Learning: Inside Scoop
The Future of IDEA

There's a lot at stake as the federal government gets ready to revise and renew the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Since it was first passed in 1975, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is estimated to have helped six million disabled children get a better education. But frontline educators know that some aspects of the law need to be improved. IDEA is up for revision and renewal during the next year. A presidential commission is already meeting and trial balloons are flying. The time to have an impact is now.

What are some of the changes NEA is working for?
Patti Ralabate, an NEA staffer and a former speech and language pathologist from Connecticut, has talked with members around the country to shape the organization's lobbying priorities. She says four key proposals come up over and over:

• Reduce paperwork.

• Make more and better professional development available for regular education teachers who are asked to adapt their work for students with disabilities--sometimes very severe disabilities.

• Make safety and discipline rules more consistent, so that all students--disabled and non-disabled--are held responsible for their actions and face appropriate consequences. On this last point, says Ralabate, NEA will work to ensure that if a disabled student is removed from school for a serious discipline infraction, that student will still receive appropriate education services. Otherwise, she says, "the problem isn't solved, it's just temporarily moved into the street. All kids--disabled or not--should have alternative ways to receive an education. Maintaining a stable society demands this."

  NEA's position is supported by the Fraternal Order of Police, the largest national law enforcement organization.

• Reduce class size and caseloads so every child can be treated as an individual--and that means upping the federal contribution from the current 17 percent to the 40 percent that was promised back in 1975.

What about the controversy over the large numbers of African-American boys in special education?
Many more boys are in special education than girls, regardless of ethnic group, but the proportion of African-American boys is especially high. Government figures show that about 3.1 percent of African-American boys have been placed in the mental retardation category compared with 1.3 percent of white boys. About 2.2 percent of African-American boys are in the emotional disturbance category, compared with 1.4 percent of white boys.

Ralabate notes that several explanations have been proposed--the effects of poverty, a bias among some educators and in diagnostic tests, and the extra savvy that white, middle-class parents often bring to Individual Education Plan meetings.

Ralabate says that in hundreds of IEP meetings she's attended, low-income parents often were eager for their children to get extra help, but they didn't know much about IDEA. "Middle-class parents, typically, have already seen an advocate before they come to the meeting," says Ralabate. "They know the law, and they say, ?We want services for our child, but you're not going to call him mentally retarded.'"

What solutions are being proposed?
One idea is to stop trying to decide whether a student is "learning disabled" or "retarded," and simply give extra help to students with low academic achievement.

Ralabate thinks this might be a good idea, but not if it serves as an excuse to save money by depriving some children of the extra help they need.

What's the timeline for revising IDEA?
President Bush has appointed a Commission on Excellence in Special Education to look into possible changes in the law. The commission is holding hearings around the country, and NEA affiliates are taking part. The commission's report is expected by the end of June. The White House is likely to make its proposals for changing IDEA in the fall.

Meanwhile, NEA lobbyist Kim Anderson says Congress is gathering information and planning hearings. Members of Congress are contacting NEA to get the views of educators about what should be done.

The current law expires at the end of this year, but if there is no agreement by then, it could be extended temporarily.

What can educators do to help make sure IDEA becomes a better law next year?
NEA members should speak at hearings of the presidential commission and send letters, explaining what educators need from the federal government if we are to "leave no child behind.

Ralabate, who has been attending and speaking at the hearings herself, says they are very sparsely attended. "I know our members are in school working during the day," she says. "But if they can get the time, it would be great if they could go."

The commission's schedule and contact information are on its Web site at www.ed.gov/inits/commissionsboards/
whspecialeducation/index.html.

NEA members should also send letters and E-mail to their Representatives and Senators. Names and E-mail ad-dresses are on the NEA Web site: Go to www.nea.org/lac/ and click on "E-Mail Congress." Members of Congress will hold meetings with constituents during the upcoming spring recess, and educators should take part.

Anderson says the NEA's most effective lobbyists by far are NEA members.

She urges members to talk about their personal experiences--how the law is making a difference in children's lives, and also how it can be very difficult to carry out without adequate resources, training and support.

Members of Congress don't spend much time in classrooms, and educators' personal stories can help keep the legislators grounded in reality when the rhetoric starts flying.

--Alain Jehlen

For more:

• E-mail Ralabate, pralabate@nea.org, or Anderson, kianderson@nea.org.
• The National Research Council issued a thoughtful report on minorities in special and gifted education in January, available at http://books.nap.edu/books/0309074398/html. The recommendations (chapter 10) are especially useful.
• Education Week's report on reauthorization of IDEA, at www.edweek.org/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=19idea.h21, offers useful background information.