DATE:  May 5, 2008

TO:       Special Education Regulations Revision Process

EMAIL: ReviseSpedRegs@doe.virginia.gov

FROM: The Executive Board of the Fairfax County Council of PTAs (FCCPTA)

On behalf of the Fairfax County Council of PTAs (FCCPTA), which represents PTAs in approximately 200 Fairfax County Public Schools, the following is submitted by the Executive Board of the FCCPTA to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) as an addendum to its previous public comments of February 4, 2008 regarding the revision of the Regulations Governing Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities in Virginia.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensures that children with disabilities have a free appropriate public education available to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment and independent living. We believe the current Regulations Governing Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities in Virginia are superior in many ways to the proposed regulations. We further believe that the existing regulations do not merit the wholesale revision that is being proposed in order to comply with the 2004 amendments to IDEA.

Virginia has been in the forefront of promoting and protecting the necessary parent-school partnership that ensures children with disabilities are properly identified and served by our local school divisions. The proposed regulations represent a step backwards in Virginia’s historic guarantee of parental rights in special education. The Virginia Board of Education must not allow this roll back of civil rights in Virginia for children with disabilities and the parents who advocate for them.

Parent Requests for IEP Meetings [8 VAC 20-81-110, pg. 140]

The FCCPTA opposes the proposed provision that permits local education agencies (LEAs) to refuse a parent’s request for an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting if they consider such a request “unreasonable.” No request to promote and continue the dialogue between parents and schools should be considered unreasonable. This provision works against the parent-school partnership at the heart of Virginia’s special education process and denies a parent’s legitimate right to pursue changes to their child’s IEP.

Accountability for IEP Goals [8 VAC 20-81-110, pg. 140]

The FCCPTA opposes elimination of the provision in current regulation that states each LEA “must make a good faith effort to assist the child to achieve the goals, including benchmarks or objectives, listed in the IEP.” LEAs should actively work toward achieving the growth projected in a child’s annual IEP goals. If there is no requirement for schools to demonstrate some accountability for IEP goals, then the IEP is meaningless as a measure of success in providing a child with a disability a free and appropriate education.