Effort To Revise Mass. Spec. Ed. Law Fails; Study Planned

By Kerry A. White

Massachusetts lawmakers have abandoned plans to redefine their special education policy after critics voiced concerns that proposed changes could harm the state's most vulnerable students.

Members of the legislature's joint education committee voted 10-6 last week to withdraw a proposal in a special education reform bill that would have replaced the state's 25-year-old mandate that public schools provide special education students a "maximum feasible" education with the lower federal standard of guaranteeing a "free and appropriate" public education.

Instead, the committee decided on Feb. 9 to underwrite an independent study--to be completed by next February--looking at how imposing the federal standard would affect the state's 154,000 students with disabilities. The annual per-pupil cost of teaching those students averages about $9,000, but in some cases may soar to $40,000 per year, according to the state education department. ( "Lawmakers Advance Proposal To Change Mass. Special Ed. Law," ...