Senate committee hears statewide special education overview, funding shortfalls and paperwork concerns

Heidi Nissler, assistant superintendent of specialized services for Saint Paul Public Schools, told the Minnesota Senate Education Policy Committee on March 5 that federal and state laws together shape how special education is delivered in Minnesota and that the costs of meeting those requirements create funding pressures for districts.

Nissler said the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, is “the most well known and most impactful” federal law and that it requires every student identified with a disability to receive a FAPE — a free and appropriate public education. “Free is easy. Free means at no cost to parents,” she said, adding that what counts as “appropriate” has been shaped by decades of case law and must be “reasonably calculated for that individual student to make progress in light of their individual circumstances.”

The overview explained how IDEA intersects with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act and how Minnesota law can add protections. Nissler…