Michigan’s Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) Supports Opportunities for All Students
by Kelly Boyle, Contributing Writer
They hail from Detroit, Kalamazoo, Traverse City, even the little town of Norway, four hours west of the Mackinac Bridge. They are teachers, parents, school superintendents, social workers, and entrepreneurs. Some are longtime advocates of special education, others are beginners in the system. They are a diverse group, yet they’re united in one purpose—to support opportunities for all students in Michigan, especially those with disabilities.
SEAC
The mission of the Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) is to support opportunities for all students in Michigan, especially those with disabilities, by gathering, sharing, and disseminating information to the public; advising the State Board of Education; and working with the Office of Special Education (OSE).
The Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC), a federally-mandated body, meets monthly during the school year to learn about, discuss, and offer advice to the state education agency on issues affecting students with disabilities. The 33-member committee consists of representatives from 25 organizations plus 8 members-at-large, comprising what one member calls “Michigan’s special education stakeholders in a microcosm.”
The diversity of stakeholders makes the SEAC highly valued by the State Board of Education (SBE) and the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) for its input on policy, performance goals, and the unmet needs of students with disabilities.
Advisory Versus Advocacy
First-year SEAC delegate Gary Brandt became an activist for students with special needs in 2007 when he realized that his son’s elementary school did not comply with today’s accessibility standards. “Now our school is user-friendly for everybody.”
Brandt is excited to offer his perspective as he begins his three-year SEAC term. Sharing unique experiences can be vital to the work of the SEAC. The array of backgrounds among the members is part of why the collective opinion of the SEAC members is so highly valued.
However, Brandt and other newcomers recognize that while they may come to the SEAC as advocates, their role as members of the SEAC is different.
Members of the SEAC Executive Committee are assigned as mentors to first-year members. The mentors guide the new members through the varying processes of the SEAC and orient them to the collaborative culture of this unique advisory committee.
Third-year member and SEAC vice-chair Tom Caldwell takes on mentoring duties. Beginning as a special education teacher in 1968 and now serving as superintendent of the Iosco Regional Educational Service Agency (RESA), Caldwell has deep roots in both general and special education, and a natural bent for consensus building.
“Everyone comes to the table as an advocate for their organization, for their cause. But we need to leave that advocacy role at the door,” Caldwell says. “Here we’re giving advice, not advocating. It’s a subtle and important difference.”
A Single Voice
The SEAC is designed to help foster an environment where members share viewpoints in order to advise policy as a single voice. After any new issue has been introduced, members break up into small groups for structured discussion, ensuring that all members get a chance to speak.
Third-year SEAC member and supervisor of special education-related services at Eaton Intermediate School District (ISD) Sheri Kraft appreciates the small-group activities and ease of communication within the SEAC. “It’s a very participatory process. SEAC is structured so that we all have a voice…and not just the loudest voices are heard.”
Arriving at a point where 33 individuals speak in a single voice usually requires some compromise. In this large and varied group, reaching consensus does not necessarily mean everyone shares the same view on a particular issue.
Rather, the SEAC has come to agreement on its collective advice, and that advice may point out where differences exist. The SEAC may make suggestions as to how those differences might be overcome. “We’ve never had so much dissension that we couldn’t come to consensus. At SEAC, we’re here to focus on the big picture—what’s best for everybody,” Caldwell says.
As an advisory panel, rather than advocacy committee, the work of the SEAC is done once the advice is sent on to the SBE and the MDE.
Though the SEAC works to advise as a collective entity, individuals find personal benefits as SEAC members. Jackie Igafo-Te’o of Jackson, a second-year SEAC member-at-large, is a mother of two students with special needs. “It’s been really beneficial for me. Being a part of SEAC, I know what’s going on.”
Igafo-Te’o was particularly interested when the SEAC reviewed and advised on State Performance Plan (SPP) target rates for suspension and expulsion for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). The discussions opened her eyes to how informal suspensions (e.g., the school requesting a parent take a child home without documentation) are not included in reported data. As a member of the SEAC, she is learning about issues that apply to her own personal concerns as a mother of students with disabilities. The work of the SEAC keeps her informed.
“Due to my involvement with SEAC,” she says, “I feel educated and empowered.”
SEAC Composition
The Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) members are appointed by the State Board of Education (SBE) and serve three-year terms. State law caps membership at 33. Twenty-five organizations are represented and eight at-large members are also appointed by the SBE.
As required by the IDEA, at least 51 percent of the members must be either individuals with disabilities or parents of children with disabilities, ages birth through 26.
Eight ex-officio members attend meetings and provide input, though they do not vote. The ex-officio members always include the State Director of Special Education and the immediate past chair of the SEAC. The SEAC also includes additional ex-officio members representing various agencies.
| American Federation of Teachers Michigan (AFTMi) | Michigan Association of Teachers of Children with Emotional Impairments (MATEDC) |
| The Arc Michigan (Arc) | Michigan Association of Nonpublic Schools (MANS) |
| Autism Society of Michigan (ASM) | Michigan Association of Public School Academies (MAPSA) |
| Citizens Alliance to Uphold Special Education (CAUSE) | Michigan Association of School Administrators (MASA) |
| Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) | Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) |
| Learning Disability Association of Michigan (LDAM) | Michigan Association of School Social Workers (MASSW) |
| Michigan Association for Children with Emotional Disorders (MACED) | Michigan Association of School Psychologists (MASP) |
| Michigan Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (MASCD) | Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP) |
| Michigan Association of Administrators of Special Education (MAASE) | Michigan Education Association (MEA) |
| Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators (MAISA) | Michigan Speech-Language-Hearing Association (MSLHA) |
| Michigan Association of Intermediate Special Education Administrators (MAISEA) | Michigan Transition Services Association (MTSA) |
| Michigan Association of Learning Disabilities Educators (MALDE) | Statewide Parent Advisory Committee (SPAC) |
| Michigan Association of Local Special Education Administrators (MALSEA) |
My son is a special needs child, he is in Special Education classes at Farwell Mi. He is in the 10th grade. He has Aspergers, ADHD, Bipolar, OCD, ODD. He has very explosive behavior problem. The school staff and I have been meeting at least once a month to go over his behavior plan for about 3 years now. Since my son has been in high school things have gone from bad to worse. Not with my son, his cas manager at the school and other teachers at the school state he is doing better. Certain staff at the school are not following the behavior plan and want to send him home everytime he has a meltdown, which lately they have put him into. The behavior plan state do not argue with him when he is in an aggiated state. But that is just what they do until they have him so worked up he gets aggressive ,according to his behavior plan he is supposed to go home then. We had a meeting yesterday, 2-10-12 Myself, my huband, my son’s para=pro, his case manager, the social worker, OT, Autism specialist, the principle of the school and a special ed teacher whom my son had had an episode with earier in the day. The special ed teacher started teling her side of the altercation and then the princilple and the the principle gave the SW, OT, AS, and my husband a copy of a report from the bus where my son had a problem. My son also was in the room. I made my son be quiete while all the others talked. I started to ask questions and referred to the behavior plan on how these problems were supposed to be handled the SW got up stated “I see we are supposed to go by the behaior plan but he (meaning my son) does not have to take the consequences for his actions and the social worker, principle, teacher, AS, OT walked out of the meeting. I feel this was a slap in the face for my son. We were in the meeting to come to an understanding of what needs to be done to help my son. I don’t feel there is anyone in my area I can go to for help. This is why I am writing to you, please advise me on what to do to solve this problem. My son’s case manager and his para-pro and I work good to solve problems but when the principle finds out she gets mad at the staff and she has suspended the teacher(case manager) for his help with my son. Both of this staff that is just trying to help keep my son in school are afraid of loosing their jobs, just because they are helping me.