Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 14, 1994 TAG: 9405160141
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Surrounded by state and local education officials, Allen presented three school districts with oversize checks for special education funds that had been withheld by the U.S. Department of Education in a dispute over disciplinary policy. A federal appeals court ordered the money released last month.
What the pair failed to mention is that the Allen administration got the money by agreeing to do what the federal officials want on discipline, at least temporarily.
"It's not a great victory," complained Mark Jacob, president of the Peninsula Attention Deficit Disorder Association. To imply that the federal government has caved in "is a lot of bravado."
There was no mention of compromise, however, as Allen and Gilmore touted their achievement.
The release of the money by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a blow to federal overseers trying "to dictate to Virginia what our school safety and special education policies should be," Allen said.
"I'll stand up to the federal government any time our rights are threatened. Virginians should be the ones determining how best to handle discipline problems," he said.
Added Gilmore, "If the federal government wants to improperly interfere with the way Virginia conducts itself, it had better think again."
What the statements and press releases only hint at is that the policy question hasn't been resolved.
At issue is whether disabled students who are expelled for violent acts unrelated to their disability should be given an alternative form of education. Federal officials say they should; state officials say they should be treated as any other student.
Some Virginia school systems provide alternative education for expelled students; others, particularly in rural areas, do not.
The court said the federal officials erred in denying funds before an administrative hearing was held. But in ordering the money freed up, they referred to a letter from Virginia Deputy Attorney General William Hurd, written the day before the ruling.
Hurd assured the court that if the money were released, the state would go along with federal policy while waiting for the administrative hearing. "Virginia is prepared to continue special education services to disabled students expelled or suspended long-term for reasons unrelated to their disability," Hurd wrote.
"They won strictly on a procedural question [holding the hearing], and that's it," said Kathe Klare, who represents several disabled students as director of the legal clinic at the University of Virginia law school. "It's clear they haven't won on the merits, and they might not."
William Bosher, state superintendent of public instruction, said the state, rather than localities, will fund the special services while awaiting the hearing. About 75 students a year would be affected, he said.
Bosher added that it's fair to portray the federal officials as "knuckling under," because they wanted to release funds only if the state adopted their policy and gave up the right to a hearing.
"It's a great victory for the state," said Ken Stroupe, Allen's press secretary. "Had we not challenged this, it would have meant some pretty drastic cutbacks for these localities."
But Maureen Hollowell, educational services coordinator for a Norfolk agency serving the disabled, disagreed.
"I think it's being misrepresented, but that's politics," she said, arguing that all children - disabled or not - should be kept in some kind of educational facility after they're expelled. "Services for kids should have no place in politics, but unfortunately they do."
by CNB