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The first half of 2010 has seen a flurry of activities important to the nation's 2.5 million students with learning disabilities. This legislative update provides an overview of our work in Washington over the past several months.
While completion of the reauthorization of the nation's major education law — the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, currently known as No Child Left Behind) — seems doubtful before the end of the current session of Congress, many issues continue to remain as top priorities to ensure that students with learning disabilities (LD) are represented in important discussions at the White House, with Congress and the U.S. Department of Education.
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Reauthorization
Congress and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) conducted important activities designed to inform the ESEA reauthorization process. ED released its Blueprint for Reform in March, followed by hearings in the House and Senate.
ED conducted a series of stakeholder forums on key topics, including a forum on "Educating Diverse Learners" that featured a presentation by Dr. Judith Moening, whose leadership at North East Independent School District in San Antonio, TX, was presented in NCLD's groundbreaking report, Challenging Change: How Schools and Districts are Improving the Performance of Special Education Students.
The Senate and the House of Representatives each conducted hearings to examine important issues related to ESEA. Notable among these hearings are:
NCLD released its Core Principles for the reauthorization of the ESEA to help guide the discussions related to students most at-risk for being identified with LD and those already identified and receiving services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and submitted recommendations based on these principles to both the Senate and House.
NCLD's overarching priority is to maintain full and equal accountability for students with disabilities in the ESEA reauthorization. Read more about this in NCLD's Capitol Conversation blog — our newest tool to help keep you informed and engaged about what’s going on in Washington. Of particular concern is the ongoing discussion about using student IEPs as the accountability tool in ESEA. This concern is discussed in detail in a Capitol Conversation blog, "Just Say No: Saying no to IEPs as part of accountability."
Special Education Funding
Congress is engaged in its annual federal appropriations process for FY2011, including the amount to be provided to states and local districts to help support the excess cost of special education (IDEA grants to states). Only a slight increase in IDEA funds is expected, in part because local districts can spend IDEA funding provided in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) through September of 2011. According to the U.S. Dept. of Education, states have obligated approximately 41% of the ARRA IDEA funds available to them as of July 3rd.
However, despite ARRA education funds, many local districts are planning to layoff teachers and support staff for the upcoming school year. To help prevent layoffs, the Democrats in Congress and the U.S. Dept. of Education have proposed an additional federal supplement for education. The fate of this additional funding is unknown at this time.
Common Core State Standards
On June 3, 2010, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers released a set of state-led education standards, known as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The CCSS articulate rigorous grade-level expectations in the areas of mathematics and English language arts that all students must learn to succeed in college and career.
Of particular importance is the "Application to Students with Disabilities" statement released along with the CCSS. According to the statement, students with disabilities "must be challenged to excel within the general curriculum and be prepared for success in their post-school lives, including college and/or careers." The statement clarifies that special education consists of the additional instruction, related services and accommodations students with disabilities need in order to master the same challenging standards expected of all students.
The CCSS are supported by the U.S. Dept. of Education and their adoption is a requirement of the state grant program known as Race to the Top.
As discussed in our Capitol Conversation blog, "Expecting LD students to succeed:New State Standards in Reading and Math Released," NCLD supports the CCSS and looks forward to the many initiatives that will be associated with these rigorous new expectations for all students.
ADA 20th Anniversary
July 26, 2010, marked the 20th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Education Act. NCLD was pleased to participate in numerous activities marking the occasion and highlights statements by the White House, the U.S. Dept. of Education, and the Congress below.
At NCLD, Anne Ford, Board of Directors Chairperson Emerita, wrote an opinion piece for AOL to mark the ADA anniversary, "20 Years Ago, Disabilities Came Out of the Shadows" while the Capitol Conversation blog pointed out continued threats to the inclusion of people with LD in the ADA and reflects on the honor of attending the White House event marking the occasion.
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