Special Education Reform: Let the Dialogue Begin
By Daniel A. Domenech, Executive Director, American Association of School Administrators (AASA)
AASA has released a set of proposals intended to offer an alternative to the current, federally-mandated due process system by which parents and school personnel handle disputes about special education services.
The due process system as it exists today is expensive, unwieldy and inequitable. It was designed to provide access to education services for students with disabilities, but instead it causes deep divisions between schools and parents and often little else. Now we have the opportunity to begin a dialogue among all the people involved so that, as we approach the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), we can craft more effective options to use when parents and school administrators disagree.
Our report, Rethinking Special Education Due Process, recommends four dispute resolution processes, including a consultancy model similar to a voluntary dispute resolution system piloted in Massachusetts since 2009 called SpedEx. This model has shown promise in reducing the use of the due process hearing system.
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AASA has released a set of proposals intended to offer an alternative to the current, federally-mandated due process system by which parents and school personnel handle disputes about special education services.The due process system as it exists today is expensive, unwieldy and inequitable. It was designed to provide access to education services for students with disabilities, but instead it causes deep divisions between schools and parents and often little else. Now we have the opportunity to begin a dialogue among all the people involved so that, as we approach the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), we can craft more effective options to use when parents and school administrators disagree.
Our report, Rethinking Special Education Due Process, recommends four dispute resolution processes, including a consultancy model similar to a voluntary dispute resolution system piloted in Massachusetts since 2009 called SpedEx. This model has shown promise in reducing the use of the due process hearing system.
read more