The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a piece of federal legislation, authorizes a “free appropriate public education” for all special education students. It also gives parents the ability to decide the details of their child’s education, and requires the development of an Individualized Education Program (IEP) specifically designed for each child. The IDEA statute was again reauthorized three years ago to more closely align its precepts with No Child Left Behind, and was called IDEA 2004.
However, the implementation of these IEPs has proven to be a more difficult task, given differences regarding the labeling of disabled students on a state-by-state basis, as well as some variation between districts. In addition, the public school system’s failure to provide the services promised in IDEA has led to parental dissatisfaction with public education special needs programs. The solution in many cases is program with affords these students and their families the ability to select the school of their choice, with the hope that it might better suit their unique educational needs.
There are special needs programs currently operating within five states in the country: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, and Utah. They are all unique and innovative, and provide the blueprint for future policy decisions. While each has subtle differences from the others, all succeed in reaching the same goal: overcoming existing problems in the public school system which have led to both parental and student frustration. Under the guidelines of these programs, these students can have the individualized attention and instruction they deserve, yet oftentimes fail to receive in the public school system.
Traditional concerns with special needs education are widespread in Pennsylvania as well. For example, PA minority children are, on average, placed in special education programs at a higher rate than Caucasian children in PA majority public school districts. In addition, the number and percentage of special needs students classified under IDEA in the state are among the highest in the nation. As of the 2004-2005 school year, there were nearly 300,000 special needs students in the state, or about one out of every twenty school-aged children. Furthermore, the percentage of children age three and below receiving early intervention services under IDEA is over 3%, ranking PA in the top ten in that category and indicating that the pre-kindergarten population will require special education services on a larger scale in the future.
With such overwhelming numbers and the list of many special needs educational concerns in the state, Pennsylvania represents an ideal environment for action in the form of focused school choice special needs legislation. REACH has been working diligently with our national partners, as well as Pennsylvania special needs groups, schools, and parents to assess the specific concerns relating to educating these students within the Commonwealth. Furthermore, REACH has opened and maintained a dialogue with legislators regarding potential policy solutions to this issue. We hope that our work on this matter brings school choice to these special students who oftentimes need it the most.
To read the entire White Paper recently released by the REACH Foundation, please
click here.
