From the Chicago Tribune:

A report by the Illinois State Board of Education has found that about half of Chicago public schools reviewed by the state failed to provide adequate services to children with disabilities.

The report, which “excoriates the district for its continued failure to comply with federal disability laws,” also found that 40 percent of the 96 schools monitored were not properly implementing special education plans.

The school district was supposed to come up with a plan to address the concerns this month, but instead is challenging the report. Administrators argue there are only six areas that need more work [not 11], and blame the state’s findings on flawed methodology.

From the Washington Post:

A private school faces closure after the District of Columbia decided to pull 170 students with disabilities, citing concerns about the quality of instruction. Officials at Accotink Academy said they planned to fight the decision and had not been told of any concerns before notices were sent to parents.

The District has nearly 9,300 special education students, including those in public charter schools, and about 30 percent of them are enrolled in private schools because the District can’t meet their needs. The cost to taxpayers in tuition and transportation is about $200 million a year. Accotink Academy has been receiving about $10 million a year from the D.C. school system, according to District figures.

[Correspondence from the District to the school] said that Accotink staff members were “indifferent” to the students and that the quality of teaching was “quite low.” It also said teachers didn’t seem to be following individualized education plans, which guide instruction for special education students.

Several parents said they hadn’t noticed any problems and are worried about their children switching schools mid-year.

See also: D.C. parents decry move against private school — Washington Post

From the Chicago Tribune:

As kids across the nation go back to class, school officials worry about the financial impact of last June’s Supreme Court decision on special education. The ruling allows the parents of students with disabilities to seek reimbursement from their districts for private school tuition, even if they did not first try their public school’s special education programs.

Some educators fear the ruling will strain tight school budgets and pit parents against each other in pursuit of scarce resources. But experts don’t expect a wave of parents seeking to exit public schools, and say the promise of big legal bills and lengthy delays would deter them.

Illinois is already spending more than $180 million annually on private schooling for students with disabilities — a number that does not include students from the Chicago Public Schools.

Parents and disability advocates say the ruling gives parents leverage when districts drag their feet in serving students with disabilities or use overly narrow criteria to determine eligibility.

From the Salt Lake Tribune:

Incomplete student evaluations, untrained teachers and poor Braille translations of textbooks and test booklets are among failings cited in a state probe of Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind.

But these problems don’t constitute a violation of state and federal laws guaranteeing visually impaired children a “free, appropriate education,” say the report’s authors.

Advocates who called for the investigation are appealing the decision. Ron Gardner, president of the Utah chapter of the National Federation for the Blind, said the report amounted to “people within the state office asking themselves if they’ve done a good job.”

By Christina Samuels in Education Week (registration required):

The federal stimulus package for education has revived some endangered early intervention programs for infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities, but advocates say the future is still uncertain.

Research has demonstrated that early intervention programs help children with disabilities, but budget concerns are making states consider shrinking and even eliminating them. The programs are not mandated by federal law.

Susan Maude, the president of the Division for Early Childhood of the Arlington, Va.-based Council for Exceptional Children, says the stimulus funds “have allowed some states to postpone, for at least a year, the difficult decision about whether the state can afford to continue to participate in this voluntary program.”

Commentators are still posting reactiions to last week’s Supreme Court decision in Forest Grove School District v. T.A., which found that school districts can be obligated to pay for private special education services even when a student has not first sampled special ed in a public school. Some excerpts:

From the Toledo Blade:

The decision undoubtedly will add to public schools’ financial woes, but it is well within the spirit of federal law, which long ago — 1975– established a right to a “free and appropriate education” for disabled kids.

Unfortunately, the federal government has failed to keep a commitment to fund such programs at a certain level. Perhaps with the court ruling, pressure will grow for more money to be appropriated.

(more…)

Illinois measure awaits governor’s signature

From the Chicago Tribune:

A bill approved by the Illinois legislature would give parents of children with disabilities and their designees the right to visit their child’s classroom to assure that their needs are being met.

House Bill 628, which is awaiting the governor’s signature, would allow parents and their “experts” to monitor a child’s special education classroom, or to observe in advance the classroom a school district believes is the best fit for the child.

Parents testified that the measure was needed because school districts routinely exclude them from the classroom. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act does not expressly grant parents access to the classroom.

Presently, Massachusetts is the only state in the nation with a comparable access law on the books.