Education funding. Teacher quality. High school graduation rates and requirements. Keeping students safe at school. These are the issues that matter to parents—and just a few of the education-related matters the 113th Congress will be grappling with this year. What happens in Washington can make a big difference in your child’s life, and NCLD is here to help you make sense of what’s going on and take action that can protect the rights of your child and others with LD. Join NCLD on February 20th from 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. for a webinar that will inform you about the key education and disability policy issues the Obama Administration and Congress will be focused on in 2013, and help you understand the impact possible action could have on your child’s education.

Here are some topics we will discuss in the webinar:

• The Obama Administration’s ESEA flexibility program which permits 35 states (and counting!) to waive key provisions of the No Child Left Behind law, including those that set high standards for assessment participation and graduation for students with disabilities
• Continued work by Congress to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act—which affects crucial issues for students with LD like access to the general curriculum, the use of research-proven teaching practices, and funding for special education services
• Recent action by Congress on the fiscal cliff and budget sequestration, and the upcoming resolution of the Fiscal Year 2013 budget, that may result in reduced education spending, including cuts to special education and educational aid for disadvantaged students

Don’t forget to check out where we stand on many of the issues that will be presented in the webinar.

Speakers will include Washington D.C. education policy experts Vic Klatt and Alex Nock of Penn Hill Group with moderator Laura Kaloi, NCLD’s public policy director. Klatt and Nock have worked with Congress in both Democrat and Republican Administrations and have extensive experience representing parents and students with disabilities in their work. The webinar will give you the opportunity to ask questions to these DC policy experts and most importantly, understand what is going in our nation’s capital that affects your family. We hope you will block out time to join us for this important and timely conversation!