The Felix Consent Decree will probably expire this December, depending on whether a legislative investigation committee finds that “special needs” students are getting services they need. Meanwhile, parents are asking a committee made up of Hawaii legislators to find out
The Felix Consent Decree will probably expire this December, depending on whether a legislative investigation committee finds that “special needs” students are getting services they need.
Meanwhile, parents are asking a committee made up of Hawaii legislators to find out why they have to sue the Department of Education in order to get special education services that are required by federal law.
The bipartisan “Committee to Investigate the State’s Compliance with the Felix Consent Decree,” made up of six representatives and six senators, held its first 2003 public hearing Thursday night at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School. About 50 people were present.
The committee chairs are Rep. Scott Saiki and Sen. Colleen Hanabusa. The committee will work until June 2004.
Saiki and Hanabusa mentioned a series of audits on the state’s special education program and the cost of implementing the Felix Consent Decree.
Since 2000, the budget has risen from $50 million to $350 million. Audits have been mainly critical, Saiki said. As a matter of fact, the latest audit, a 62-page report, called the system “inefficient and costly, and lacks in accountability.”
Hanabusa said the legislature set up the committee to answer three questions:
- are students being served;
- is the money being spent appropriately; and
- are the services working.
“How do (the DOE) explain the circumstances behind a child not getting services,” asked parent Pat Coon.
After two dozen IEPs (meetings to decide Individualized Education Plans for students), “trying to get an education for my daughter,” Coon said she found out the only way she would be able to get qualified providers was to sue the Department of Education at a cost of over $50,000.
Rowena Pangan, founder of a support group for parents of special needs children on Kauai, said that she had to sue the DOE in school year 2001-02, costing the state more than $56,000 in attorney’s fees.
Pangan claims that her daughter, who has been profoundly deaf since age 3, was assessed incorrectly by school personnel.
On Kauai, students who might be in need are given assessments by special education staff. Next, an IEP is conducted to determine that student’s individualized education plan.
Parents who might be unsatisfied with the plan, assessments or services being provided can go through “due process,” the term used for getting an attorney to sue the department.
The DOE pays for attorney’s fees, and Pangan said later that she has never met a family unsuccessful in getting what they want through due process.
She said that parents are forced to become advocates for their children and confront the DOE with the services their children need. However, most times the department will settle out of court, she said.
Parents of “special needs” children often feel as isolated, some parents said.
“Our children deserve so much more. I feel it’s time for our special education teachers to be held accountable for their actions,” Pangan said.
“I’m kind of surprised that the DOE doesn’t have a program to advise parents on what an IEP is and what services are available,” said Byron Watanabe, whose son requires services.
“The DOE has proven it has no knowledge of the individual needs of the students. The DOE would rather spend money on attorneys” than qualified service providers, said one woman whose daughter suffers from cerebral palsy.
She said her girl was misdiagnosed by an organization who is under contract to the state Department of Health. She also said the DOE acted against the girl’s therapists’ suggestions in an IEP, but since all but one of them are terminating their state contracts, the only provider remaining is unqualified to deal with cerebral palsy.
“Being in the school system I know it’s not easy to recruit, it’s not easy to retain good staff,” said Suzanne Kashiwaeda, an educator and case manager at Kalaheo School. She said that the schools often get blasted: “We are not qualified, not trained, but we have a lot of caring people,” she said, explaining that overworked teachers are sometimes to care for students with a wide range of disabilities.
Two of the 10 people who testified had something positive to say about special education on Kauai, one a Kauai High School student and the other a parent, spoke in favor of the Mokihana Project, a program that started up in 1992 after Hurricane Iniki for students the schools deemed as in need of counseling.
Mokihana is available at schools on Kauai, but Kauai High School is the only campus to have on-site psychologists and “family support workers,” in a trailer, where students can access at any time of day.
Also serving on the investigative committee are Representatives Ken Ito, Bertha C. Kawakami, Blake Oshiro, Bertha F.K. Leong, and Barbara Marumoto; and Senators Gary L. Hooser, Donna Mercado Kin, Russell Kokubun, Norman Sakamoto and Sam Slom.
The committee will make trips to the other counties throughout the year and present their findings to the legislature next year.
Staff Writer Kendyce Manguchei can be reached at mailto:kmanguchei@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 252).
