Feds Warn Charters On Special Education

Charter schools must provide special education services and ensure that students with disabilities are not discriminated against just like traditional public schools, federal education officials say.

In a “Dear Colleague” letter issued Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Education said that charters have the same obligations as regular public schools to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act in addition to other federal civil rights laws. Such responsibilities are the same whether or not charters receive federal funding, the Education Department guidance indicates.

Specifically, students with disabilities are entitled to a free, appropriate public education and should not be discriminated against in the admissions process or in regard to discipline. Charters must also provide related services to students with disabilities and guarantee that such children have “equal opportunity” to participate in extracurricular activities, the guidance said.

“Every student with a disability enrolled in a public school, including a public charter school, must be provided a free appropriate public education — that is, regular or special education and related aids and services that are designed to meet his or her individual educational needs as adequately as the needs of students without disabilities are met,” wrote Catherine E. Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education, in the letter.

Read more of Shaun Heasley's Disability Scoop article HERE.

Disability Advocacy Coalition Criticizes ESEA Waivers

A coalition of groups representing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities outlined its concerns with the waivers from certain requirements in the No Child Left Behind law that the U.S. Department of Education has granted to states.

The Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination released its letter Thursday, the same day a Senate committee held a hearing on the waivers, which have been issued using the education secretary's broad waiver authority—and without much Congressional oversight. The collaboration, formed in 2008, includes groups such as the National Down Syndrome Society, the Autism Society, the National Fragile X Foundation, and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Among its concerns are that states haven't made a strong effort to get meaningful from people who represent the disability community; the waivers diminish subgroup accountability by allowing states to consolidate them into so-called "super-subgroups;" and that states are failing to address in detail how they plan to transition severely cognitively disabled students who are taking alternate assessments to common college- and career-ready standards.

Read more of Christina Samuels' On Special Education article HERE.