April 16, 2003

A Better IDEA

Reg Weaver
President, NEA

For 28 years, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has opened school doors to more than 6.5 million children with special needs, with great results: high school graduation rates steadily increased during the 1990s and most parents rate their schools as good or excellent in providing the help their children need. Best of all, most parents rated the skills and quality of special education teachers as good or excellent.

Congress has begun the task of reauthorizing IDEA. Washington's last attempt at education reform via reauthorization legislation — the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known now as "No Child Left Behind" — resulted in an act that falls far short of its laudable goal to leave no child behind. Here are my better ideas for IDEA:

First, we urgently need to decrease the crushing amount of paperwork required of teachers. Special educators spend 250 percent more time on paperwork than do general educators. By shrinking caseloads and class sizes for special educators and reducing administrative demands, we can free teachers to focus on what they do best — teaching.

Second, we should also clearly define the requirements of a qualified teacher. The "No Child Left Behind" law failed to do this adequately. A teacher with two master's degrees and 35 years of experience as a special educator may not be considered "highly qualified" under the law. In California alone, 40 percent of special education teachers may not meet the "highly qualified" definition, a grave situation for a state already facing the specter of mass teacher layoffs in a subject area with teacher shortages.

The most important step we can take is to fulfill the federal government's promise to pay 40 percent of the cost of educating children with special needs. Mandatory services should require mandatory resources. At the current 18 percent funding level, this creates a burden on already cash-strapped local communities now compounded by the "No Child Left Behind" funding shortfall. No community should be forced to choose between educating children with special needs — required by law — and educating general education students.

All our better ideas for IDEA are lost, however, by imposing vouchers, which drain public money from public schools. Accepting vouchers would force parents to trade services and cede legal protections for a cold mess of pottage — a subsidized free pass with no oversight, no accountability and no redress. Unlike public schools, private schools don't have to comply with IDEA's provisions, and parents have no grounds to challenge private schools to ensure that they do. Common sense should trump ideology. The highest quality education and services for children with special needs are provided in the public schools.

IDEA has helped millions of Americans live full and productive lives by developing the talents and abilities of special-needs children. We have a great opportunity before us. Let's use better ideas to get IDEA right the first time.

Reg Weaver

President, National Education Association

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