PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - The Maine Legislature has voted to survey early childhood services following a proposal to eliminate Child Development Services.
The state wants to cut the department that oversees special education for young children and delegate the authority to local school districts.
The Boston-based Public consulting Group Inc. will review how early childhood special education services are provided in state and in other states, said Sen. Rebecca Millett, D-Cumberland.
The review is due before the Legislature’s Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs by April 1, and a plan on how to implement the shift could follow by Dec. 1.
“This is reinforcing that they will come to us with an analysis and recommendations before proceeding to the implementation process,” Millett said. “There were some concerns on the (Special Education Services Advisory Committee), and we wanted to be absolutely clear that’s what’s going to happen.”
Critics of the proposed legislation question whether school districts can afford to fund additional services and have the space to accommodate more students, and doubt their ability to acquire the specialists young children need, the Portland Press Herald reports.
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