56000-56001
EDUCATION CODE
SECTION 56000-56001
56000. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that all individuals
with exceptional needs have a right to participate in free
appropriate public education and special educational instruction and
services for these persons are needed in order to ensure the right to
an appropriate educational opportunity to meet their unique needs.
(b) The Legislature further finds and declares that special
education is an integral part of the total public education system
and provides education in a manner that promotes maximum interaction
between children or youth with disabilities and children or youth who
are not disabled, in a manner that is appropriate to the needs of
both.
(c) The Legislature further finds and declares that special
education provides a full continuum of program options, including
instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and
institutions, and in other settings, and instruction in physical
education, to meet the educational and service needs in the least
restrictive environment.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature to unify and improve
special education programs in California under the flexible program
design of the Master Plan for Special Education. It is the further
intent of the Legislature to ensure that all individuals with
exceptional needs are provided their rights to appropriate programs
and services which are designed to meet their unique needs under the
federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec.
1400 et seq.).
(e) It is the further intent of the Legislature that this part
does not abrogate any rights provided to individuals with exceptional
needs and their parents or guardians under the federal Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.). It is
also the intent of the Legislature that this part does not set a
higher standard of educating individuals with exceptional needs than
that established by Congress under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.).
(f) It is the further intent of the Legislature that the Master
Plan for Special Education provide an educational opportunity for
individuals with exceptional needs that is equal to or better than
that provided prior to the implementation of programs under this
part, including, but not limited to, those provided to individuals
previously served in a development center for handicapped pupils.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature that the restructuring of
special education programs as set forth in the Master Plan for
Special Education be implemented in accordance with this part by all
districts and county offices.
56000.5. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that:
(1) Pupils with low-incidence disabilities, as a group, make up
less than 1 percent of the total statewide enrollment for
kindergarten through grade 12.
(2) Pupils with low-incidence disabilities require highly
specialized services, equipment, and materials.
(b) The Legislature further finds and declares that:
(1) Deafness involves the most basic of human needs--the ability
to communicate with other human beings. Many hard-of-hearing and deaf
children use an appropriate communication mode, sign language, which
may be their primary language, while others express and receive
language orally and aurally, with or without visual signs or cues.
Still others, typically young hard-of-hearing and deaf children, lack
any significant language skills. It is essential for the well-being
and growth of hard-of-hearing and deaf children that educational
programs recognize the unique nature of deafness and ensure that all
hard-of-hearing and deaf children have appropriate, ongoing, and
fully accessible educational opportunities.
(2) It is essential that hard-of-hearing and deaf children, like
all children, have an education in which their unique communication
mode is respected, utilized, and developed to an appropriate level of
proficiency.
(3) It is essential that hard-of-hearing and deaf children have an
education in which special education teachers, psychologists, speech
therapists, assessors, administrators, and other special education
personnel understand the unique nature of deafness and are
specifically trained to work with hard-of-hearing and deaf pupils. It
is essential that hard-of-hearing and deaf children have an
education in which their special education teachers are proficient in
the primary language mode of those children.
(4) It is essential that hard-of-hearing and deaf children, like
all children, have an education with a sufficient number of language
mode peers with whom they can communicate directly and who are of the
same, or approximately the same, age and ability level.
(5) It is essential that hard-of-hearing and deaf children have an
education in which their parents and, where appropriate,
hard-of-hearing and deaf people are involved in determining the
extent, content, and purpose of programs.
(6) Hard-of-hearing and deaf children would benefit from an
education in which they are exposed to hard-of-hearing and deaf role
models.
(7) It is essential that hard-of-hearing and deaf children, like
all children, have programs in which they have direct and appropriate
access to all components of the educational process, including, but
not limited to, recess, lunch, and extracurricular social and
athletic activities.
(8) It is essential that hard-of-hearing and deaf children, like
all children, have programs in which their unique vocational needs
are provided for, including appropriate research, curricula,
programs, staff, and outreach.
(9) Each hard-of-hearing and deaf child should have a
determination of the least restrictive educational environment that
takes into consideration these legislative findings and declarations.
(10) Given their unique communication needs, hard-of-hearing and
deaf children would benefit from the development and implementation
of regional programs for children with low-incidence disabilities.
56001. It is the intent of the Legislature that special education
programs provide all of the following:
(a) Each individual with exceptional needs is assured an education
appropriate to his or her needs in publicly supported programs
through completion of his or her prescribed course of study or until
the time that he or she has met proficiency standards prescribed.
(b) Early educational opportunities shall be available to all
children between the ages of three and five years who require special
education and services.
(c) Early educational opportunities shall be made available to
children younger than three years of age pursuant to Chapter 4.4
(commencing with Section 56425), appropriate sections of this part,
and the California Early Intervention Services Act (Title 14
(commencing with Section 95000) of the Government Code).
(d) Any child younger than three years of age, potentially
eligible for special education, shall be afforded the protections
provided pursuant to the California Early Intervention Services Act
(Title 14 (commencing with Section 95000) of the Government Code) and
Section 1439 of Title 20 of the United States Code and implementing
regulations.
(e) Each individual with exceptional needs shall have his or her
educational goals, objectives, and special education and related
services specified in a written individualized education program.
(f) Education programs are provided under an approved local plan
for special education that sets forth the elements of the programs in
accordance with this part. This plan for special education shall be
developed cooperatively with input from the community advisory
committee and appropriate representation from special and regular
teachers and administrators selected by the groups they represent to
ensure effective participation and communication.
(g) Individuals with exceptional needs are offered special
assistance programs that promote maximum interaction with the general
school population in a manner that is appropriate to the needs of
both, taking into consideration, for hard-of-hearing or deaf
children, the individual's needs for a sufficient number of age and
language mode peers and for special education teachers who are
proficient in the individual's primary language mode.
(h) Pupils are transferred out of special education programs when
special education services are no longer needed.
(i) The unnecessary use of labels is avoided in providing special
education and related services for individuals with exceptional
needs.
(j) Procedures and materials for assessment and placement of
individuals with exceptional needs shall be selected and administered
so as not to be racially, culturally, or sexually discriminatory. No
single assessment instrument shall be the sole criterion for
determining the placement of a pupil. The procedures and materials
for assessment and placement shall be in the individual's mode of
communication. Procedures and materials for use with pupils of
limited-English proficiency, as defined in subdivision (m) of Section
52163 and in paragraph (18) of Section 1401 of Title 20 of the
United States Code, shall be in the individual's native language, as
defined in paragraph (20) of Section 1401 of Title 20 of the United
States Code. All assessment materials and procedures shall be
selected and administered pursuant to Section 56320.
(k) Educational programs are coordinated with other public and
private agencies, including preschools, child development programs,
nonpublic nonsectarian schools, regional occupational centers and
programs, and postsecondary and adult programs for individuals with
exceptional needs.
(l) Psychological and health services for individuals with
exceptional needs shall be available to each schoolsite.
(m) Continuous evaluation of the effectiveness of these special
education programs by the local educational agencies shall be made to
ensure the highest quality educational offerings.
(n) Appropriate qualified staff are employed, consistent with
credentialing requirements, to fulfill the responsibilities of the
local plan and positive efforts are made to employ qualified disabled
individuals.
(o) Regular and special education personnel are adequately
prepared to provide educational instruction and services to
individuals with exceptional needs.