Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/65746
were told to collaborate with special education teachers to learn strategies for teaching students with special needs, which they were glad to do. But they were not given common planning periods, so collaboration between general and special educa- tion teachers has been spotty. "What happened has hurt students COMMUNITY COLLEGES FACE CUTS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES and frustrated teachers," says Winetta Belt-Vargas, a Rosemead High School special education teacher who serves on the CTA Special Education Com- mittee. "We have 100 students with disabilities in general education settings, and we simply don't have enough instructional aides." EMUEA formed a special educa- tion committee to organize around issues impacting the district. "We need input from general education and spe- cial education teachers to do what is best for students," says Belt-Vargas. ยป Are districts circumventing the law? The federal Individuals with Disabili- ties Education Act (IDEA) requires that a local education agency provide a "full continuum" of options in the "least restrictive environment" (LRE) whenever possible to meet a student's individual needs. The full continuum might include Services for students with disabilities are decreasing at the community college level as administrators look for ways to cut costs. Services include test proctoring, specialized counseling, interpreting or captioning for hearing impaired or deaf students, note- taking services, reader services, transcription services, specialized tutoring, and access to adaptive equipment through the Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSPS) site on campus. Special education is not mandated at community colleges. Colleges must provide academic accommodations to students with disabilities regardless of the budget situation, according to Dr. Brooke Choo, a learning disabilities specialist at Irvine Valley College. Some disabled support program and student services budgets were slashed by 50 percent, but we still must provide those services," says Choo. inclusion or "mainstreaming" with appropriate supports in place; classes where students are in self-contained classrooms all day or just for certain subjects; resource specialist programs where students are pulled out for small-group or individualized instruc- tion in certain subjects; or general education and special education teach- ers working as a co-teachers. Administrators claim they are "forced" to mainstream nearly all stu- dents with disabilities to comply with federal requirements and therefore dis- band other programs, but that is untrue, according to CTA experts. In many cases, districts just want to save money. To escape the "full continuum" requirement, some districts are Special services such as tutoring and classes designed for students with disabilities in math, English and study skills that can serve as a bridge to regular classes are the first things to go at many community colleges. Also pared back Brooke Choo are funds to assess students for learning disabilities. While such testing is not mandated, it can make the difference between success and failure of students with disabilities, says Choo. According to a 2009 study, 56 percent of students eligible for special services were undiagnosed before being tested at a community college. "The reality is that we're all trying to do more with less," says Choo, who trains learning disability specialists throughout the state. "I am very concerned about our ability to meet the needs of our students." Winetta Belt-Vargas says what happened has hurt students and frustrated teachers. May 2012 / www.cta.org 11