The Echo

Sounds like a bad dream, right?  It's not. 

Many of you know that I while I am a passionate advocate for education, there are few causes that fuel my fury more than the right of special education students to receive diplomas upon the completion of their high school career.  The problem is that in Delaware, we are systemically denying special education students that right every year.

Thursday night, following a Town Hall meeting in New Castle, I was able to discuss my concerns with Lt. Gov. Matt Denn.  Albeit brief, it was a conversation that gives me hope because I know that our Lt. Gov. shares my passion for special needs children.

I can't tell you when Delaware started denying some special education students diplomas, but I do remember the rumble of the differentiated diploma, under the administration of then-Governor Thomas Carper, in the early part of this decade.  In the May 3, 2000 publication of Education Week, Carper touted Delaware as an early education reformer: by legislating that "the state would become one of the first to link educators' job-performance evaluations to their students' test scores."

According to the same article by Joetta L. Sack, that piece of legislation set up "a new diploma system for students. To receive an "academic" diploma, students would have to pass the 10th grade assessments in math and language arts. Those who met all the course requirements but did not pass the exam would receive a "standard" diploma, while special education students who were unable to meet those requirements could receive a certificate of performance."

In the intervening years we know that despite Carper's legislation, Delaware failed to tie teacher performance to student test scores; yet, differentiated diplomas took root, sealing the fate of the many special education students who take the DAPA as second class citizens.  In one fell swoop, Carper and our legislature damaged and devalued the disability community and damned a generation of children to an additional challenge - finding employment or pursuing additional education.

I wasn't on the education scene back in 2000.  I was a newlywed and student, finishing up a degree in Journalism at the University of Delaware and working toward becoming a certified activity director.  I had no idea of the direction that my life would take, that in September 2001 I would become a parent and in three years time learn that my daughter had special challenges; or  that I would embark on journey of advocacy that would me in 2009 to run and win a seat on the CSD Board of Education. 

During the course of this week, I intend to educate my audience as to the reality of differentiated diplomas within the scope of special education, and to lead readers to the only logical conclusion:  Delaware must reverse itself in regards to the Certificate of Performance because regardless of the track you take, education is not a game, a play, or a Performance.  At the end of this journey, young adults are better served by a diploma than bouquet of roses!

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29.0 High School Graduation

29.1 Students with disabilities who are unable to meet the requirements for a diploma shall be given the option to complete those requirements by continuing their education, at public agency expense, until their 21st birthday. Regardless of the document received at graduation by the student, whether a diploma or a certificate of performance, the student shall not be discriminated against during the graduation ceremonies.
Specifically, a student with disabilities shall be allowed to participate in graduation exercises without reference to his or her disability, educational placement or the type of document conferred.

(Authority: 14 Del.C. §3110)
10 DE Reg. 1816 (06/01/07)