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The Special Education Reform and Its Unintended Consequences: Part 1

Like you, and perhaps like many other educators, administrators, and parents, I was excited when the New York City Department of Education adopted the Special Education Reform.  At that time, I was working with the specialized district in the city, namely District 75, and I was seeing the influx of students whom I felt could have been given a better chance in a regular school, perhaps with supports, perhaps with a self-contained setting.  I was appalled at the numbers of students who were referred to District 75 daily.  So, when the special education reform became policy, I could not wait to see its results.  What I could not anticipate was how quickly I would get to see its unintended consequences.

My brother Fernando, whose LRE was District 75

For starters, what is the special education reform?  To answer this question, I am going to be specific to New York City, even though similar versions of this have happened everywhere in the United States.  The New York City Department of Education decided the citywide rollout of this policy would start in the Fall of 2012, with a partial rollout as early as 2010.  It entailed following the provisions of the law at its core, regarding diligence when applying the LRE (least restrictive environment) to placement of children in special programs.  At its heart, the special education reform “is aimed at ensuring that all students with disabilities are educated to high academic standards, in the least restrictive setting that is academically appropriate, and at the same schools they would have access to if they did not have IEPs,” as then-Chancellor Walcott said in a letter.

My brother Fernando, whose LRE was District 75

As I mentioned, this all sounds good.  After all, we are following the letter of the law and applying its provisions.  Right?  That’s what I thought at the beginning.  I felt that too many students were being recommended services in a specialized school that could be managed in a regular school.  But what happened after the beginning of the rollout (between 2010 and 2012), was that many of the students who would have stayed at their regular schools in self-contained classes (see the continuum of services here), were now being recommended for District 75 schools. 

Why was this happening?  Many of the psychologists I talked to told me that since their schools were no longer supporting self-contained classes (whether in elementary, middle school, or high school), they felt that the children they were supporting would be better served in a smaller class, even if that meant transferring them to a specialized school.  This was the opposite of what the reform intended!  I was appalled, but I was even more appalled at the fact that there were close to zero self-contained classes available for these children that needed them.

My brother Fernando, whose LRE was District 75

Over time, and while I was still working with District 75, we noticed that the influx of students who had specialized school recommendations waned a bit, and for me, this meant that perhaps students were receiving more accurate recommendations at the school level.  Little did I know what was happening on the other side of the fence.  Students in public schools were being recommended classes in their regular public schools, but the services were far from being accurate for the children they were supposed to serve.

Do you want to learn more about the special education reform and its unintended consequences?

Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow and check out our YouTube channel and free/private Facebook group.

See you tomorrow!

Dr. Ingrid Amorini-Klimek.

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The Special Education “Reform”

What does The Special Education Reform mean? Let me tell you my experience. . .

In my former life as a New York City school administrator, one of the tasks that I was entrusted with, was to explain to families the meaning of what the New York City Department of Education called the Special Education Reform, which as one of my former bosses would say, has been in place for many years and barely qualifies for “reform” status anymore.  Having said that, it is still a great source of confusion for families and staff alike.  As a matter of fact, even though I had the task of explaining this to families, I could not escape the fact that after so many years, people had started to forget the federal law that protects children with disabilities, their education, and their parental rights, and started to advocate the “reform” as if it replaced IDEA.

In its purest form, the “reform” refers to the policy that ensures that all students can be served in all schools, and at face value, this sounds like a great policy  (right?)  Without getting into specifics, the initial purpose of it was to reduce the likelihood of discrimination and it make equal access a priority.  On the surface, all these things are correct.  The special education reform may work very well, for some.  The problem with an all-encompassing policy that doesn’t consider individual needs is the issue of equity.

In fact, equity is not the same as treating everyone equally.  When students are treated with equity, their individual needs are taken into account. They are treated fairly and impartially. The reform, although well-meaning in theory, confused those entrusted to deal with students, those in a position to make decisions, and in turn, confused many parents.  What many parents worried about has come true.  Students can be placed in any school regardless of their specific needs.  My old boss used to say to me that this was actually a good thing.  She even threatened a group of enrollment directors at a meeting where I was present with taking away all access to special education software for their staff, so that they would not be able to know or assist the parents in any type of special education transaction.  Every student, she said, would be treated “equally.”  She was correct.  They would be treated equally, but they would not be treated with equity.

For those of us that understand disability at a deep personal level, this type of assessment is not acceptable.  Yes, as parents, we should assume that our children have the same rights to attend any school we want.  However, we should also be able to assess for ourselves if we think a school is a good fit for our child given our child’s needs.  We should be able to assess whether we feel comfortable with the services offered to our children.  And yes, we should also have a right to receive the recommended services on our child’s IEP as they are recommended on the IEP.  The IEP is a legal document, not a suggestion.

What do you do if you feel that your child’s rights are not taken seriously?  As upset as you might be, please know that there are legal resources and that the law protects your rights as a parent.  Consult with an advocate and be prepared to be your child’s voice.

Drop me a note if you need assistance.

Best,

Dr. Klimek

Equity promotes inclusion and diversity!
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Parental Rights Violations

Three years ago, when I joined the Enrollment Division at a local education department in a major metropolitan area in the Northeastern United States, I did it partly motivated by the fact that as a relatively high ranking administrator, I would get to make decisions that would influence the lives of students and parents.  I was particularly interested in improving the lives of students with disabilities and their families.  I wanted to influence the decision-making process so that it would be a fair system, equitable, and barrier-removing for all families.

Little did I know that no matter how hard I tried to remove barriers to access, the “system” would see me and my efforts as nothing more than another obstacle.  For starters, in is well known and well documented that our system has been plagued by laws and policies that have historically favored those on top.  For example, in our city, there is a policy that has been in practice in the past few years.  The policy is aptly named “the reform” and even though it claims to uphold the values of inclusion as its advocates claim that “all students must be served in the same schools as their general education peers,” it truly and many times, violates the principle of the Free and Appropriate Public Education for students with disabilities.

In the past few years I have realized that this policy mostly benefits upper-middle class, white students, as they are typically the ones who favored from this loophole between what Federal Law (IDEA) provides as a right to students with disability, and a policy enacted by a local education department.  The local policy seeks to enforce flexible programming for students that were determined to be best serviced in a particular program, typically a self-contained, small, and structured class for students with special needs.  Flexible programming allows schools to place students in large classes, as long as they work to try to meet the minimal requirements on the IEP.  Psychologists working under these conditions, have been advised to recommend programs that would not require schools to service student in small programs for the entire school day, therefore providing the necessary loophole to make flexible programming possible.

In my view, this is a clear violation of parental rights and student’s right to a Free Appropriate Public Education in the Least Restrictive Environment, a set of rules set forth as provisions to one of the most important educational laws of this land.  Here is the caveat to this loophole:  The typical upper-middle class, well-to-do person, is able to consult a lawyer, sue the local education department for inability to provide services under the provisions of IDEA, and get paid thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to send their child to a private school.  As a matter of fact, in my career as an education administrator, this has been the scenario in almost the entirety of cases that crossed my desk.  The typical student whose parents work multiple jobs to make ends meet, and barely have time to sit at the dinner table and help their child with homework will struggle with whatever decisions schools make for them.  Their children will struggle too.

If you feel that your child has been left behind by a system that does not support him/her, and your family, please drop me a note.  I’m here to help.

More to come on this story…  Stay tuned!

We are all Special in our own way! We are not all the same!
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Parental Rights: Obtaining Information from your School System

One of the most serious topics that I often have to deal with is dissemination of information on parental rights.  School systems tend to stay mum when it comes to providing accurate, easy to follow, and up-to-date information on how to follow proper procedures when a parent feels that the rights of his/her child have been violated.  I have often encountered those professionals who are simply afraid to mention next steps in regards to disagreement on children’s IEPs (Individualized Educational Plan), will not answer questions about the filing of impartial hearings, fail to point to guidelines and procedures, or simply withhold information that could be useful to a parent in making an informed decision.

Our world has changed for the better in many aspects, but professionals within school systems are still afraid that they could be penalized for expanding parent’s choices since those choices can come at an additional cost to the system.  For example, if your child has an IEP (Individualized Educational Plan) that recommends that for the majority of the school day, he/she is to receive instruction in a 12.1.1 setting (12 students/1 teacher/1 assistant), and your child has not been receiving this type of instruction, then you can request mediation or an impartial hearing to resolve the issue.  Sometimes the issue can be resolved at the school level, sometimes a transfer is necessary, and some other times even a private school may be needed.  In the latter case, the school system is liable to reimburse the parent for school tuition, since federal law clearly states that this is an educational right (Free Appropriate Public Education).

I was involved in a difficult situation just a few days ago.  One of my co-workers, under my guidance, informed a mother that in order to better serve the needs of her child (who needed a great degree of educational supports), she had the option of having him attend a particular school who could supply him with a much more specialized and tailored program.  Of course, if she desired, she could also send both her children, the child who needs a special program and his brother in general education, to the closest school.  They would both be together at this location, and the school would have to figure out a way to service the child with special needs as they do not have a ready-made setting, but the option was also available.  The parent chose to have the siblings in separate schools but felt that this was the best setting for each child, therefore tailoring her children’s education to their needs, rather than using a cookie-cutter formula.

When the above situation was revealed to one of the administrators in the division that manages student enrollment for this school system, I was asked to not have these conversations with parents again, as the choice should have never been on the parent.  The administrator referenced the system’s new guidelines and explained how students’ disability status could not be taken into consideration.  This is a great misunderstanding, as the point of the new guidelines is to expand parental choice, so as to not confine the parent to only one choice, a choice that would only be based on the child’s disability.  However, it is perfectly all right, actually desirable, for a parent to have this information and made the choice based on the information that she has been provided.  This is the student’s right to a Free Appropriate Public Education in his or her Least Restrictive Environment (more on this to come).

When it comes to dealing with school systems, your best option is to ASK, ASK, and ASK.  Don’t forget to drop me a line if you would like to get in touch with me!

Only by asking you will know!