'BACK TO THE FACTS' APPROACH REQUIRED FOR SPECIAL

The Minister of Education is calling for a "back to the facts" approach to the debate over attached special education units.

"Much of the current 'hoo-haa' on special education is being whipped up by political opponents who are indulging in old fashioned dishonest scaremongering," Education Minister Wyatt Creech said today

"Where schools want to keep them and there are the student numbers to make them viable, they will not close," he said.

The 'disestablishment' is a technical change only. It just means that they are no longer designated as units by the Ministry of Education. In future the placement of units in schools will be determined by clusters of schools working out how best to serve the needs of the young people in their schools with special education needs.

"The new policy provides the resources to all students that have special needs based on their need and allows school clusters to determine how best to apply those resources. In the past students with special needs have received different amounts of support depending on where their school is located. That is not fair.

"The major change is that special education funding for high needs children goes with the child, not to institutions. There have been cases where units have not had a sufficient number of students to be viable even before Special Education 2000.

Special Education 2000 is not about saving money. In fact, the Government has appropriated an extra $200 million for its introduction. It is a forward-looking and progressive policy. It gives the parents and schools greater flexibility in identifying the specific needs of their students, using a formula of teaching entitlement, therapy support and all of the school's facilities to meet those needs.

"For high needs students, funding is provided individually for each student. For moderate needs students, the Special Education Grant is provided directly to schools. In addition there are an extra 210 teaching positions being put into the special education services nationally are available to provide extra support (they are called Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour or RTLB's). These new teachers are especially trained to help these students in the school environment. For example, an existing special education unit could be extended as a resource for other students with moderate learning difficulties.

"Professional development is also being provided for boards of trustees and teachers to support them and every step is being researched, monitored and evaluated so that any difficulties are addressed."

"The Government's role is to support the schools in helping them to manage their students at the local level. They are the ones that know their students best," concluded Mr Creech.