Under the new special education law approved by Congress:

• A full meeting of doctors, counselors, teachers and parents will no longer be needed to make minor changes in a child’s education.

• Dissatisfied parents will be offered mediation before suing their school systems.

• Special education teachers must prove they are “highly qualified” and competent in the core subjects they teach.

• There is no guarantee to fully fund special education.

Mainers: Special ed funds still below par

After two years of political wrangling and heated debates, Congress has renewed the nation’s special education law.

But many Maine educators are reacting to the trumpeted bipartisan vote with barely more than a shrug.

They didn’t get the one big change they wanted: more money.

“The law has never been appropriately funded,” said Ed Ferreira, special education director for SAD 9 in Farmington. “That would have taken a lot of the burden off the schools, the state and local towns.”

When it was enacted 30 years ago, Congress agreed to pay 40 percent of the cost of special education. But it now pays less than half of that. Special education officials had hoped this Congress would appropriate the additional money.

Instead, lawmakers said they would increase funding every year until they reach that 40 percent mark in 2011. However, that additional funding is not guaranteed.

Without that guaranteed increase, the changes to the law were minor, Maine educators said.

“I don’t see much that’s different,” said Ronnie Hanson, Gorham’s special education director and president of a statewide group for special education administrators. “I’m just glad it has finally been passed.”

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, guarantees an education to every child with special needs in the United States. The law was originally enacted in 1974 and was last renewed in 1997. It was supposed to be renewed again two years ago, but lawmakers could not agree on a final bill until this year, on Nov. 19.

Under the new law, parents can approve minor changes to their child’s education. Currently, such changes require a full meeting of the child’s doctors, counselors, teachers and parents.

Also under the new law: Schools will be able to remove disruptive children if their behavior is not caused by their disability. Dissatisfied parents will be encouraged to go to mediation before suing their school systems. Paperwork is supposed to be reduced. Some special education funding can be used for children who need help but have not been formally identified for “special education.”

Also, special education teachers must prove they are “highly qualified” and show competency in the core subjects they teach.

Many Maine teachers said they weren’t surprised by those changes. Some were concerned about the requirement for highly qualified teachers because many special education teachers deal with multiple subjects. But generally, they greeted the changes with cautious optimism.

Once the bill is signed into law by President Bush, the federal government must design regulations that meet the bill’s mandates. The state must do the same.

“The meat of it is in the detail,” said Marcye Gray, special education director for SAD 17, the Oxford Hills area school district.

It could take months for officials to hash out those details and create new regulations.