DeVos wants to delay rule on race bias and special ed
Erica L. Green WASHINGTON — The Department of Education is proposing to delay for two years an Obama-era rule that requires states to aggressively address racial biases that may be channeling disproportionate numbers of minority children into special education.
The department published a notice in the Federal Register, soliciting public comment on its plan to postpone enforcement of the so-called “significant disproportional- ity rule,” due to take effect July 1.
The rule, which was issued in the last weeks of the Obama administration, rule and has determined that required states to look at while this review takes place, districts that had dispro- it is prudent to delay impleportionately high numbers mentation for two years.” of minority students identiThe rule was designed fied for special education ser- to address concerns about vices, segregated in restricthe over-representation of tive classroom settings or minority students in special disciplined at higher rates education. The Individuals than their peers. with Disabilities Education
The Education DepartAct (IDEA) required states ment estimated that nearly to address “significant dishalf of the school districts in proportionality,” and in a the country would be identi- 2004 reauthorization of the fied as having significant disact, Congress began requir- proportions of minorities in ing states to allocate up to their special education pop- 15 percent of their federal ulations, and that it would special education money cost districts between $50 to address the disparities. million and $91 million to Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., implement the rule. the ranking Democrat on
It is one of several that the House Committee on Betsy DeVos, the secretary Education and Workforce, of education, is re-examin- said that delaying the rules ing as her office continues undermines Congress’ 2004 a regulatory review ordered effort to strengthen the fedby President Donald Trump eral education law. across all federal agencies. “Clearly, leaving the dis
“Through the regulatory proportionality provision review process, we’ve heard unregulated has left states from states, school districts, and school districts with- superintendents and other out the tools necessary to stakeholders on a wide range implement the law’s requireof issues, including the sig- ments,” Scott said. “Any nificant disproportionality effort to delay this rule, or rule,” said Liz Hill, a spokes- remove it entirely, works woman for the Education against the fundamental Department. “Because of the goals of IDEA.” concerns raised, the departThe act did not define “sig- ment is looking closely at this nificant disproportionality” or set a threshold for how marked the racial disparities needed to be to raise red flags.
A 2013 report issued by the Government Accountability Office found that only 3 percent of states ever used the law, and that some states had set such high thresholds for determining disproportionality that districts could never exceed them.
In 2016, the Obama administration issued rules to strengthen compliance with the law by developing a standardized methodology — a complicated formula called a “risk ratio” — for all states to identify districts with high levels of disparities.
In 2012, the Education Department fo u nd that American Indian and Alaska Native students were 60 percent more likely to be labeled with an intellectual disability, while black children were more than twice as likely as other groups to be so identified.
Similarly, American Indian or Alaska Native students were 90 percent more likely, black students were 50 percent more likely, and Hispanic students were 40 percent more likely to be identified as learning disabled.