PA. EDUCATION Board approves rule change

With no change, millions in funding will be lost.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- Parents would have the sole authority to decide whether their children can be placed in special-education programs under a regulatory change approved Thursday by the State Board of Education.
The regulation was prompted by the U.S. Department of Education, which informed Pennsylvania last year that current state rules conflict with federal regulations. The current state regulations allow school districts to request due-process hearings to resolve disputes with parents over special-education placements.
Pennsylvania risks losing more than $300 million in federal special-education funding in the current school year if the change is not adopted.
"This is a change that is necessary, and a lot of it will have a financial penalty if it's not passed," said Connie Davis, a member of the board's special-education committee.
The board approved the measure as a proposed regulation in March.
The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act only allows districts to ask a hearing officer to override a parent's refusal to consent to an evaluation or re-evaluation. It does not allow them to pursue a due process hearing if parents object to having their children placed in special education programs.
Against the change
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association and attorneys for school districts have opposed the change, fearing that parents who object to having their children placed in special education could nevertheless sue districts in the future for failing to provide such services.
"We've simply advised our members that before they decide to place a child in special education, they've got to make every effort to talk to the parents, regardless of what they think the [federal law] allows them to do. This whole thing is a conflict between state and federal law," said Tim Allwein, a spokesman for the school boards association.
U.S. Education Department officials have said, in response to similar questions from other states, the agency believes Congress intended under the federal law to give parents the final say over whether their children can be placed in special education programs.
The regulation must be reviewed by the House and Senate education committees, an independent regulatory review panel, and the state attorney general's office before it takes effect with publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The process typically takes several months.
XOn the Net: Pennsylvania Department of Education: http://www.pde.state.pa.us