http://www.courant.com/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-hartford-special-ed-not-so-special-20160324-story.html


Hartford's New Visions Special Ed Program Sounds Like 'A Complete Waste'

March 25, 2016


The Hartford special education program New Visions needs a top-to-bottom makeover, if a complaint made to the state Department of Education is accurate.

Two legal groups claim the Hartford program, which is meant to educate students expelled from Hartford public schools, does nothing of the kind.

The complaint cites one high school student who, after a year in New Visions, had received no grades, no credits and no reports. For this student, at least, the year was "a complete waste of everyone's time and energy," it says. That sounds accurate.

Granted, expelled students, many of whom have learning disabilities, are not easy to teach. But putting them in what amounts to a few hours per week of day care accomplishes little.

It would help if New Visions were an all-day program. Presently, students attend either a morning or an afternoon session. There is little if any individualization based on personal challenges and needs.

Unfortunately, such an option involves increased costs. For flat-broke Hartford, which Mayor Luke Bronin describes as being "in a state of fiscal emergency," simply maintaining the school system — let alone improving it — is a challenge.

The capital city is not alone in facing special education difficulties. Local school boards across the state shoulder about two-thirds of the cost of special education (state and federal dollars pay the rest). They are also scrambling for dollars.

Regionalizing special education services, as suggested by a state commission and The Courant last year, might well accomplish economies of scale and spread the financial burden more equitably.

In the meantime, Hartford must do what it can to improve New Visions. An official description of the program says its goal is to have students "well prepared to return to their home school, graduate from high school and [be] ready for college." So far, that seems more a dreamy vision than reality.