MONTGOMERY
STUDENT ADVOCATE E-REPORTER
http://studentadvocate-nj.org/MSAER_Index.htm
Volume 1, Issue: 8, December 9, 2004
Editor: Bob Witanek
bwitanek@igc.org
___________________________________________________
Full Report: Separate And Unequal on
NJ Racial Disparities in Public Education
Comment by The Student Advocate Webmaster and
Editor
by Bob Witanek
http://StudentAdvocate-NJ.org
http://APIECENJ.org
Below is an excellent report from today’s Star Ledger about a report, a second
of its kind in the last decade, entitled “Still Separate and Unequal.” It is
certainly timely for the Star Ledger to cover this important report. It details
the issue in NJ of disproportionate classification of “minority” students as
disabled and their disproportionate placement in self contained classrooms.
Without going into great detail, let me say that I know from very recent experience that many special needs families want to make sure that any advocacy around the issues of special needs concerns be neatly separated from issues of racism and of special concern to African American, Latino and other oppressed minorities. Those who want to erect such artificial barriers between these issues are doing a great disservice to the upliftment of all of our children. Their actions in that regard are only in the service of those who are responsible for undermining special education law and in ignoring such law.
As the article below makes quite clear, there is no way to separate the issues
of advocating on behalf of special needs students and their families and the
special and unique concerns of special needs students and families of so-called
minority (African American, Latino, etc.) groups. This report has been drafted
by the top special needs advocacy groups in NJ including the Statewide Parents
Advocacy Network
http://SPANNJ.org and verified by Barbara Gantwerk director of the NJ
Special Education Office of the NJ Department of Education.
It is a breath of fresh air
that this report has been drafted and that it has received front page news
coverage in the statewide Star Ledger.
Special needs parents – please educate yourselves. From your own experience, you likely have encountered the challenge of dealing with a seemingly intransigent bureaucracy bent on taking the path of least resistance and often of least expenditure. From your experience you have tasted the frustration of feeling beaten down – with the very survival, let alone the maximal potential of your special needs child at risk. Just imagine if on top of all of your struggles, you had to deal with the issue of pervasive institutional racism throughout the process.
If you want to live in a fantasy world and imagine that such racism is not infecting the issues of special needs – read what the advocates – as verified by the NJ state director of Special Education Barbara Gantwerk, are reporting. Any advocacy effort that by specific design will try to deny or separate itself from the unique issues of the African and Latino (and other so-called minority) students and families among our constituencies, is rendering itself not only ineffective, but as an instrument of the very racism and discrimination that is resulting in the situation described in the Star Ledger article below.
As special needs families we have probably experienced issues of discrimination toward our disabled children. Hopefully such experience would make the leap toward trying to understand the challenge of trying to survive and thrive as an African American or Latino family with a disabled child in a system where racism continues to pervade much easier.
Negotiating the Best Possible Educational
Plan for Your Child in the IEP Process
A Parents’
Initiative for Every Child’s Education
http://APIECENJ.org is planning a workshop at a location in
Montgomery Township, NJ, perhaps in February or early March 2005. We invite
other organizations to work together with us as well as any individuals. We
will invite all to attend. The theme of the event will be: “Negotiating the
Best Possible Educational Plan for Your Child in the IEP Process.” We will
invite experts in this field to provide such advice. We will also provide an
update of the changes that have been made to IDEA. We will promote the SPAN
statewide conference in Mid – March (see
http://SPANNJ.org ). All parents are welcome to attend the event.
APIECE has addressed many issues in the community. As a result of our work, the district created a committee to improve the achievement of all under-achievers, regardless of the race of the students. While it remains to be seen what the committee will do and what it will accomplish, the mere existence of such a committee that aims to help us all is a result of the hard work of APIECE.
APIECE also has called upon the Township of Montgomery to provide a free, non-restrictive policy, without onerous contract or insurance requirements in allotting use of the public rooms being built in the new community center.
We can surmount the obstacles that which create division between struggling families in our communities. When we defeat those obstacles, we will make progress for all of our children and all of our families. We will design the best possible IEP for our children. We Can! We Will! Together!
Stay tuned for more details about this important workshop.
Racial gap persists in special education
Report: Jersey lags despite slight gains
Thursday, December 09, 2004
BY JOHN MOONEY
Star-Ledger Staff
http://nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-19/1102572967252550.xml?starledger?ntop
Not only are minority students in New Jersey more likely to be classified as disabled, but even within special education they are far more likely than their white peers to be placed in separate classes or schools entirely, according to a new report.
The study by a panel of advocates for the disabled called "Still Separate and Unequal" is a follow-up to the same group's report 10 years ago that cited New Jersey's woeful overall record at the time of placing special education students into regular schools.
While that record has improved some, the advocates said yesterday, the state still lags badly in several categories, especially in sending students to outside schools, public and private.
And maybe most alarming, they said, is the persistent racial gap in how special education students are identified and the disparity in where those students are schooled.
For instance, seven in 10 white students with disabilities spend the vast majority of their school day in a classroom alongside nondisabled students; only about one in 10 black or Hispanic students do, according to the report.
"Ten years ago, we were way out of whack in virtually every area (of special education), and we have made some progress," said Diana Autin, a member of the task force that wrote the report for the New Jersey Council of Developmental Disabilities.
"But the overrepresentation of minorities is an area where there has really been no progress at all," said Autin, co-director of the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network.
The numbers are not unique to New Jersey, as the high number of minority students in special education has long been a nationwide concern. New federal special education law signed last week by President Bush called for the federal and state governments to step up enforcement against discriminatory practices.
Yesterday, state officials did not dispute the report's findings, but stressed steps were already under way in New Jersey to address the disparities and to bring more students -- white and minority -- into mainstream classes where research and the law itself say these students best learn.
For the last four years, the state has identified about 33 districts with racial disparities and pressed them to take steps to close the gaps, officials said.
"We did not wait for the federal government to take a look at this problem," said Barbara Gantwerk, director the state's special education office. "It is a serious problem, and we have taken it on as an initiative and put that into practice."
She said the reasons behind the disparities go beyond just special education practices to the broader issues surrounding the overall achievement gap among different races in general education as well.
Advocates said the state's steps so far have been insufficient, and the council called on acting Gov. Richard Codey and the Office of Child Advocate to convene a task force to specifically look at the racial disparities.
Aside from just the racial issues, much of yesterday's report and its presentation at a Statehouse news conference focused on the benefits of educating these students in general education settings, known generically as "inclusion."
New Jersey's record in that regard is mixed, the report said. On one hand, the state has improved in the numbers that spend at least part of their day in classes with general education students.
But the percentage of students in full inclusion settings still lags many states, and nearly 10 percent of students are in separate settings altogether, three times the national average.
Citing federal law and ongoing research that students are best served in the "least restrictive environment," the advocates again placed much of the blame on the state Department of Education. They said it has not pressed districts hard enough nor provided the needed training or guidance for schools to educate these students within their own walls.
State Education Commission William Librera last summer imposed a moratorium on the opening of new private schools for the disabled while his department could more closely track the need and quality of the programs.
"At least they are acknowledging the steps needed to address the problem," said Susan Richmond, deputy director of the council. "But there has to be a commitment from the top down to follow the law. The state has to be bold in action, and the districts have to be held accountable if they're not doing a good job."
But the complexity of the problem was reflected in the several parents who attended the presentation yesterday, all strong believers in inclusion but seeing disparate results in their own schools.
Gail Dunn was successful in gaining the services and support for her son to attend general education classes in Montclair, no small feat in a district where she said just a third of minority students with disabilities are in mostly general education classrooms.
What helped her succeed where others didn't? "My anger," she answered. "Because I was persistent, because I cried, because I was there all the time."
Yet others said they had less success, fighting districts for needed help but eventually giving in and adding to the number of children being educated out of district.
Brenda Considine was one of the co-authors of the report 10 years ago and pressed hard for her oldest son to be served in an inclusive setting. She said her family paid for extra tutoring, she brought in experts, and was in the school three or four days a week.
"But the district was really not able because of a lack of training and expertise to create the kind of program he needed," she said. "I worked very, very hard to keep him in, and two years ago, I conceded and moved him to private school. He's now thriving. ... It's an hour away, but he's thriving."
John Mooney covers education. He can be reached at jmooney@starledger.com , or (973) 392-1548.
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