Fw: Action Alert: Save Our Settlement - Education

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Action Alert: Save Our Settlement

Please distribute as widely as possible.

S.O.S.: Save Our Settlement! [1]

Rendell Administration’s abrupt change in Bureau of Special Education Director

sends “back to the past†message about inclusive education;

Gaskin Plaintiffs vow to move forward, ask YOUR support!

WHAT HAPPENED? The Gaskin Settlement Agreement, approved by the Court just

over 1 year ago, resulted from 11 years of litigation by families and

organizations who wanted a better opportunity for Pennsylvania’s children with

disabilities to be included in their neighborhood schools with their peers. It

imposes significant responsibilities on the Director of the Bureau of Special

Education, including approval of corrective action plans for school districts

found out of compliance with Least Restrictive Environment requirements; the

development of a comprehensive training and technical assistance plan; and

enforcement of new PDE policies on compliance with the inclusion mandate.

Rhen was appointed to the Bureau on the basis of her experiences with inclusive

practices, given a clear mandate for change by the Rendell Administration, and

enjoyed the goodwill of the parent and professional members of the Gaskin

Advisory Panel. She created an Inclusive Practices Project with experienced

staff to carry out the Agreement.

Without warning, Dr. Rhen was terminated as Director of PDE's Bureau of Special

Education on Tuesday, December 12, 2006. She was replaced by Tommasini, a

long-term civil service employee of the Bureau of Special Education who has not

heretofore demonstrated a strong commitment to, or knowledge of, inclusive

practice. It is feared that the decision may have been made by Secretary of

Education Gerald Zahorchak in response to pressure from the Pennsylvania

Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) concerning control of the

monies for Gaskin implementation that Dr. Rhen had allocated outside of PaTTAN.

During the last decade, PaTTAN’s efforts around inclusion have failed to

produce the outcomes for children that would demonstrate a true commitment to

inclusion and compliance with LRE statutory requirements. PaTTAN receives over

$15 million a year in funding but students with disabilities in Pennsylvania

have little to show for it. Given PaTTAN's track record, it would make no sense

to default to PaTTAN or its current approaches to training/systems change to do

the work of Gaskin implementation.

WHAT CAN WE DO? PLEASE WRITE OR CALL SEC. ZAHORCHAK, GOV. RENDELL, AND DONNA

COOPER AND JOE CERTAINE OF THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE.

â–º TELL THEM THAT THE BUREAU OF SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS KNOLWEDGEABLE LEADERS

LIKE DR. RHEN AND THE STAFF OF HER INCUSIVE EDUCATION PROJECT TO ENFORCE THE

GASKIN SETTLEMENT. â–º LET THEM KNOW THAT YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO SETTLE FOR

PENNSYLVANIA’S DISMAL RECORD ON INCLUSION -- 48TH AMONG THE 50 STATES – AND

THAT PDE MUST NOT BACKTRACK ON THIS ISSUE!

Feel free to use the Talking Points below:

We call on Dr. Zahorchak to make good on his Dec. 13 promise to the Gaskin Least

Restrictive Environment Advisory Panel members, which essentially assured

members that this directorship change does not reflect a change in PDE policy

and/or commitment to inclusion or Gaskin settlement implementation.

We call on Dr. Zahorchak to commit that PDE will not only adhere to the letter

of the settlement agreement they signed, but embrace the spirit of the

settlement and aggressively pursue inclusive practices and enforce LRE

requirements in state and federal law.

We call on Dr. Zahorchak to make good on his commitment to assign Dr. Rhen to a

position in policy leadership that would free her from the routine, day-to-day

chores of the Bureau Director's job, and to assure that this role includes a

meaningful role and/or authority for implementation of the Gaskin Settlement

Agreement (including approval of contracts, approval of corrective action plans,

a significant role in developing the training and technical assistance plan that

is to result from the needs assessment, and the authority to approve or

disapprove or that plan).

We call on Dr. Zahorchak to publicly commit to strengthening all PDE programs

and activities, including the Inclusive Practices Project, that advance and

enforce LRE in all 501 school districts and to commit additional resources

toward that end.

4 REASONS WHY WE CALL ON THE RENDELL ADMINISTRATION TO SAVE OUR SETTLEMENT FROM

THE FAILED POLICIES OF THE PAST:

1. During the Ridge administration, Pennsylvania’s schools ranked among the

states that did not improve, and actually declined from 39th among the states in

the percentage of students with disabilities who are educated in the regular

educational environment for 80% of the day or more during the1991-1992 school

year to 48th among the states during the 2004-2005 school year, when the Gaskin

litigation was finally settled. Only Utah, Hawaii and the District of Columbia

ranked lower.

2. Throughout the Ridge administration, OSEP repeatedly found violations of

PDE’s legal responsibility to assure that students are educated in regular

classes to the maximum extent appropriate and to exercise general supervision

over special education services in Pennsylvania. In 1999 and again in 2000, OSEP

made PDE’s receipt of IDEA Part B grant funds subject to special conditions.

Pennsylvania was one of only four states on which such conditions have been

imposed.

3. The training and oversight required by the Gaskin Settlement must not default

to PaTTAN because PaTTAN and its supporters reflect the Ridge Administration’s

failed policies. During the Ridge era, many of PDE's best practices

initiatives, including GATEWAYS (PDE's initiative for inclusion of students with

significant disabilities in the late 1980s and early 1990s) were dismantled and

the funds that supported them disappeared or went into PaTTAN’s $15 million

budget.

4. Most of PaTTAN’s activities consist of large-group workshops in burg

and teleconferences rather than hands on technical assistance in the schools

where it’s needed or training desperately needed for parents on “what is

possible†in terms of inclusive practices. Its measure of success is nothing

more than numbers of people attending its training events. During the Gaskin

case, school districts and IU personnel developmental staff reported that PaTTAN

was remote, irrelevant, and provided training that was superficial at best.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Gerald L. Zahorchak, Secretary

Department of Education

333 Market Street

burg, PA 17126-0333

gzahorchak@...

G. Rendell, Governor

225 Main Capitol Building

burg, PA 17120

governor@...

Donna

Secretary, Governor’s Office of Policy and Planning

238 Main Capitol Building

burg, PA 17120

(phone)

(fax)

dcooper@...

Joe Certaine

Director, Governor’s Southeast Regional Office

200 South Broad Street, 11th Floor

Philadelphia, PA 19102

(phone)

(fax)

jcertaine@...

Kukovich

Director, Governor’s Southwest Regional Office

14th Floor, State Office Bldg.,

300 Liberty Avenue,

Pittsburgh, PA 15222

(phone);

(fax)

akukovich@...

Also see the “Kids Together†petition:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/drrhen/petition.html

Thank you for your support!

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[1] This alert is issued by the following organizations who are plaintiffs in

Gaskin v. Commonwealth: The Arc, Pennsylvania; Autism Support and Advocacy in

Pennsylvania (ASAP); Pennsylvania Protection & Advocacy Association;

Pennsylvania TASH; and by the twelve individual plaintiffs and their families.

******************* Pennsylvania's Education for All Coalition, Inc. is a

partnership of parents, educators, related professionals and others who believe

that children of all backgrounds and abilities should be successfully educated

together in their neighborhood schools within the general education curriculum.

We work together to promote education that includes all children by providing

individual technical assistance, advocacy and supports to families, assisting

institutions of higher education better prepare teachers to effectively teach

all children and influencing and supporting schools, policymakers, and the

community to effectively implement inclusive practices and policies.

*******************

Join the growing list of subscribers to our listserv! To subscribe yourself or

someone else through the World Wide Web (www), point your browser to

http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/education-for-all.html. Select " join or

leave the list " . Then follow the directions on the screen. *Be sure to send a

first e-mail introducing yourself to your fellow subscribers!!

*******************

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