Parents challenge revamped special-education bill

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Sun, Jun. 08, 2003

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Parents challenge revamped special-education bill

By Radcliffe

Star-Telegram Staff Writer

DALLAS - A revamped bill being considered by the U.S. Senate may make

the already intimidating special-education system more difficult for

parents, some advocates for special-needs children said Saturday.

At a town hall meeting hosted by U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas,

nearly 50 parents and educators challenged parts of the Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act, which is being reauthor-ized by Congress.

The House of Representatives has approved a new version of the bill --

HB 1350 -- and the Senate is expected to consider it this summer.

" I'm very concerned that it passed through the House so quickly, " said

Cindi Paschall of North Richland Hills, an advocate with the Arc of

Greater Tarrant County. " There's people that have no idea these kinds of

things are going to change and impact their children. "

Parents said the revamped version favors school officials and does not

improve educational opportunities for special-needs students. The bill

was originally passed in 1975 to ensure that students with disabilities

were educated in public schools. The most recent reauthorization, in

1997, focused on making sure that students with disabilities were put in

regular classes as much as possible.

The law, which comes up for reauthorization every six years, dictates

how about 6 million special-needs students nationally are educated.

About 3 million of those students have learning disabilities.

" As parents, we're terrified already, " said Theriault of Plano,

whose 3-year-old son has Down syndrome.

Supporters of the House bill say it will increase federal funding of

special education and reduce paperwork for teachers. They also say it

will work in conjunction with President Bush's No Child Left Behind law,

which addresses student performance and accountability.

Sessions, whose 9-year-old son has Down syndrome and attends a Dallas

public school, said he will take parents' and educators' advice back to

Washington. He said he knew the House version wasn't perfect.

" I've gotten engaged in this to work through some problems, " he said.

" I'm bringing this to you because I care about making progress and

Washington is not the place to do it. This is the place to do it. "

The House version gives schools more authority to discipline students

who have disabilities, eliminates the requirement that short-term goals

be set for students with less severe disabilities and caps the dollar

amount of legal fees that school districts have to repay parents who

challenge the system.

It also gives parents the option of creating individual education plans

every three years instead of annually. Parents who are new to the system

may not realize that they can create a new plan every year, parents said

Saturday.

It's too difficult to predict what a special-needs child may need in

three years, but districts might coerce parents into choosing that

option, parents said.

" They're not going to know any better, and they're going to do it, " said

Arlington resident Jackie , an audiologist who works with

students in the Dallas school district.

Cleary, a staff member on the House's Education and Workforce

Committee, said at the meeting that the House bill was designed to

strike a balance between schools' needs and parents' needs. Special

education is typically contentious, and the bill is designed to rebuild

trust between the two sides, he said.

" We're going to move forward to make sure at the end of the day we gave

a better system than what we have now, " Cleary said.