When Should Public Schools Pay for Private Schools for Special Needs Students?

The Supreme Court will look at this question and just what providing a "free and appropriate education" means, the Washington Post reports. Per usual, no specific discussion of transportation in this well worth reading article, but one can imagine the cost of transportation would add to the lengthy bill of service.

Tips for First IEP Meeting

Today Special Needs Bliss offers its tips for parents attending their first IEP meeting. Nothing too shocking here. The list recommends parents make sure all parties are in attendance, write down any questions, know their rights and "not feel bad about having to stand up for your child's rights."

This will be an ongoing question for Special Needs Rides, but what do you see as the essential tips for transporters attending their first IEP meeting?

Also online this week:

• The Notebook argues Pennsylvania needs a new funding system for educating students with disabilities.
• Two takes on changes coming to special needs schools in New Jersey's Cumberland county.
  
• And a one-of-a-kind Autism program in Delaware draws praise, but faces challenges.
  

What Are Your Emergency Plans for Special Needs Riders and More Headlines

• We've already talked a bit about how you can prepare for evacuations and emergencies. But have you considered the evacuation needs of your special needs riders? Several elements of Santa Rosa County, Fla., government are working together to better care for special needs residents in emergencies. A computerized mapping system will replace a semi-manual paper system to provide valuable data. How could your department incorporate computerized records for its emergency preparedness?
• On the data collection note, Louisiana Department of Education received a $4 million grant to improve its information systems. Part of that means creating "three new, stand-alone data systems for the purpose of tracking homeless students, students with disabilities and critical student performance measures."
  
• School choice can mean more busing. In an op-ed, the Utica Observer Dispatch argues privately-run charter schools, including special needs schools, offer better choices for all. "No business or institution worth its salt should fear competition. Instead, public school educators should view charter schools as an opportunity to strengthen their own approaches and programs," the piece argues.
  
• The Austin Statesman looks at a program that mainstreams special needs students that is at risk of closing. Loud arguing about the value of this sort of program and taxation follows below in the comment section.
  
• A Tribute to Teachers and Paraprofessionals of Students with Special Needs. This poem's for you.

Special Needs Headlines: DC to OK to UK

• Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spells out preferred use of education stimulus aid. Here for program-specific guidelines.
  
• A North Carolina special needs department explains its budget woes.
• Educators in England call for change to special needs policy.
• An Oklahoma bill would require more expedient IEP-evaluations.

Monday Headlines

• Texas looks at voucher bill for students with disabilities. The vouchers would allow students with documented disabilities to attend pubic schools in other districts or private schools.
• Transporting Special Needs Children? It’s EZ with the Roosevelt
• Mother of child shaken by care-worker fights to raise awareness. According to one group, 1,200 to 1,400 babies are hurt or killed due to shaking each year.
  

Closed Schools, Lessons For Parents, the 'R' Word and More

• New Jersey parents of children with special needs don't want their schools with declining enrollment closed in an effort to cut costs.
• A Virginia non-profit helps parents understand their children's emotional and mental special needs.
  
• The Alliance for Disability Awareness says no more to the 'R' word
• Florida police chief offers database of all community members with special needs. File designed to help first-responders to include photo, special need, contact person, home address, type of special need, special instructions.
  
• Special Needs Alliance, a non-profit collective of disability and public benefits attorneys, welcomes new honorary member.
  

Tuesday Headlines: Ancient Special Needs, California Laws, First Dose of Stimulus

• Ancient man cared for "special needs" children, new study finds.
  
• California considers measures that "close the service gap for children with special needs."
• Schools start receiving their first stimulus funds.

Friday Highlights: Avoiding Long IEP Meetings, Epilepsy, Blindness

• We talk a lot about the importance of transportation engaging in IEP meetings. In this post, a parent shares tips for "avoiding a butt-long IEP meeting."
• Have students on board with epilepsy? The Epilepsy Foundation of Northern California has some great resources, including seizure action plans, reporting forms and guides for parents.
• In STN we've discussed issues of transporting blond students from legal and best practices stand points, but we rarely get to hear about the school experience from the blind students themselves. In Washington, one college student who was the only blind student in her school is hoping by leading a course on stereotypes of blindness, she can improve future generations of blind studens' experiences. The Western Front explains
  

  ... some teachers would limit her activities based off the individual perception of what they felt a blind child could handle. She said other teachers did not comprehend her constant frustration with her disability. Instead of being empathetic, teachers would tell her not to be negative and not to pity herself, she said.

Stimulus Chest or Pandora's Box?

Federal stimulus monies should start getting released to schools this week. But some are crying saying loopholes in the bill will let schools spend the money on playground equipment and wallpaper instead of teacher jobs, the AP reports.

The law was written so broadly that most of the stabilization dollars can be spent on just about anything - carpet, wallpaper, playground equipment, even new school construction - which might bother Senate moderates who insisted on dropping a school construction program before they would vote for the bill. That's because school districts can spend the money as federal impact aid, a relatively small program for poorly funded districts. By contrast, most federal education dollars are supposed to be spent on teacher salaries or academics.

Inclusion, Resources and Canine Help

• In an essay, Quality Service for the Autism Community Looks at mainstreaming autistic students.
• McGraw-Hill, a company better known for school textbooks, has published special education and intervention materials for Tier 2 and Tier 3 at InterventionResouces.com, the company announced in a press release.
  
• A two-year old Labrador Retriever is helping some Virginia special needs students.
• $44 Billion in Stimulus, including $11 billion for Title I and IDEA programs, will drive educational reform and create jobs, the U.S. Department of Education explains in this press release.

Special Needs Ridership May Rise

ADA changes lead to the U.S. Department of Education updating the Section 504 FAQ concerning determination of a student's physical or mental impairment, a change which could increase the number of special needs students who require transport. More on STNOnline.com