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Special-ed
management
remains a
concern

State Auditor Marion Higa's
latest report says eligibility,
effectiveness and accounting
are still major challenges

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By Crystal Kua
Star-Bulletin

SPECIAL-NEEDS students in the public schools are getting educational and mental health services, but keeping tabs on the cost and whether the services are working remain a challenge for the state, the state auditor says.

"The services are out there. They are being provided," Marion Higa said. "The concern is, Where do we go from here?"

Higa released an audit yesterday in her continuing oversight of the so-called Felix consent decree, a federal mandate aimed at improving educational and mental health services in the public schools.

But education and health officials say they are making progress toward compliance and have already recognized and are working on some of the problems outlined in the report.

"It's a question of refining the program," state Health Director Bruce Anderson said. "We have a clear sense of direction, and I'm confident we can get to where we want to be."

Yesterday's audit is a follow-up to a 1998 audit that was highly critical of the state's effort to comply with the 1994 consent decree.

The decree came about after a lawsuit was filed on behalf of Jennifer Felix. The lawsuit claimed the state violated federal law by failing to provide adequate services to special-needs students.

The state entered into the consent decree, agreeing to improve services in six years. It failed to meet that deadline last year, and U.S. District Judge David Ezra found the state in contempt. The state must be in full compliance by the end of this year or face having the federal court take over the system.

Higa said her audit yesterday reconfirmed some of the problems that surfaced in her first audit.

'Working' definition needed

The most controversial is whether the agencies involved, mainly the state departments of Education and Health, have a "working" definition of which children qualify for services under the consent decree.

The state contends that it does have such a definition: all children and adolescents with disabilities in Hawaii, from birth to 20 years of age who are eligible for and in need of education and mental health services.

But Higa said that definition on who is eligible is too broad in trying to determine who gets what services for how long and for how much day to day.

"If the services are so open-ended, what is it going to cost the state not just in dollars, but what is it going to cost other people in the system?" Higa asked.

A working definition should have educational outcomes, and criteria should not be driven by psychiatrists or psychologists, which is the case now, she said.

"With a broad definition and a psychiatrist driving the process, it becomes a matter of 'I want,'" she said. "As a result, 'I want' gets funded."

Among her recommendations, Higa said the Legislature should place the working definition for special-education eligibility in statute. She also said an independent group should be tapped to evaluate the effectiveness of the services.

Balance in funding sought

Cost is one of the prime concerns among state lawmakers who are working on crafting a state budget over the next two years.

"We hope the auditor can provide us with some additional guidance," Senate Ways and Means Chairman Brian Taniguchi said.

"Looking at some of the auditor's report's recommendations ... hopefully we can bring more efficiency to the system," said Sen. Norman Sakamoto, chairman of the Senate Education Committee and a joint House-Senate committee on the Felix consent decree.

Anderson said the amount of services provided has expanded tremendously over the past six years. "I think we've suffered some growing pains as a result of this rapid expansion of program services."

House Finance Chairman Dwight Takamine said there are also concerns raised about striking a balance between funding special education and regular education.

"Part of our job is to manage the cost of government. This situation is a bit complicated because it's a federal court mandate. But given that, I'm hopeful the specific recommendations may assist us in being able to more effectively manage the cost as well as strike the balance," Takamine said.