States Graded on Special-Ed Compliance

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States Graded on Special-Ed Compliance

By NANCY ZUCKERBROD

The Associated Press

Wednesday, June 20, 2007; 5:43 PM

WASHINGTON -- Fourth-fifths of the states are falling short of federal

requirements for educating students with disabilities, the Education

Department says.

The states got their first-ever federal report cards this week judging

them on how well they are implementing the nation's main special

education law. The state-by-state results were posted on the Education

Department's Web site Wednesday.

The requirements are outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities

Education Act, as the law is called. The largest part of the act is a

$10.5 billion program providing students aged 3 to 21 with specialized

programs to fit their educational needs.

Only nine states were found to be fully meeting the requirements of

that part of the program. Those states are: Alaska, Connecticut,

Hawaii, Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and

Wyoming.

The rest of the states were labeled as " needs assistance " or, worse,

" needs intervention. " If they don't improve within a few years, they

could face sanctions such as the loss of federal aid.

One common trouble spot for states was ensuring that students with

disabilities have a smooth transition from the public school setting

to college or into the work force. The law says 16-year-old special-ed

students are supposed to receive help developing plans for life after

public school. Much more thought and work needs to go into those

plans, according to the department.

Another weak spot is state oversight regarding how well local school

districts' are complying with the special-ed law.

The reviews are based on information the states submitted to the

federal government as well as monitoring visits and other publicly

available data, according to the Education Department.

The states also were judged on a smaller part of the special-education

law that involves services provided to infants and toddlers with

disabilities. More states were judged to be meeting the requirements

of the law in this category.

___

On the Net:

Letters to states:

http://www.ed.gov/fund/data/report/idea/partbspap/index.html

Education Department fact sheet:

http://www.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/monitor/factsheet.html

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