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.