HARRISBURG -- The state Department of Education has settled a federal class-action lawsuit that advocates for the disabled say they hope will result in more disabled students being placed in regular classrooms with the support to help them succeed.

The settlement, filed in federal court in Philadelphia this week, still requires approval by Judge Eduardo Robreno.

Twelve disabled children and their parents and six advocacy organizations are plaintiffs in the suit, which was originally filed in 1994 and certified as class action in 1995.

Under the terms of the settlement, the state Department of Education must introduce policies and practices under which schools will try to find ways to place disabled students in a regular class with the aid of a modified curriculum or other such support.

"Kids with disabilities just benefit tremendously from being educated with their peers in a regular classroom," said Judith Gran, a lawyer with the Public Interest Law Center in Philadelphia who served as the plaintiff's lead attorney.

Statewide, there are 285,000 disabled children, most of whom are in public schools. But only 15 percent of mentally retarded children -- a subset of children deemed to be disabled -- spend 80 percent or more of their day in a regular classroom, a rate behind that of many other states, Gran said. Typically, those children do not receive special support to remain in those regular classes, Gran said.

A spokesman from the state Department of Education did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday.

Although the plaintiffs interpreted the federal law, called IDEA, or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, to say that all children should be allowed in regular classrooms, regardless of their abilities, the state Department of Education has said in the past that each child should be evaluated.