I got this information from a list I am on and wanted to spread the word.

~ Jenny

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New York State Education Department (SED) maintains a Question-and- Answer document that provides information for home educators.  SED revised its website copy of this document last month.

The revision appears to be very significant: The SED has deleted the entire section of the Q&A document that discussed special needs homeschoolers (Questions 70 through 84), and has made a couple of other, related changes. You can see the new version of the document at:

http://www.emsc. nysed.gov/ nonpub/homeschoo lingqanda. htm

Questions 70-84 are available for historical reference, at least for the time being. NYHEN's copy is at: http://nyhen. org/SED-QA. htm

A story about this issue in the Albany Times Union can be found at:

http://64.233. 169.104/search? q=cache:- rkQpcuqVWQJ: timesunion. com/AspStories/ storyprint. asp%3FStoryID% 3D626902

Vanessa at HSLDA and she said that the SED is legally allowed to do this and that federal law does not require services be provided. She went on to say that in all other states except the ones where homeschoolers can be considered a private school services are not provided to kids with special needs. She said that this would not impact our right to homeschool our children with special needs, we just have to obtain services privately. She said that if you currently have an IEP and/or are receiving services that they would probably carry it out to the end of the year and then not renew it. She said that the only way to change this is to really have lobbyists change the federal law and that they have been and continue to be working on this. She said that there will be more information on the HSLDA website as well in the near future.

Nancy Murray from SED  verified that services can no longer be provided by the schools for special ed students because homeschooling is not considered a private school. So, if your child is in private school then I am assuming you can still receive services. For more information and/or a copy of the memo you can email Rebecca Cort at rcort@mail.nysed. gov.

Something else to ponder ~

This was the first question removed.

Question 70. May the parents of a student with specialized educational needs choose to provide home instruction for the student? Yes. Commissioner' s Regulation 100.10 can be applied to any student of compulsory attendance age without regard to a possible or identified handicapping condition.

Should we be concerned not only that kids with special needs might not be eligible for services, but that they may even be taking away our right to homeschool our children with special needs as well?