NJ Education Report

Special education advocates continue to be alarmed by the broad powers granted to each county’s Executive County Superintendent (ECS). Originally, new DOE regulations seemed to suggest that the ECS had to approve any out-of-district placement made by each child’s Child Study Team, and had the authority to recommend non-private placements for kids with disabilities. When the N.J. special ed community gave that a big Bronx cheer, the DOE backed off and Commissioner Lucille Davy issued a fawning memo “to clear up any misunderstandings.”

Apparently there’s still some clearing up to do. Alicia Brzycki, a special ed parent and advocate, has a piece in the Trenton Times charging that the new regulations violate state and federal law:

As it pertains to this position, the level of direct oversight that would be provided this individual undermines the mandate of the U.S. Congress via the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) that the IEP (individualized education plan) decision-making process be a collaborative effort among the child-study team members and parents who make up the team.

The objection seems to be that any role that the ECS plays is inappropriate and unlawful and that Child Study Team decisions are not subject to oversight from an outside administrator. While it’s not uncommon for in-district administrators to oversee placement decisions, it’s another matter entirely for a political appointee to insert him or herself into the painstaking and occasionally painful process that leads to the determination of the best possible placement for a special needs kid. Does such an insertion violate Federal law? We’ll see if the DOE is willing to die on this hill.