VPerspective
DOE plans five big changes for special education
Sep 25, 2008 1:15 PM
UFT Vice President of Special Education Carmen Alvarez (standing, left) discusses changes in the Standard Operating Procedures Manual at a Sept. 15 Nurses Chapter Board meeting with Pat Ross Spiller (standing, right) of PS 721, Manhattan, and (seated, from left) Geneviere Dow of Ralph McKee HS, Beverly Briggs of MS 219 in the Bronx and Cynthia Bennett of IS 77, Queens.
Just when you thought it was safe to return to the special education classroom, the rules are changing. A new Standard Operating Procedures Manual (SOPM) for special education will shortly be distributed, and its provisions take effect in mid-October. In one sense, the SOPM will be a good thing for the schools, given that it will provide a single, stable, easy-to-pin-down source of information about referrals, evaluation and placement of school-age students with disabilities. However, the changes themselves — meant to mark the implementation of procedures required by the 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and other changes in state laws and regulations — do not come problem-free. Next month, as a result of the federal law, a lot of people currently instrumental in seeing that children get the services they need will no longer be allowed to make those referrals. The only people who can initiate a special education evaluation will be the child’s parent, the principal, the state commissioner, the designee of a public agency with responsibility for educating the child or a designee of an education program affiliated with a child care institution with Committee on Special Education responsibility. Who won’t? Teachers, related service providers, professional staff members, physicians, judicial officers and students over the age of 18 or emancipated — all previously able to directly initiate the evaluation process by making a “referral” — must now instead be limited to making a “request for referral” to the principal. Upon receipt of the “request for referral,” the principal must either ask the parent to consent to the evaluation or provide the parent with a copy of the “request for referral,” inform the parent of his/her right to refer and offer the parent an opportunity to discuss the request for referral. The principal and staff member may also inform the parent of the availability of appropriate general education services. Amendments to Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) will be done differently now, too. Amendments to an IEP after the annual review may be made by the IEP team at an IEP meeting, or by amending the IEP without an IEP team meeting. Before an IEP can be changed without a meeting, parents must agree in writing to the proposed amendments and must have the opportunity to discuss the changes with a member of the IEP team. Some absences from IEP team meetings will now be permitted when the meeting is not an initial meeting. These excusable absences include when the IEP team member’s area of curriculum or related services is not being modified and if the absence is agreed to by both the principal (or designee) and the parent. An absence is also excusable when the member’s area of curriculum or related services is being modified or discussed in the meeting, but only if the parent consents in writing and the excused member submits written input into the development of the IEP prior to the meeting. There are now clear limits on re-evaluations. Unless the parent and the principal agree otherwise, a student can only be re-evaluated once a year. IEP team meetings can still be held to review an IEP after the annual review when conditions warrant adjustments, such as when the student is not making progress. Lastly, the term collaborative team teaching has been mothballed. CTT classes will now be referred to as “Integrated Co-Teaching Services,” and the maximum number of students with disabilities in the class will be 12. With the exception of those two changes to CTT, all other requirements for the two-teacher-in-a-classroom program will still apply. The 60-40 ratio of nondisabled students to students with disabilities remains the same. The class must still be staffed by an appropriately licensed general education teacher and a licensed special education teacher. Students recommended to receive CTT for “all” classes must receive service in all subjects, including language, art and music, not just core subjects. What do all these changes mean for you? These changes, if not implemented well, will make it harder to help special needs children; however, it also means that it is more important than ever for general and special education teachers to have copies of the IEPs of the children in their classes and on their caseloads and for paraprofessionals to review and have ongoing access to the IEPs of the children they serve. Everyone who works with a child with a disability must be informed of and understand what he or she is expected to do to implement the IEP. Equally important, teachers and related service providers must take responsibility for reconvening the IEP team or making appropriate changes in the IEP as soon as it is clear that students are not progressing. If your school is not ensuring that teachers and providers receive copies of IEPs and that paraprofessionals have access to them, if students are not receiving the services and supports on their IEPs or if you have any other questions or concerns regarding the education of students with disabilities, use the online Special Education Complaint Form posted on the home page of www.uft.org or contact my office at 1-212-598-9546. If your administrators are implementing these changes before the DOE’s scheduled mid-October training sessions, fill out the online complaint form ASAP. Read the SOPM carefully and know it thoroughly. It’s now special education’s operating manual — until it gets changed again.
