Editorial Staff

Study: Systemic Failure in IDEA Implementation for Private School Students with Disabilities in Additional States

/in , , , , , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

States, school districts failing to allocate sufficient federal funding to special needs students in private schools   

BOSTON – On the heels of a $3.8 million settlement for private school students with disabilities in Massachusetts for the state’s failure to comply with provisions of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that require provision of equitable, publicly funded special education services to students in private schools, a Pioneer Institute study finds that two states and three school districts around the country for which data are available also appear to be out of compliance.

“Whether it be state departments of education wrongfully conflating state and federal law and giving school districts faulty or incomplete guidance, or lack of enforcement efforts, private school students are being wrongfully denied access to IDEA-funded special education services,” said Tom Olson, who co-authored “Bad IDEA: How States Block Federal Special Education Funding to Private and Religious School Students” with Kate McConnell and Nancy Kriegel.

Webinar today (Apr. 8th) at 1 pm ET: “Systemic Failure in IDEA Funding for Private School Students”

REGISTER

IDEA requires states to ensure that all public-school students aged 3-21 who have disabilities receive a “free and appropriate education.”  It also requires the provision of equitable services to students with disabilities in private schools.

The federal government appropriates IDEA funding for the states, which then appropriate the money among local school districts.  A “proportionate” share of the funds is to be spent on private school students who attend school within the school district’s geographic boundaries. Proportionate share is determined by a district’s total IDEA allocation, the total number of students within the district who are found to have disabilities, and the percentage of those students who attend private schools.

The law permits states to use their own money to offer special education services to private school students in addition to those required by IDEA.

In theory, Massachusetts is one of those states. However, the state’s anti-aid amendment prohibits state or locally funded services from being delivered at the private school site. In practice, this makes it difficult for students to access services and support. Until recently there was also confusion regarding federally funded services provided under IDEA. However, given the private school coalition’s work in partnership with Massachusetts DESE, and the recent settlement, private school students with disabilities can now access federally funded special education services on site at their schools.

To determine whether such non-compliance is common, the authors sent Freedom of Information Act requests to 12 states and 8 school districts that are geographically representative to determine how IDEA funding was allocated to students with disabilities in private schools beginning with the 2015-16 school year.  Only five – Florida, Missouri, Denver, Los Angeles and Portland, OR – more-or-less furnished the requested information.  In nearly all cases, the states and school districts didn’t provide proportionate share numbers, meaning the authors had to do their best to calculate it themselves based on the data provided.

The authors assumed that between 7 percent and 14 percent of private school students have special needs. The best results were from Denver, where during the 2015-16 school year between a quarter and half of the money that should have been made available for provide school students was allocated to them.  The poorest performer was Florida.  There only between 0.7 percent and 1.3 percent of the appropriate proportionate share was made available to private school students with special needs during the 2017-18 school year.

“Since the data are not being gathered in any meaningful way, it’s challenging if not impossible to hold agencies accountable for complying with IDEA,” said Director of Pioneer Education Jamie Gass.

Among the authors’ recommendations are that USED collect the applicable data from the states, that each state assume that at least 7 percent of private school students have special needs, and that each state appoint an IDEA ombudsman.

About the Authors

Tom Olson: Tom is currently a Principal Partner of ADAC. Tom has overseen development efforts, augmented donor commitment, and cultivated major gifts for a variety of organizations. Supporting initiatives that advance in government and civil society limited government and the principle of subsidiarity, Tom’s professional competencies include published writing and public policy research. Tom holds a bachelor’s degree from the College of the Holy Cross and graduate degrees from Saint Louis University and Boston College.

Nancy Kriegel:  Nancy is currently the Executive Director of Yad Chessed (“Hand of Loving Kindness”), a social service agency assisting individuals and families who are living at or below the federal poverty level. Prior to this, she was a Senior Director at Combined Jewish Philanthropies and one of the founders of Gateways: Access to Jewish Education. Nancy is a strong advocate for Jewish Day Schools and the wider Jewish community. Nancy holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a juris doctor (JD) from the Boston College School of Law.

Kate McConnell: Kate is currently serving as the Director of Inclusive Education for the Office of Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Previously, she has worked as the Director of Inclusive Education at Chicago’s Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy. Before becoming a Catholic school educator, she was a special education teacher in public schools. A certified Learning and Behavior Specialist, Kate holds a bachelor’s degree from Towson University and graduate degrees from Loyola University Chicago and DePaul University.

About Pioneer Institute

Pioneer’s mission is to develop and communicate dynamic ideas that advance prosperity and a vibrant civic life in Massachusetts and beyond.

Pioneer’s vision of success is a state and nation where our people can prosper and our society thrive because we enjoy world-class options in education, healthcare, transportation and economic opportunity, and where our government is limited, accountable and transparent.

Pioneer values an America where our citizenry is well-educated and willing to test our beliefs based on facts and the free exchange of ideas, and committed to liberty, personal responsibility, and free enterprise.

Get Updates on Our School Choice Research

Education Posts:

UConn’s Prof. Wayne Franklin on James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans, & American Democracy

0 Comments
/
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Wayne Franklin, professor of English at the University of Connecticut and definitive biographer of the American literary figure James Fenimore Cooper. As we celebrate Native American Heritage Month, Prof. Franklin reviews Cooper's background and major works, especially the "Leatherstocking Tales," including The Last of the Mohicans, which are distinguished for their enlightened and sympathetic portrayal of the disappearing tribes.

Wall Street Journal Columnist Jason Riley on the 2020 Election, School Choice, & Race in America

0 Comments
/
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Jason Riley, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and columnist for The Wall Street Journal. Jason shares insights on the 2020 election, its implications for the next two years, and assuming Vice President Biden becomes president, how he may govern on K-12 education.

Nationally Recognized Author Tara Ross on the Importance of the Electoral College

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Tara Ross, the nationally recognized author of Why We Need the Electoral College. On the eve of the 2020 election, they discuss the critical and controversial role of the Electoral College in determining which candidate will become the next President of the United States.

Pulitzer-Winning Author Stacy Schiff on the Salem Witch Trials

In our special Halloween edition of “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Pulitzer-Prize winner Stacy Schiff, whose most recent book is The Witches: Salem, 1692. They discuss why, in Schiff’s view, the Salem witch trials are the “the best known, least understood chapter” of American history, and why the trials, false charges, and finger pointing, remain relevant today in our Internet culture.

LSU’s Prof. Andrew Burstein on Washington Irving, the Headless Horseman, & the Presidency

0 Comments
/
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Andrew Burstein, the Charles P. Manship Professor of History at Louisiana State University, and author of The Original Knickerbocker: The Life of Washington Irving, and with Nancy Isenberg, The Problem of Democracy: The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality.

NCTQ’s Kate Walsh on the Crisis in K-12 Teacher Prep, Quality, & Evaluation

0 Comments
/
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Kate Walsh, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality. They discuss the qualifications of those who enter the teaching profession, explore teacher preparation, and key differences between teacher preparation, accreditation, and job prospects in the U.S. and other countries. They also speculate about what a Biden presidency might mean for K-12 education policymaking, and discuss how to diversify the teaching pipeline.

Cheryl Brown Henderson, Daughter of Lead Plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Ed., on Race & Schooling

0 Comments
/
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Cheryl Brown Henderson, president of the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence, and Research. She shares her experience as the daughter of the lead plaintiff in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, and thoughts on how the historic decision contributed to advancing civil rights in our country.

Harvard PEPG’s Prof. Paul Peterson on Charter Schools, Digital Learning, & Ed Next Polling

This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Paul Peterson, the Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Government and Director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University.

Award-Winning Writer Brenda Wineapple on the 170th Anniv. of The Scarlet Letter & Pres. Andrew Johnson’s Impeachment

0 Comments
/
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Brenda Wineapple, author of the award-winning Hawthorne: A Life and The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation. They discuss her definitive biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne and the 170th anniversary of the publication of his classic novel, The Scarlet Letter.

International Best-Seller Dr. Jung Chang On Wild Swans, Mao’s Tyranny, & Modern China

0 Comments
/
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Dr. Jung Chang, author of the best-selling books Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China; Mao: The Unknown Story; and Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister: Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China.

Kelly Smith, Prenda CEO, on Microschooling & the Future of K-12 Learning

0 Comments
/
This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard are joined by Kelly Smith, founder and CEO of Prenda, a company that helps create flexible learning environments known as microschools. Often described as the “reinvention of the one-room school house,” microschools combine homeschooling, online education, smaller class sizes, mixed age-level groupings, flipped classrooms, and personalized learning.

Study: Signs of Progress at Madison Park, but Still a Long Way to Go

Four years after it began to implement a turnaround plan, Boston’s Madison Park Technical Vocational High School is showing clear signs of progress, but its performance continues to lag behind that of other vocational-technical schools in Massachusetts, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.