By REBECCA WALSH education reporter
A review of special needs education has failed to satisfy a group of parents, who may still take court action against the Government.
The review, by educationalist Dr Cathy Wylie, examined the Special Education 2000 policy introduced by the National Government in 1997. It followed concerns that some children with special needs were missing out on support.
Sixteen parents, who delayed court action in April to give the Government time to address concerns, said that while they welcomed many aspects of the review, it did not go far enough.
Among recommendations made in the review are the disbanding of the Specialist Education Service (SES) and development of a national network of district support and resource centres. About 1200 submissions were received.
Dr Wylie said the SES, the main provider for high-need schemes, was seen by parents, schools and teachers as ineffectual, fragmented and distanced from schools and parents.
Although the policy had increased the number of students receiving special needs support to about 5.5 per cent of the school population and improved opportunities for some students, not all had benefited.
Dr Wylie said SES had been put in a difficult and unviable position, as its services became contestable with a number of groups and clusters of schools holding the funding.
The review recommends the expansion of the Ongoing Transitional Resourcing Scheme (OTRS) to include about 400 children with moderate needs, the creation of a "profound needs" category and the establishment of a tagged special needs coordinator at each school.
The chairman of the Quality Public Education Coalition, John Minto, said that although there were a lot of good things in the report, there were two serious weaknesses.
He said that another 700 children with special needs were expected to receive OTRS funding, which equated to 1.07 per cent of the school-age population. That could be raised to 2 per cent by reallocating and targeting resourcing properly.
The group also wanted to see the Special Education Grant based on a school's special education needs rather than the size of its roll.
At a press conference in Wellington, Education Minister Trevor Mallard said the extra funding for children with profound needs and the expansion of the OTRS group would take the pressure off money schools received for children with moderate needs.
Orewa mother Claire Boulton, who has two sons with special needs and is one of the parents involved, is concerned that disbanding the SES could leave parents without an independent body to turn to. She is unhappy about the delay in setting up a new service.
Mrs Boulton said she was prepared to take the matter back to court.
Mr Minto said the group would meet in the next week to discuss the review.
If no changes were made, it was "most likely" to go back to court.
The court challenge, coordinated by the public education coalition, stated that the Government was not meeting special education children's needs under Section 9 of the Education Act 1989.
Teacher unions welcomed the review, saying many parents would feel they had been listened to at last.
Special needs review fails to please parents
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