Special education, a multi-billion-dollar operation long viewed in Sacramento as too big and confounding to reform, may finally grab policymakers’ attention.
Three state education agencies announced Thursday the creation of a foundation-funded Task Force On Special Education. Established at the request of State Board of Education President Michael Kirst and Stanford School of Education Professor Linda Darling-Hammond, who’s a member and former chairwoman of the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the task force will take until early 2015 to examine all facets of educating students with disabilities. The task force will then make recommendations for policy and legislative changes to the State Board, the credentialing commission and the State Department of Education. Expected areas of attention include ways to improve the supply and preparation of special education teachers, variations among districts in identifying and adequately serving students with disabilities, and the state’s complex system of funding programs and services for special-needs children.
In their proposal to outside funders, Kirst and Darling-Hammond said that challenges with special education are decades-old and require a fundamental change in mindset and approach. California’s orientation since the 1970s, the proposal said, has been on complying with “bureaucratic mandates in order to ensure that federal funds flow into the state, rather than ensuring that students get the educational opportunities they need to succeed.” The ultimate goal should be to create a system that can “identify and meet the learning needs of any student” who may need special support at any time to improve learning, not just those students formally
Education reform through the courts and why it’s necessary - by Marcellus Antonio McRae / commentary
In California – and in many other states – the Legislature has proven devastatingly ineffective at ensuring equal educational opportunity in our public schools and protecting the fundamental rights of students. Fortunately, our government has another branch – the judiciary – whose express purpose is to protect constitutional rights, to step in ... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit the Edso
