Reworking special education

Anytime a state agency undertakes a comprehensive overhaul of an area of its rules, the people affected understandably get nervous. That was especially true when the Department of Education proposed to update its rules governing special education. Too often, the parents of those students have had to battle for resources at the federal and state levels, only to blamed on the local level for causing increases in education budgets.

The problem goes well beyond money, toward subtle and overt public attitudes over paying for the cost of educating children with special needs. That is why, generally, the department’s proposed changes are positive: They try to bring parents more into the process while giving schools slightly more flexibility in such important details as the scheduling of meetings. If both parents and school administrators hold up their ends of the bargains, these two changes hold the potential of improving what is sometimes an antagonistic relationship.

The department’s recommendations do not get at one of the major problems of the tension in special education because they can’t. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was expected to send the states approximately 40 percent of their special-education costs, but covers barely one-third of that. The resulting difference, millions of dollars in Maine, is made up by state and local government. As with any scarce resource, the demand on a limited amount of money creates problems for parents who merely want their children to receive appropriate educations.

Still, the state Education Department, which used federal standards as a guide in rewriting the state rules for special education, correctly did not wait for the federal money. Both Sen. Susan Collins and Rep. John Baldacci have made proposals to increase the share states would receive, but the 40 percent figure still is a long way off.

Absent substantial added dollars, the next best choice was to work on the relationships among the people who are part of the system — the students, parents, teachers and school administrators. The Education plan makes an honest effort at bringing those parties closer together.