State may ease up on special education rules

State education officials are poised to trim mandated services for thousands of special education students - including some provisions on the books more than 20 years - in an effort to provide financial relief for schools.

The state's Board of Regents is scheduled to vote this week on politically sensitive changes in special education rules that would allow schools on Long Island and elsewhere to raise some class sizes and reduce speech therapy for students with disabilities, including autism.

Special education accounts for about a third of total school costs, including more than $3 billion on the Island alone.

Supporters of the changes say school districts could continue providing all existing services if they wished, and that students with disabilities still will be guaranteed "appropriate" education under federal law. Nevertheless, Regents supporting revisions have found themselves bombarded in recent weeks by e-mail from parents, speech therapists and other opponents who say changes would slow students' progress.

"I don't have a problem with making it more flexible, as long as the parents and the district agree they ought to have that flexibility," said Roger Tilles of Great Neck, who is the Island's representative on the Regents board and is the parent of a teenager with a disability.

Tilles referred to federal requirements giving parents a strong voice in special education services for their children.

The proposals are scheduled for votes by a Regents committee Monday, and by the full board Tuesday. Tilles predicted passage.

Rule changes, debated the past two years, would:

Drop a required minimum of two 30-minute speech therapy sessions each week for students needing this, while maintaining their general right to therapy.

Drop a required minimum of 30 to 60 minutes' daily language training for students with autism, while maintaining their right to such help.

Allow schools to increase the number of special education students temporarily assigned to "inclusionary" classes from 12 to 14 with state permission. Such classes typically are assigned two teachers, along with equal numbers of students with and without disabilities.

Revisions are supported by Albany-based groups representing most school boards and superintendents on the Island and statewide.

However, many parent advocates of students with disabilities view the changes as a retreat from the state's traditionally generous support.

Robert Krakow, the co-founder of the Manhattan-based Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law and Advocacy, which provides legal support for children with disabilities, said, "We all understand that we're in difficult financial times, but cost savings shouldn't be placed on the backs of the most vulnerable students who need the most focused interventions."