Special Education is expensive education.

In the 2011 budget presented to the Warrant Committee, $9 million, approximately 26% of the overall budget , is allocated to special education. As Jeffrey Rubin, who as Administrator of Pupil Personnel Services for the Milton Public Schools is responsible for special education said, “That’s a lot of money.” He was not being glib, but rather, acknowledging a financial reality. It is a reality for school districts throughout the south shore as recently reported in the Boston Globe (please see Costly Schooling).

I sat down recently with Mr. Rubin to discuss special education in Milton.

Mr. Rubin has been working in Special Education since the 70’s. It was in the mid-seventies that Massachusetts led the nation with the passage of Chapter 766, which mandated all children were deserving of a public education independent of their abilities. There are now laws at both the state and federal levels requiring school districts to address the educational needs of all their children. Among these are the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA),  MA General Law Ch. 71b, and MA Reg 603 CMR 28.

When Rubin arrived in Milton he thought, “I died and went to heaven.” In his opinion, “Milton is a great community. It is just the right size – not too small – not too large. It is hard to make headway in a large system such as Worcester.” (Rubin came from Worcester). “Everyone here works well together” . . .and Milton is “a supportive community for fixing problems.”

There are two aspects to Special Education that make it unique. Special Education starts earlier and ends later than a typical education. A special needs education can start as early as age 3 and continue until age 22. Rubin notes, “Pre-school is very important to us.” Milton works with the New England Center for Children to assist with running pre-school programs. Second, special education is the only discipline that grants parents specific legal rights and has established deadlines. (e.g. Parents must give consent in writing before a special education evaluation can begin. The school must contact parents within five school days of receiving the referral asking for for written permission to begin the evaluation. You can find more information here).

There are approximately 630 students in the Milton school system with some form of special need. A staff of 60 – 70 (teachers, therapists, team chairs) works with these students on a daily basis. The number of special needs students has not changed much in the 4 years that Rubin has been here. He ascribes that to Milton’s stable population. Unlike an urban setting, there is none of the transience, turnover, and churn.

Rubin credits the previous superintendent Giffune with cleaning up a lot of the procedural problems that existed. And he gets enormous support from the current administration, “It’s really about Mary Gormley and John Phelan.”

Rubin’s career has paralleled the evolution of special education since the inception of Chap 766. In the 70’s and 80’s, kids were pulled out of classrooms, Rubin said. Then folks realized, “Wait, we’re isolating these kids.” No Child Left Behind and MCAS were contributing factors in changing this. The bar was lowered and programs of inclusion were developed. For example, co-taught classrooms in which a special ed teacher partners with a classroom teacher dramatically increased. And as Rubin notes, it represents a significant financial commitment at the elementary level.

Is the cost worth it? It is, according to Rubin. All the students benefit, and the town benefits. The regular students benefit by learning understanding and tolerance of differences early. The special needs student benefits by being part of the mainstream. Just being present in a normal classroom helps the special needs student to stretch in ways that are unavailable in a segregated program. And the town benefits from avoiding long term costs of deferring attention. The respective site councils that have appeared before the school committee have all spoken to the need for early intervention and assessment. Rubin is clear on this point. The costs of providing a comprehensive inclusion model are expensive, but not as expensive as the consequences of failure to attend to needs early. It costs over $70,000 to send a student out of district. “Keeping students in district is a win-win all the way around,” says Rubin.

And is the program working? “The proof is in what the parents say, and I very rarely hear anything. There are very few formal complaints,” says Rubin. Last year a parent with a special needs child donated $10,000 to the department. “That is unheard of” says Rubin. A wealthy parent might donate a thousand or two thousand on occasion but nothing like $10,000. Rubin believes it is a testament to the program and parents’ satisfaction with it. “I’d put us against any special ed program [in the area],” says Rubin.

And that satisfaction comes in large part from “hiring the right people. . . we’re looking for A+ people.”  And Rubin feels he can attract them because of Milton’s overall population size, community support, proximity to Boston, and the new facilities and resources: all these make Milton an attractive place for top flight candidates.

In closing, Rubin said, “I couldn’t be happier being here. People here work well together, and when you have that you have everything.”

[NOTE: This week (beginning 1/11) WGBH will be airing a 10 part series, Educating Everyone,  on Special Eduction in Massachusetts. You can find more information on the program here.]