BALTIMORE - The ongoing and systemic failure of Baltimore City’s special-education system in public schools is an extreme but very real example of what happens when a public school district is allowed to underserve its students for decades. Under state management since summer of 2005, the city’s special education services have been ordered to provide 90,000 hours of makeup services from 2005 on top of what is due children in 2006.

A state report also showed that 25 percent of city high school seniors in special education received diplomas last spring without meeting graduation requirements. Baltimore City’s school system is an excellent example of a situation where both mainstream and special-education students would benefit greatly from the opportunity to take their per-pupil money elsewhere to a better school.

Few alternatives

The existing process allows few alternatives for parents who may disagree with the services being provided (or not provided) to their special-needs child. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last November in a Montgomery County case that the burden of proof must lie with the parents to prove that a special-education plan is lacking, which is the case in most states. In other words, if parents find a special education plan is inadequate, even after they have raised their concerns while participating in the federally mandated IEP (individualized education plan) process, the onus is on them to initiate due process. Schools are not required to demonstrate why the plan is adequate.

The federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act guarantees disabled students an appropriate education and dissatisfied families the right to a formal hearing. But at what cost? One Montgomery County family I know has been waiting for years for their son’s public school to either provide appropriate modifications or a transfer elsewhere. Meanwhile, their savings dwindle as they pay for private school, and their son is dying of a terminal illness. Funded transfers of special education students to private or public schools are rare in Maryland.

In fairness to schools, there are many skilled and dedicated professionals caring for special-needs children in public schools, and the burnout rate is understandably high. But is this an excuse to fall short of what children need? Many parents complain that they don’t feel “heard” during IEP meetings and that school professionals do not really understand or try to meet the needs of their child. So why should parents have to take their complaints to the courts, and at great expense, to fight for an appropriate education? Why does it need to reach that point?

Should lawsuits be the answer?

Complicating this issue further is the necessity of time and money to sue school systems, and the frequent lack of these resources for parents of special-needs students. Most special-needs children come from low-income families, a certain number of which do not speak English well. If suing a school system is difficult for wealthier families in Montgomery County, as recent cases suggest, imagine the feeling, and reality, of helplessness for families in Baltimore City and elsewhere. Parents unhappy with what is being provided by the public school in their district should have the right to transfer their child elsewhere, particularly those children with very specific and serious needs.

In looking at special education in public schools, we need to ask two questions. First, why don’t parents have the right to ask for accountability in special education programs? And second, with thousands of public dollars being spent yearly per pupil, why don’t families have the freedom to take those dollars to a more appropriate institution for their special-needs children?

Sadly, children in these cases often lose out, because the process of even setting up an IEP and testing children can take months. When parents ask for a hearing and/or take the case to court, more months and years can pass. Each day of teaching is precious for a child because their timelines are much shorter. They can learn so much, and lose so much, in a short period.

More flexibility needs to be built into the public special education system in Maryland, and districts need to acknowledge that they cannot meet the needs of all children. Community partnerships and referrals to approved schools and clinics can help provide more opportunities for special-needs children. A state or county provision for per-pupil spending on special-education could allow these families to choose the best school for their child. It’s difficult enough seeing one’s child struggle with a disability. Finding the right program should not be another burden.

Alison Lake is managing editor at the Maryland Public Policy Institute, and former public school teacher and Dept. of Ed. Blue Ribbon Schools evaluator. She can be reached at alake@mdpolicy.org. Examiner