general education curriculum in the regular classroom, to the maximum extent possible, in order to--

(i) meet developmental goals and, to the maximum extent possible, the challenging expectations that have been established for all children; and

(ii) be prepared to lead productive and independent adult lives, to the maximum extent possible;

What do we know (according to IDEA 04)

(B) strengthening the role and responsibility of parents and ensuring that families of such children have meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children at school and at home

What do we know (according to IDEA 04)

(C) coordinating this title with other local, educational service agency, State, and Federal school improvement efforts, including improvement efforts under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, in order to ensure that such children benefit from such efforts and that special education can become a service for such children rather than a place where such children are sent;

What do we know (according to IDEA 04)

(D) providing appropriate special education and related services,

and aids and supports in the regular classroom, to such children,

whenever appropriate;

What do we know (according to IDEA 04)

(E) supporting high-quality, intensive preservice preparation and professional development for all personnel who work with children with disabilities in order to ensure that such personnel have the skills and knowledge necessary to improve the academic achievement and functional performance of children with disabilities, including the use of scientifically based instructional practices, to the maximum extent possible;

What do we know (according to IDEA 04)

(F) providing incentives for whole-school approaches, scientifically based early reading programs, positive behavioral interventions and supports, and early intervening services to reduce the need to label children as disabled in order to address the learning and behavioral needs of such children;

What do we know (according to IDEA 04)

(G) focusing resources on teaching and learning while reducing paperwork and requirements that do not assist in improving educational results; and

What do we know (according to IDEA 04)

(H) supporting the development and use of technology, including assistive technology devices and assistive technology services, to maximize accessibility for children with disabilities.

Who is going to pay for it?

the number of children with disabilities in the State who received special education and related services--

multiplied by

40 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure in public elementary schools and secondary schools in the United States

$$$$$$

$ must not supplant the general education dollars

Special education is in excessIDEA is under funded

Funding for Special Education: The Travis Story

“No Child Left Behind and the new IDEA have not only removed the final barrier separating special education from general education, they have put the needs of students with disabilities front and center.  Special education is no longer a peripheral issue.  It's central to the success of any school.”-  Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings