New School Filling an Educational Void

One of those times we are proud to share a story about our elementary school -- Manhattan Star Academy -- for children with special needs.

Manhattan Star Academy, a privately-funded, non-profit school, hopes to bring to the Upper West side and Manhattan something that many parents of special needs children feel is lacking in the city school system: a place for their child.The Academy is part of the YAI network, a network of schools, training and health and human service agencies in New York and New Jersey that focuses on special needs children, teens and adults. Manhattan Star Academy is in its fledgling stages, with 10 children enrolled at the YAI Central Building in Chelsea. But by next year, the school for children ages 5-12 (the first school in the network above the preschool level), hopes to be open at their new Upper West side location, for 55 students eventually, right around the corner from Lincoln Center.

Study: Charters Edge Neighborhood Schools in Special Education

As charter schools continue to proliferate across the country, a new study finds that they are offering benefits for students with disabilities.

In a report out this week, the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University compared the performance of students at charters with that of students attending traditional public schools in 25 states, the District of Columbia and in New York City. The analysis is an update to a similar report issued in 2009.

Lawmakers Warn of Special Education Cuts

Some 12,000 special education teachers and aides could lose their jobs in the coming months unless Congress acts to stop impending cuts, according to a new report from Congressional Democrats.

Special Ed Funding May Drop $900 Million

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The nation’s top education official is warning that special education programs across the country will face “devastating” budget cuts next year unless Congress acts.
Federal education spending for students with disabilities could be reduced by $900 million next year, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told a U.S. Senate panel Wednesday.
That could translate to layoffs for over 10,000 teachers, aides and other staff who support the nation’s 6.6 million students with special needs, he said.

Special Education Change Is Pushed in N.Y.

The type of clothing worn in a family's home, the language spoken and other cultural markers could influence whether special-education students receive taxpayer-funded private-school tuition, under a bill passed last month by the New York state Legislature.
Education officials would have to consider a student's "home environment and family background" when deciding the best setting for special-education children under the bill. Currently, decisions about private-school placement have generally been based on academics and the child's disability.

Children Thrive in Inclusionary School

There's a small school at the University of Washington where many kids with developmental disabilities first learn to talk, count and play. The kids learn these skills in classes with their typically-developing peers, from birth through kindergarten. KUOW's Ann Dornfeld reports from the EEU: the Experimental Education Unit.

Pat O'Kell is watching his son Finn's kindergarten class at the EEU from an observation booth with one–way glass.
O'Kell: "If you sit in these booths and watch for a little while, everyone's sort of struck by which ones are the typical kids, and which ones are the special needs kids. It gets kinda hard to tell. They all kinda blend together and they're all just kids to the teachers and to each other, which is the great thing about inclusion."
About half of the kindergarteners at the EEU have autism or other disabilities, half of the kids are typically–developing. The students have a wide variety of skill levels, but they learn side-by-side.

A Call for Cracking Down on Bullying

BALTIMORE -- Special-education advocates are calling for the state to do more to address the bullying of disabled students, saying that a recent lawsuit against the city school system highlights the long-lasting harm that harassment can do to such children.
Experts want officials to strengthen Maryland's anti-bullying laws to provide more detailed rules for educators to follow in reporting incidents and more scrutiny in situations that involve sometimes-fragile students.

N.J. Warned in Report on Special Education

TRENTON -- New Jersey’s oversight of local special education programs -- ever a complex and contentious topic -- won some praise but also received warnings from federal monitors in their latest compliance report.
The report from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services includes year-old data, in this case 2009-2010. Still, the federal monitoring represents an annual report card on how well a state serves its special education population, numbering more than 200,000 students in New Jersey.
The state for the first time in three years was placed in a “needs assistance” category in two areas for how quickly it investigates and resolves complaints against districts for not meeting requirements -- from class sizes for students with disabilities, to the availability of programs, to the handling of disputes with parents.

Parents Sue Philadelphia School District

PHILADELPHIA -- Four parents have filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of their autistic children, alleging that the Philadelphia School District is illegally moving the children from school to school based solely on their disability.
At issue is the district's Automatic Autism Transfer Policy, which mandates that students with autism move to another school at the end of third and fifth grades. Non-autistic students do not have to move.

Special Ed Teacher's Words Spark Outrage

BAINBRIDGE, Ind. -- A special education teacher's Facebook comments have incensed parents and prompted an investigation by the school district.
Amber Russell, a teacher at North Putnam Middle School, posted on Facebook, "I love dumb people. I call it job security," along with "5+1=Freedom from the Hell hole" and "I feel sorry for preachers and teachers. No matter hard they work, there's always an incoming batch of sinners and dumb people."

Fla. School District Alters Restraint Policy

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- After months of wrangling and impassioned pleas from parents, the Palm Beach County School Board voted unanimously Wednesday evening to approve an update to a policy governing the use of a controversial face-down restraint technique on special-needs children.
With no board discussion, the policy update makes a technique called "prone restraint" a last resort that school staffers can only use if a special needs student is acting out in a manner where they might hurt themselves or others. It's meant to be used only if a long list of verbal techniques and less restrictive holds have failed.

A Squad to Cheer About

ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- Catie Zimmerman, 13, of O'Fallon, is a member of the Adrenaline Explosion Bomb Squad, a cheerleading squad for children with special needs.
During Saturday practices she is hoisted into the air. And with the help of volunteer "buddies" she flips. She stretches muscles clenched by cerebral palsy. She pushes beyond what her parents and physical and occupational therapists had thought possible because she's having fun. The physical challenge is secondary.
"She has great self esteem and confidence because of the program," Tammy Zimmerman says of her daughter. "You could just see her beaming when she talks about cheerleading and looking at her uniform."

H.S. Students Make Dream Come True

I realize I'm a little New York heavy this morning, but this is just one of those feel-good stories.

GREAT NECK, N.Y. -- A special-needs high school student on Long Island is about to see her dream come true – an all-expense-paid trip to Universal Studios and a tour of the park – a visit that was funded by bake sales and help from students at an area high school.
"There's just no way to describe the amount of love and emotion you feel when you give another child an opportunity they might not have had otherwise," says Alexandra Engleson, who started Adopt a Dream, which helps raise money to make dreams come true.
At Great Neck North High School on Long Island, Adopt a Dream found a student who deserved to see her dream come true. Tykim Loney was discovered at a talent show for special needs students.

School Provides Special Attention to Students With Special Needs

HILLSBORO, Oregon -- A week before school started, Bryce Poehlitz was a little worried about the "fat hallways" as he toured South Meadows Middle School.
True, they are fatter than at his previous school, but it wasn't the size of the hallways that concerned Bryce. It was the number of students he predicted would fill them.
The 13-year-old doesn't like crowds, commotion and noise. When you've got autism, those things can be more than overwhelming.
The first day of school is nerve-wracking for most kids, but it's often especially tough on children with special needs.