Give parents of disabled students a fair chance

It always has been hard for parents of disabled students to believe that they are on firm ground when asking the Palm Beach County School District to include their children in programs and classrooms with students who are not disabled. The district's new plan, to be discussed Wednesday, doesn't provide much better footing.

"Inclusion," as education bureaucrats call it, is as difficult as issues get. It costs money; it requires enlightened principals, trained teachers and aides; and its inevitable judgment calls can pit passionate, well-intentioned people against one another. For example, a parent might think that a daughter with Down syndrome would benefit more socially and academically from attending regular classes. District officials might think that she would have more success in a separate class. Parents of other students might wonder how including a disabled student would affect the pace of the class. The only way to handle this -- as the district points out -- is case-by-case.

Yet one set of well-intentioned people -- parents of disabled students -- has been at a disadvantage. The district, with its experts, rules, paperwork, etc., has too much power to wear parents down. If nothing else, any plan to move more disabled students into regular classrooms needs to even that imbalance of power. But it doesn't. The district, according to "talking points" about the plan, "believes in inclusive education where and when it leads to improved student achievement." The district, however, "does not believe that you can establish a quota system for inclusion as each student is different."

Such sentiments are fine but terminally generic. The district can't establish a quota for including students, but that doesn't mean numbers are irrelevant. The district can and should have hard goals for the number of schools whose administrators have been trained; it's just 35 out of 170. With more trained and open-minded administrators, parents are more likely to find allies.

The most important leveling factor could be money. The district's current plan doesn't allocate any for more teachers or aides. A principal who knows that money is available is far more likely to improve inclusion than one who would have to cut something else to get it.

Parents of the disabled can't have a guarantee that they will get their way. In some cases of disagreement, the district will be right. But parents need better odds.