The district could better serve children with special needs and improve the quality of education for all children by changing some practices that are strongly influenced by some of the state's special education reimbursement rules.
For example, to qualify for special education reimbursement for a learning disability, the district has to have evidence that a child's academic skills have deteriorated to a certain degree. A child's score on an academic achievement / aptitude test must place them two years below minimum expectations for the child's grade level, or a cognitive ability test places the child at two grade levels above what they scored on an academic achievement test. You've probably heard board members complain that the state does not fully reimburse the district for special education services. They have a legitimate beef about those underfunded mandates, but they can't complain about what the state reimburses them for fighting claims for special education services. If memory serves, several years ago the Minnesota legislature passed a law that obligates the state to fully reimburse the district for legal costs associated with fighting claims by parents for special education services, win or lose. On the other hand, if a parent wins, their child is supposed to get the special education services, but parent gets no financial compensation at all for legal costs, lost wages, and so forth. What are the implications? The district is not going to bother to figure out why a child is falling behind academically. If they discover that the child has a learning disability they would have to do something about it. If a child is being disruptive in the classroom, they are quick to label them as emotionally / behaviorally disordered. The answer is usually drugs and "title I classes." In many cases where a child gets the EBD label, there may be a mild learning disability that's contributing to the problem. One of the reasons that I go on about the need for phonics instruction is that children with specific reading disorders (i.e., dyslexia) really do need the phonics instruction, and some non-dyslexics will become functionally dyslexic without it. It is estimated that about 15-20% of the population has some type of specific reading disorder. Maybe 1 to 2% of the population has a reading disorder that is so severe as to require special education services, even if best practices are followed in the classroom. I could go on, but I'll leave it at that for now. -Doug Mann Doug Mann for School Board web site: <http://educationright.tripod.com> _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
