Give Special Ed a Road Map to Success

For many boys and girls, particularly minorities, special education has become not a road to life but a cul-de-sac where they are stopped before they get the help they need to do as well as they can.

Next year, Congress is due for its five-year review of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which governs most “special education” in U.S. schools.

Special ed touches the lives of 12% of all U.S. children at a total annual cost nearing $60 billion. The shortcomings and complexities of this troubled program make it ripe for reform.

IDEA dates back to 1975, when Washington undertook to ensure that disabled youngsters got a “free, appropriate public education.” Until then, many school districts had neglected or refused to educate thousands of children with special needs. Over the past quarter-century, thanks in considerable part to IDEA, much has changed for the better.

But IDEA also has plenty of problems. To name a few: over-identification of minority students for special education, double standards for student discipline, red tape for charter schools and interference with state and local education reforms. It exempts millions of children and teachers from academic standards, tests and accountability. IDEA needs a top-to-bottom overhaul.

President Bush recently appointed a commission to recommend reforms. It’s a good step. But change in education is difficult. Powerful interests browbeat legislators in defense of the status quo and fear that any reform means a return to the pre-IDEA era. Others view money as the solution to IDEA’s woes when what’s needed is reform. Earlier this year, a politically diverse group of educators--several of whom were appointed to the president’s new commission--came up with recommendations for reforming IDEA.

We found that minority students, especially, would benefit from greater focus on prevention of learning disabilities through high-quality early reading instruction. We found that efforts to ensure compliance with IDEA’s myriad rules and procedures have caused a one-size-fits-all mentality that neglects student performance. Schools are so worried about being sued that educators focus on procedures rather than on student needs. Between paperwork and litigation, special ed has become a full-employment act for bureaucrats and lawyers while falling short of its important goals.

In reauthorizing IDEA, lawmakers should:

* The program should focus on academic performance rather than regulatory compliance as a measure of success.

* The number of special ed categories should be streamlined.

* The program should stress prevention of reading problems and early intervention to help millions of children by spotting their needs when they are young and then using proven methods to help them.

* Instead of requiring uniform compliance, IDEA should stimulate school-level flexibility and innovation and more parental involvement.

* The reformed IDEA must be funded adequately. Congress has never met its fiscal obligations under IDEA, and this will not be cheap. Congress and the president should consider, for example, having Washington assume full responsibility for the highest-cost special needs youngsters.

* Double standards must be addressed. Special educators often feel isolated. But if special ed is to be integrated with general ed, it must be done in a way that doesn’t tie up school administrators with paperwork, conflicting rules and regulatory compliance.

Such reforms are bold--and overdue. With a growing awareness that many education problems, particularly those affecting minority students, are linked to IDEA, the time may be right to rethink this program.

That would be a good thing for millions of children who deserve better than they’re getting now.