Hearing set on rules related to disproportionality in special education

MADISON — The Department of Public Instruction will conduct a hearing from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Feb. 23 at department headquarters, GEF 3, Room P41, 125 South Webster Street, Madison, to take public testimony on proposed amendments to administrative rules related to disproportionality in special education and local education agency (LEA) determinations under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The proposed amendments to PI 11 set criteria and establish procedures related to racial or ethnic disproportionality in special education identification, placement, and discipline. The department has been required to make similar disproportionality determinations under federal law since 2004. For the proposed amendments, the department followed recommendations from the IDEA Data Center, “Methods for Assessing Racial/Ethnic Disproportionality in Special Education,” solicited external feedback from stakeholders, and considered multiple factors in defining significant disproportionality, including the population size, size of individual LEAs, and composition of the state population. Under the proposed rules, the determination of significant disproportionality by race or ethnicity is based solely on a collection and examination of data and not on policies, procedures, or practices. Procedures in the proposed rules related to enforcement of LEA determinations under IDEA are also based on the collection and examination of data.

Written comments on the proposed rules may be made via the department’s form for submitting public comment. Questions or additional testimony on the proposed rules may be sent by e-mail to the department’s administrative rules coordinator or by U.S. mail to Carl Bryan, administrative rules coordinator, 125 South Webster Street, P.O. Box 7841, Madison, WI 53707-7841.

Written comments on the proposed rules received no later than March 2 will be given the same consideration as testimony presented at the hearing. The proposed rules are available on the Wisconsin Legislature's Clearinghouse Rules site.