Disabled students graduate high school in record numbers

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Shirley Swope feared her son Michael, with a severe hearing loss since infancy, would grow up to be a tax burden rather than a taxpayer. <br><br>Today, the 21-year-old is a natural resources

Thursday, November 30th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Shirley Swope feared her son Michael, with a severe hearing loss since infancy, would grow up to be a tax burden rather than a taxpayer.

Today, the 21-year-old is a natural resources major at Colorado State.

Swope credits a federal law passed four years before her son was born that brought him equipment, well-trained teachers and the right to learn alongside other children.

More disabled children than ever are earning high school diplomas, high school equivalency certificates and receiving instruction with nondisabled peers, the Clinton administration announced Wednesday.

``Schools are more accountable to children with disabilities,'' Shirley Swope said Wednesday in a telephone interview from her home in Manitou Springs, Colo.

``We once had a whole generation of children grow up in special education, get out of school and sit around and watch TV for the rest of their lives because they had no job skills.''

In the 1997-98 school year, the most recent figures reported by the states, 55.4 percent of students with disabilities who were eligible to graduate earned a diploma, compared with 53.5 percent the previous year, the Education Department said.

Both the number of special education students who graduated _ 147,942 in 1997-98 _ and the graduation rate have risen steadily since the early 1990s.

Among the country's adult population, the graduation rate is more than 80 percent. But advocates say the special education numbers are a victory for disabled children's inclusion in the nation's educational system.

``With more opportunities for success than ever before, we must ensure that all of our children have the education that will allow them to go to college, get good jobs, and play active roles in their communities,'' President Clinton said in a statement marking the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Under that law, more than 6 million children and young adults with disabilities _ including physical, learning, emotional and behavioral _ benefit from special education instruction and other services, at an annual cost $60 billion, about $5 billion of which the federal government provides. The rest comes from states and local districts.

Since July, states must design alternatives for students whose disabilities are so severe they cannot participate in tests required to advance a grade or graduate.

Such rules allowed Michael Swope extra time to complete his college entrance exams.

``He was always behind; reading didn't even click for him until halfway into second grade,'' Shirley Swope said.

The annual report on special education also showed a record 46.4 percent of disabled students spent the majority of their school day in regular classrooms.

``States actually had laws that excluded certain children,'' said Judith Heumann, who heads the Education Department's special education division.

Allowing disabled children to learn in regular classrooms has meant that they will have a better chance of earning the same credentials, said Heumann, whose wheelchair kept her out of some schools as a youngster in New York.

Critics of the special education law say the federal government is more generous with rules and paperwork than with money. They say graduation rates and other good news would be even better with more federal dollars.

Not necessarily so, Heumann said.

``More dollars without appropriate training of teachers is not going to resolve the issue,'' she said, adding that colleges need to focus on training all teacher to instruct special-needs children.