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Boston Globe

Feds finds Mass. education department fails to protect students with disabilities

Advertisement Department spokesperson Jacqueline Reis said in a statement the agency has taken steps over the last year to improve its special education supervision, including hiring additional staff and revising policies. 'The Department remains committed to continuous improvement efforts to enhance and refine special education services across Massachusetts and will work to implement the ordered corrective action,' Reis said. The findings come as the Trump administration scrutinizes federal spending, potentially giving the President and the new Department of Government Efficiency fodder for their critiques of public education — especially in a liberal stronghold like Massachusetts. Related : More immediately, though, the findings serve as validation for a coalition of parents and advocates long-exasperated by the state's special education system. For years, their experiences have run counter to a rosy narrative about Massachusetts' services — one supported by the federal government's own ranking system, which last year 'It was parent input — lots of parent input — that convinced (the US Education Department) to do the investigation,' said Ellen Chambers, leader of SPEDWatch, a Norwood-based advocacy group that organized family outreach to federal officials. The federal Education Department Advertisement The report divides its findings into three key areas: how the state handles disputes between local districts and parents over student services; how the state monitors whether local districts are identifying all children with disabilities; and how the state oversees the rights of special education students placed at private schools at public expense. The federal government found the state's dispute resolution procedures lacking, with Massachusetts' Problem Resolution System, which handles complaints alleging schools are districts are not meeting legal requirements for education, failing to investigate claims and issue findings within a 60-day federal time limit. The Problem Resolution System also lacks procedures for ensuring follow-through when corrective actions are required. In other words, even when the state deems a parent's claim substantive, there is no oversight to ensure a district changes its ways. Related : When it comes to identifying children in need of special education services, the federal government found Massachusetts does not have a way to monitor whether local districts are illegally delaying or denying initial evaluations. In particular, investigators warned of schools placing students for prolonged periods of time in less-intensive intervention programs — a remedial strategy that, while supported by research, cannot under federal law be used to put off an evaluation of a child suspected of having a disability. (Often, this strategy is referred to as multi-tiered systems of support, or 'MTSS,' or response to intervention, also known as 'RTI.') The federal government additionally took issue with a Massachusetts regulation related to Independent Educational Evaluations (IEE). Under federal law, parents who disagree with the findings of school district's special education evaluation have the right to request an independent evaluation at public expense. In Massachusetts, a cost-sharing regulation has resulted in parents shouldering part of the expense regardless of the facts of the case. The federal law, however, requires a local district to prove through a due process hearing that its evaluation is sound in order to win a judgment stipulating a parent must chip in for an independent assessment, investigators said. Related : Advertisement Finally, the federal government found Massachusetts unable to demonstrate it is effectively monitoring districts' oversight of students with disabilities placed at private schools. In particular, the state has no procedure in place to ensure private schools aren't violating students' rights when it comes to discipline — such as suspending a child for more than 10 school days even when his behavior is a manifestation of his disability. The state also lacks a procedure for a parent to appeal a private school's decision to terminate a student's enrollment, investigators found. The report calls for several corrective action measures with timelines ranging from 90 days to one year. Massachusetts is not an outlier when it comes needing to take corrective action. More than a dozen other states in recent years have in some way failed to properly oversee special education services, Ben Tobin, a special education advocate based in Western Massachusetts and member of SPEDWatch, called the report 'very significant.' 'Families have been shouting from the mountain tops for years,' he said. 'This really shows there's a systemic problem and that the path forward has been laid out.' Advertisement Still, Tobin worries that a swiftly changing environment in Washington could derail progress. Would would happen, he questioned, if Trump makes good on a promise to dismantle the federal Education Department — if 'no one is watching the watchmen?' 'No institution is perfect,' he said, 'but the level of detail and time (the Department) took with the probe shows why we need safeguards in place for the kids.' This is a developing story. Check back for updates. Mandy McLaren can be reached at