A better IDEA

Some parents of special education students are nervous, understandably, about the proposed changes to state special education rules, saying the changes seem like a step back instead of forward. The reaction isn’t surprising given that Maine, and the nation, are actually moving in a different direction entirely, a direction that should be given a chance to work.

The proposed rules ask more of both parents and educators. Instead of requiring, for instance, advance notice of seven days to schedule a meeting, the new rules would require that the meeting be scheduled at a mutually agreed upon time for parents and school officials. This demands greater parental involvement, but it also gives the parents the option of saying no thanks, when a school administrator tries to force a schedule on a family. The state Department of Education remains the arbiter of disagreements between parents and schools.

The point of this and dozens of other changes, begun under the ’97 federal reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), is to switch focus from a school system meeting the legal letter of the law to actually providing measurable benefits. That’s why a school’s success would be measured more by its actual outcomes than how it looks on paper and why the new rules require increased links between a school’s special education program and its general curriculum.

The proposed changes under these rules would be more dramatic outside public schools than within them. Previously, all students needing special services, including those in private schools and those taught at home, were entitled to state support. Under the changes, school districts would use a defined amount of money to elect whom they will serve. That may mean that a district decides, for instance, that speech and language programs are the best investment of its resources and would provide those services only to students needing them.

Parent-administrator collaborations are rarely as simple as regulatory edict, but they hold the promise of being more effective and of increasing both sides’ understanding of the challenges each faces. No doubt the proposed rules will need further refinement, but they are based on good intention and realistic ideas for improving special education.