The Arkansas Department of Education stepped back Wednesday from a plan aimed at filling more special-education teaching posts by loosening a job requirement.
Legislators had expressed doubts about the rule change at a Monday joint education committee meeting, and state education officials removed the proposal from consideration by the administrative rules and regulations subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council before it met at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
"It diminishes the value of the special-education teachers you already have," Rep. John Walker, D-Little Rock, said Monday. "It is not something to be taken lightly or promptly."
Because the proposed rules were pulled and the current emergency rules expire June 12, the Education Department cannot issue teaching licenses for 30 days and will issue letters of eligibility instead, said Kimberly Friedman, a department spokesman.
Teachers can still be hired with a valid letter, she said.
The rule change would have allowed licensed teachers to teach children with mild to moderate special needs if they are able to pass a test that measures proficiency. Currently, teachers must complete an approved program of study and pass the test to teach special education.
"There is nothing in these rules that is intended to lessen the quality of educators for our state's special-needs students," Ivy Pfeffer, the Education Department's assistant commissioner of human resources, educator effectiveness and licensure, said Monday. "We are recognizing it's important to attract people early on, give them different options for preparation to teach these students."
Pfeffer said schools around the state -- especially in rural districts -- are having trouble finding special-education teachers. Changing the requirements would allow interested teachers who aren't willing to go back to school a way to fill resource teacher positions, she said.
"If the Department of Education would approve this change in licensure testing out, it would give districts more flexibility with current staff," said Jeff Stubblefield, superintendent of the Charleston School District, in a written comment about the rule change. "This puts the emphasis on what will be most successful for students and staff."
Legislators opposed to the measure said teaching special education requires relevant coursework and experience.
"There has been a nationally recognized premise that people who seek to address special-education needs need to be actually trained in coursework and not simply be able to pass the test," Walker said. "They basically need some knowledge and experience and sensitivity beyond being able to pass the test."
Disability Rights Arkansas also opposed the rule change. The independent nonprofit has been designated since 1977 by Arkansas governors to implement the federally funded and authorized protection of disabled people.
Samuel Kauffman, a staff attorney for the nonprofit, said Wednesday that parents and teachers didn't feel involved in the process and worried that a change in licensing requirements could compromise children's safety. Among many matters that require specialized experience, he said, handling discipline correctly is especially difficult.
"We felt that stakeholders -- including parents, teachers and other members -- really had not been notified by the state [education] board," he said. "The rule on its face, though, is troubling to us too because we're worried about the risk the rule change could have for students with disabilities."
The nonprofit wants to work with the state to find a solution to the shortage of special-education teachers, but it's too early to say what could be done, Kauffman said.
Friedman said in an email that the shortage is critical and that the Education Department needs latitude to deal with it.
The department plans to propose new rules in July without the change in licensing requirements but will ask the state Board of Education to submit proposed rules for public comment that will allow the department greater flexibility.
Justin Nickels, a spokesman for Disability Rights Arkansas, said he wouldn't be surprised if the state Education Department proposed a similar rule change at a later date.
"This issue is probably not over, and people should keep that in mind," he said.
Metro on 06/11/2015