Story Archives of 'Special Education'

Many cash-strapped states have made large cuts to special education. But parents are demanding their special needs children get equal educational opportunities, and a recent Supreme Court case in Oregon may be a victory for their side. We'll look at the state of special education in New Hampshire and in America.

Guests

• Cheryl M. Jorgensen, Assistant Research Professor and Project Director at the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire; she works on state and federal education policy issues, and teaches in the special education program at UNH
• Kassandra Spanos Ardinger, president of the Concord School Board
• Kathleen Murphy, director of the Division of Instruction at the New Hampshire Department of Education

We'll also hear from

• Matt Bernard, a Civics and Economics teacher at Pembroke Academy; special education students are mainstreamed into his classes
• Kirsten Murphy, Executive Director of ARCH (Autism Resources for the Community and Home) and Administrative Director for the New Hampshire Council on Autism Spectrum Disorder

A new national report underlines a troubling trend- large numbers of disabled students who drop out of school. Even more troubling, the study lists the Granite State near the bottom of the class. We’ll explore these new numbers...why they stubbornly persist...and the debate over what should be done.

Guests

• Dick Cohen, Executive Director of the Disabilities Rights Center
• Santina Thibedeau, Administrator for the Bureau of Special Education at the NH Department of Education and State Director of Special Education
• Mark Joyce, Executive Director of the New Hampshire School Administrators Association

We'll Also Hear From

• Maggie Hassan, Democratic Senator from Exeter, Senate President Pro Tem, and mother of a disabled teenager

The New Hampshire Department of Education has released a count of all the special education students in districts around the state. Some school districts identify very few students, proportionally. But other districts have coded as many as one in five students as needing special services. People who work in the special education field say these differences from town to town don't surprise them at all. New Hampshire Public Radio's Raquel Maria Dillon explores why.

This week, a US House and Senate Conference Committee is hammering out a compromise version of President Bush's Education Bill. One issue under debate is whether to implement full funding of the Government's share of special education costs. 26 years ago, Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, and also promised to pay 40% of the average per pupil cost. But Congress put up no money for it and today the law is drastically underfunded. The mandate stretches town budgets, divides local communities, and has united the New Hampshire Legislature. But three members of NH Congressional delegation appear to be in no hurry. NHPR's Carolyn D'Aquila reports.