Disabled Students

The decision by Baltimore school officials to stop fighting a federal court order requiring the state to take more responsibility for special education in the city is a triumph of good sense over pride. While U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis' order was flawed, the chances that it would be overturned by a federal appeals court were pretty slim. Dropping the appeal should pave the way for city and state educators to come together to help disabled students. City school officials were rightly angered last year when Judge Garbis, as part of a long-standing lawsuit on behalf of Baltimore's disabled students and their families, ordered the Maryland State Department of Education - a co-defendant in the case - to install super-managers over every city school department that dealt with special education, from finances and transportation to human resources.

A federal lawsuit has been filed against the Harford County Public Schools and two school officials on behalf of a disabled student, who the suit claims was subjected to years of continuous bullying and threats from other students beginning when he was a student at Church Creek Elementary School and continuing when he was a student at Aberdeen Middle and High schools. The suit contends the school system not only failed to address the problem, but also failed to protect the student from the abuse.

A group of young people with learning and physical disabilities has gathered at Fell's Point Corner Theatre to rehearse an inspirational, original play titled "Education Is a Two-Way Street."The first performance is tonight at the League for the Handicapped, 1111 E. Coldspring Lane.The play confronts the problems disabled students encounter in public schools and is performed by young people with disabilities."Education Is a Two Way Street" is directed by Barry Feinstein, who has been working at the theater for 12 years.

Special-education advocates are calling for the state to do more to address the bullying of disabled students, saying that a recent lawsuit against the city school system highlights the long-lasting harm that harassment can do to such children. Experts want officials to strengthen Maryland's anti-bullying laws to provide more detailed rules for educators to follow in reporting incidents and more scrutiny in situations that involve sometimes-fragile students. "They have targets on their back, and with a child who already has a disability, the damage can be greater," said Ellen Callegary, an attorney and special-education advocate for more than 30 years, who is part of a coalition of advocates pressing for changes at the state level.

Kimberly Kelly's fourth-grade class at Eldersburg Elementary School will visit Carroll Springs School today to participate in a joint life-skills activity with Meredith Williams' fourth- and fifth-grade students.The activity will employ sign language and other communication devices to help the Eldersburg students in their health unit as they learn to communicate with disabled students at Carroll Springs.The students will divide into two groups for a math and cooking activity.Students in all grades at Eldersburg will have a chance to participate in the annual "Jump Rope for Heart" event tomorrow.

The mother of a second-grader moved from the Chatsworth School for learning-disabled youngsters to a neighborhood school was not happy."We have real problems," she told the Baltimore County school board. The second-grader feels isolated in her new classroom, and her teachers often are unprepared to deal with her disabilities, her mother said.In contrast, the mother of a 4-year-old moved out of Chatsworth told a different story. "My child is doing very well," said Jean Considine. She said she wished every county student and parent had the kind of program she found at Reisterstown Elementary.

Theodore R. Johnson has his checkbook ready to guarantee every disabled student in Florida a college education.In what is believed to be the nation's largest donation to the handicapped, Mr. Johnson, a 90-year-old millionaire from Delray Beach, Fla., has promised to help foot the full tuition for all disabled students in Florida's nine public universities.The awards, which would begin in the fall, would help an estimated 2,000 students meet the rising cost of higher education. The gifts would average about $2,500 per student, but could be as high at $5,000 per year.

Harford has agreed to be one of two school districts in the state to launch a pilot program next fall to integrate special education students into neighborhood schools.The other school district that will take part in the program, aimed at studying the best ways to educate disabled students, is Queen Anne's county.In Harford, special education students from two school areas will attend neighborhood schools under the pilot program approved by the county Board of Education Monday. A planning committee will choose one elementary and one middle school in Harford by January for the program.

Legislators from Anne Arundel, Harford and two other counties are pushing a bill that would increase state education aid for the severely disabled children of local military personnel, a measure that supporters say could provide up to $250,000 a year in badly needed funding. Although the legislation is focused on a small group of children -- three or four in Anne Arundel, which has the largest military population -- it is part of a growing push by some state lawmakers to highlight what they consider the federal government's failure to shoulder its share of the burden for educating the children of military families.

Tim O'Neill walks into work as if he owns the place. With a quick greeting to his cafeteria co-workers, he's already unstacking chairs.Leah Alikahn wants to be a writer, but for now she's content straightening greeting cards and clothing in the Towson University bookstore.From afar, it's hard to tell they're both developmentally disabled. Their comfort is due, in part, to the Towson University Outreach Program, which gives developmentally disabled adults between the ages of 18 and 21 an educational transition into the "real world."

I received an open letter from Krys Renzi, the former marketing director of the Norbel School, and she asked that I share the news that will so adversely affect the learning disabled students that will not return to these halls of hope, and also with a heavy heart for those who will never know what could have been. As some of you may have heard, Norbel School has shuttered their doors after nearly 30 years of existence, 11 of those years in Elkridge at the former home of the old Elkridge Elementary School on Old Washington Road.

Virginia P. Flaherty, a former Baltimore Sun editor and political activist, died Tuesday of lung cancer at her home in Daisy, Howard County. She was 81. Mrs. Flaherty, the daughter of a Container Corp. of America executive and a registered nurse, was born in Philadelphia. After graduating from Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, Pa., she majored in English and French at the University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated with high honors in 1952. Mrs. Flaherty's godfather, Fred Nelson, a well-known conservative editorial writer for The Sun, was a large presence and influence on her life after her parents' divorce, prompting her to later work for the Sun as well.

Amid its flurry of final-day action, the General Assembly unanimously approved a bill requiring schools to provide disabled students access to sports programs, either among themselves or with able-bodied students. Under the measure known as the Fitness and Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities, schools have three years to fully implement the requirements. "Once this bill is passed, you can't take it away," said Tatyana McFadden, an Atholton wheelchair athlete who testified at hearings last month in Annapolis.

The State Board of Education recommended yesterday that its school systems adopt a policy that would allow students with disabilities to try out for athletic teams. "We wanted to try to do something statewide," said Maryland State Board of Education President Dunbar Brooks. "Local school districts need to look at this." Howard, Harford, and Baltimore counties have policies that address - in some form - the access students with disabilities have to athletics teams, Brooks said. Baltimore City is working on policy guidelines, Brooks added.

Maryland's High School Assessment tests, which are required for graduation starting with the Class of 2009, are coming under increased scrutiny as the Maryland State Board of Education prepares to reassess the tests in meetings scheduled for next week. Board members will review a proposal by state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick to allow students who have repeatedly failed the tests to complete a senior project instead. While testing students to determine how much they have mastered important subjects is worthwhile, all students must be given adequate preparation to pass the tests and -- particularly for special-education students -- sufficient options to meet graduation requirements.

Before the start of the four-day Youth Leadership Forum on Tuesday, Bernadette Tierney had to convince her 18-year-old autistic son that it was worth going. At the last minute, Christopher Rydzy backed out of staying overnight at the dormitories at Bowie State University, opting instead to attend the daytime workshops on learning how to be more independent. The decision was not out of character for Rydzy, a senior at Arundel High School. He has trouble accepting changes in his routine.

Attorneys for disabled public school students in Baltimore filed a memorandum in federal court yesterday saying that the city can't even keep track of its special education students, much less compensate the ones it already has failed to help."

WASHINGTON -- Very Special Arts, an arts organization dedicated to quality programs for disabled artists, is calling on students to help celebrate the 200th anniversary of the world's most famous residence with their own artwork."

Cedar Lane School Principal Nicholas Girardi wanted to be a football coach. And when he went to Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, the former Pennsylvania All-State football player pursued an education degree so he could teach and coach at the high school level. But visiting an institution for severely disabled children, one of the requirements for his degree, changed Girardi's life. Girardi saw neglected youngsters. "Flies flying around them, no one paying any attention to them," he said.

Howard Community College will hold a college fair for students with disabilities from noon to 3 p.m. March 3 in the college's Burrill Galleria, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. The college's Project Access, a program designed to help people with disabilities make the transition into post-secondary education and become successful college students, is sponsoring the event. Admission is free and open to the public. Those who attend will learn about support and career services offered by about 30 post-secondary institutions, including two- and four-year colleges and career schools.