Semi-Annual News Round-Up

Just kidding!  I hope to summarize recent news more frequently than that.  But admittedly, it's been a while.  So let's plunge in:

1. Earlier this week, the WSJ published an article about the increased prevalence of certain diseases and conditions - like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome - in school aged children, and the ability (or lack thereof) of schools to provide them with FAPE.  The particular challenge with these conditions is that often, the student struggles to attend any classes at all; home and online tutoring are often necessary (but expensive).  Add to that general skepticism that CFS and fibromyalgia are "real" conditions, and you have a situation where schools are pushing back and challenging requested accommodations.

I thought the article was reasonably balanced, weighing the truly difficult issues of how to educate kids with such draining conditions.  However, there were a few statistics thrown around that I thought were a little disingenuous.  One special ed consultant (guess whose side he's on) estimated that in 1970, special education's share of school budgets was 4%  - in 2005, it increased to 21%.  He also cited the figure that the average cost for special ed students is $17,500, roughly double the figure for typical students.

Now, I don't know if the numbers are at all accurate.  For one thing, I really doubt that the $17,500 figure is true nation-wide.  But regardless, these figures are misleading.  Special ed students are not stealing from typical students' education.  States receive extra funding from the federal government under the IDEA to support special ed students - so comparing the cost to educate special ed students vs. typical students is apples to oranges.  So I worry that a parent of a typical kid who's reading this article says to herself, "Wow, those valiant school districts doing so much for these ungrateful kids and parents.  The cost of the special ed kids must be the reason that our middle school cut the art program."    And if you think I'm worrying for no reason, I've quoted an actual comment to the article below:

"Made-up diseases: Chronic fatigue syndrome, learning disability, and marginal personality disorder.  Whatever happened to words like lazy, stupid, and jerk?"

Sigh.

2. A few days ago, the US House of Representatives  approved H.R. Bill 2218 - Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act (who comes up with these names??).  Here's a 3 page summary, here's the full monty, and here's a policy slant on it.

This is one of a number of bills that will be reauthorizing ESEA.  It's certainly good news that students with disabilities were expressly mentioned, but I'm not sure what, if anything, will end up changing.  Charter schools seem to be a total crap shoot when it comes to educating kids with disabilities.

And that's all for now folks!  Want to try to end on a semi-positive note!