"Compliance Monitoring - A Serious Issue"

"growing numbers of parents are telling us that the needs of their children are not being met in their districts"
Comment by Joyce Clark, President, PAGE

President's Message
Winter, 2002

PAGE has always taken its commitment to gifted children and their families seriously. As we approach our 50th anniversary, gifted education in the state of Pennsylvania is in an interesting, sometimes contradictory stage. Members of the PAGE board have been instrumental in working with the state to develop an online course for teachers of gifted students, develop and deliver a series of workshops across the state related to gifted children and gifted education, and revise the guidelines for gifted education. Never before in the history of gifted education in our state has so much gifted.

At the same time, growing numbers of parents are telling us that the needs of their children are not being met in their districts. And despite efforts on the part of PAGE to meet with officials in the Department of Education regarding compliance, there is no system in place to monitor the implementation of Chapter 16 at the district level.

In April 2001, PAGE received a letter from the Department assuring us that there would be regular meeting between PAGE and department officials to discuss this and other issues and yet none have occurred. In fact, letters I have sent to the Department regarding this issue have gone unanswered!
The preamble to Chapter 16 makes it very clear that the School Code, section 1372 holds the Department of Education responsible for monitoring ompliance.

It says:
"The responsibility of the Secretary and the Department to oversee gifted education is found in the School Code. Section 1371(1) of the School Code includes students who are gifted in the term children with exceptionalities. In section 1372 of the School Code, the responsibility of the Secretary to ensure that special education for students with exceptionalities is delineated. Specifically the Secretary is required to ''superintend the organization of special classes and other arrangements for special education and shall enforce the provisions of this act relating thereto (24 P. S. § 13-1372(3)).'' To meet this responsibility, the Secretary will continue to include students who are gifted in Departmental tracking systems, monitor the actions of school districts for compliance with the requirements of this regulation, and hear and investigate complaints."
In the coming months, PAGE will be addressing this issue with renewed energy and persistence. We ask you to support us in this effort and may call upon you to help us communicate to the Department of Education the importance of developing and implementing a plan for monitoring district compliance with Chapter 16. We will keep you informed of our progress through the UPDATE and our website. (www.penngifted.org)