Testing, Testing, Testing

Dear Readers,

A few days ago I posted a follow up on the status of the special education bills I've been following in the Oregon legislature.  Sadly, I did not get an email with the update.  So, I fiddled around with Google Feedburner and hope that the problem is solved.  If you have subscribed to this blog by email and get this update, success!  If not, back to the mysterious underworld of blogging.  If you want to read the earlier article, you can get to it here.

Suzy

Update on Oregon Bills

Dear Readers,

I was dismayed to read today's press release from State Superintendent Susan Castillo reporting that ODE's "mandate relief" bill, SB 800, passed the House of Representatives and is headed to Governor Kitzhaber for signature.  SB 800 is a housekeeping measure that sweeps away old requirements, like the requirement to teach about the Irish Potato Famine.  At the same time, the Oregon Legislature is quickly passing new special education requirements that surpass what is required by federal law and current state law.  If we were in a time of economic abundance, one could understand expanding entitlements.  But we are in a time of economic retrenchment, and each new requirement means taking something away from a different educational priority.

Here is the status of the bills I previously described:

HB 2283 - Transition services - passed the Senate on Monday and is headed to Governor Kitzhaber.  This bill appears to create several procedural and substantive requirements that exceed federal and current state law.

HB 2296 - Burden of proof - stalled in the House Revenue Committee. May 23 was the deadline for policy committee chairs to schedule work sessions for second chamber measures, so this bill is not going anywhere.

HB 2299 - Charter school bill - public hearing and possible work session in Senate Education Committee on Thursday, 5/26, at 1 pm.

HB 2939 - Seclusion & restraint - work session in the Senate Education Committee today (stay tuned for more information).

June 1 is the deadline for second chamber policy committees to move bills to the floor.  Most likely more requirements will emerge from this session than were swept away by SB 800.

Suzy

Special Education Bills Pending in the Oregon Legislature

My son turned 26 last week.  When he was in kindergarten, Ballot Measure 5 brought us a property tax limitation and a legislative commitment to find an alternative funding mechanism for our public schools.  His 13 years of public education was characterized by a steady erosion of programs and services.  It has been 21 years, and our state legislature has repeatedly failed to establish a stable, multi-faceted funding base for schools.  We are now less than two months from the end of the current legislative session, and the big school funding issues are not even on the table.  My proposal would be to put a moratorium on all new state education legislation until the funding issue has been resolved.  Here is a list of some of the bills now pending in the Oregon Legislature  If you have concerns about any of these bills, it is not too late to communicate with your legislator.

HB 2939- Seclusion & restraint:  This bill for the most part parallels current state regulations but adds significant school district public reporting requirements, including detailed demographic data on use.  For large districts, this will require creating a new electronic data collection system.  No additional state funds are allocated for this purpose.  The bill passed the House and is pending in the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee with another hearing/work session scheduled for May 17, 2011.

  

HB 2283 - Transition programs, Diploma options, etc.:  This bill has multiple provisions but the most impactful to school districts is a requirement to "make available" a full school day transition program to 18-21 year olds.  These students have typically already completed four years of high school.  Several districts in Oregon have moved to an adult education model for their transition programs as both more age appropriate and collaborative with other adult service agencies.  This bill would require IEP teams to give parents/adult students annual notice (acknowledged by the parent/adult student) of the district's obligation to make available a full school day of transition services, and if the IEP team decides that a lesser amount is appropriate, to include a rationale on the IEP itself.  This bill passed the House, and is headed to the Senate floor with a "do pass" recommendation from the Senate Education Committee.

  

HB 2296 - Burden of proof in special education due process hearings:  This bill would shift the burden of proof to school districts except that the parent would have the burden of proof related to a parent's request for tuition reimbursement for services provided by a private entity as a result of a parent's unilateral placement.  This bill went to the House floor with a "do pass" recommendation from the House Education Committee, where it was assigned to the House Revenue Committee.

  

HB 2299 - Charter school students eligible for special education:  Under current Oregon law, the resident school district continues to be responsible for providing special education and related services to students attending an out-of-district charter school.  This bill would assign responsibility for special education and related services to "the school district in which the charter school is located", including responsibilities for "child find" and detailed notice requirements to the parents (which must be acknowledged) and resident school district.  Further, the school district where the charter school is located must implement the student's current IEP until a new IEP is developed.  The bill does not address what happens if the charter school does not have an appropriate program to implement the student's IEP.  The bill passed the House and is pending in the Senate Education Committee with a hearing/work session scheduled for May 17, 2011.

Case of the Month: Tuition reimbursement & "balancing the equities"

Forest Grove School District v. T.A. (9th Circuit, 4/27/11) (Forest Grove II)

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In the continuing saga of this Oregon tuition reimbursement case, the 9th Circuit recently upheld the lower court's decision that the Forest Grove school district was not required to reimburse the parents for private tuition at a residential school based on a balancing of the equities.  The court found, among other things, that the primary purpose for the parents' private placement of the student was because the student was running away from home, using illegal drugs, and engaging in other unsafe behaviors.  Most of the opinion is spent disagreeing with Judge Graber's lengthy dissent.  (Judge Graber recently authored an opinion awarding private tuition reimbursement in C.B. v. Garden Grove, (9th Cir. 3/28/11) although the private program could not implement all of the components of the student's IEP.)

Forest Grove ceased being about T.A. years ago.  What was at stake in this decision was reimbursement for the parent's attorney fees should the parents prevail - many times more than the amount of the original tuition.  In a nod to more recent developments, Forest Grove High School has recieved recognition for its continuing progress in closing the achievement gap.  That is the real story that needs to be told.