LEGISLATION
Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations
On December 15, the House passed its version of the appropriations
for Labor-HHS-Education. As predicted, this bill was added to the
Defense Appropriations bill, which included a one percent across
the board cut for all programs except veteran's programs. The House
passed the bill on December 18. On December 22, the Senate approved
the bill by voice vote. Opponents of the Labor HHS Education Appropriations
allowed the bill to pass because the alternative -- a continuing
resolution that would fund programs at the lowest of the House bill,
the Senate bill, or last year's bill -- would result in even steeper
funding cuts. The bill was signed into law (P.L. 109-149) on December
30, 2005. Thanks to all who responded to LDA's request to call Senators
to ask them to oppose across the board cuts. Although cuts were
enacted, they were not as deep as they could have been.
Budget Reconciliation Bill
On December 18, the House passed the amended budget reconciliation
bill by a vote of 217-215. The bill will make the first cuts in
mandatory spending programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, welfare
and student loans since 1997. Because of uncertainty about passage
of the bill in the Senate, Vice President Dick Cheney returned to
Washington, where, on December 22, he cast his vote to break a 50-50
tie on an amended version of the bill.. The House failed to pass
the amended bill before adjourning until late January. Final action
on the bill is not expected until then.
Mental Health Parity Law
On Thursday, Dec. 22, by voice vote the Senate passed a bill (HR
4579) that would extend for one year a mental health parity law
under which health insurers cannot place caps on annual or lifetime
mental health benefits unless they place similar caps on medical
and surgical benefits. This extends a 1996 law scheduled to expire
on Dec. 31, 2005. The House had passed a similar bill on Dec. 17.
From The Congressional Research Service
On December 22, CRS, the Congressional Research Service, issued
an update of the report "The Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA): Interactions with Selected Provisions of the
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA)" which includes a discussion
of the new 2% flexibility for AYP for students with disabilities.
The Report can be downloaded from http://www.cec.sped.org/pp/pdfs/CRS_NCLB_IDEA_2percent_reg_update.pdf
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
IDEA
IDEA Regulations Delayed
Officials from the Office of Special Education Programs have implied
that the final IDEA regulations may not be released until next summer
or later. OSEP has pushed back the deadline to report state policy
changes in special education until July 1, 2007. The start of new
data collection requirements in the reauthorized IDEA also has been
pushed back to the 2006-07 monitoring cycle.
Proposed Requirements for Model Programs for The Three
Year IEP And Paperwork Reduction
Notices of Proposed Requirements and Selection Criteria for the
Multiyear IEP and the Paperwork Waiver
Demonstration Programs authorized by IDEA 04 were published in the
December 19, 2005 Federal Register (http://www.gpoaccess.gov).
Up to 15 states may apply for each project. A state may apply for
both programs. Both programs are optional for parents and require
that parents be informed about the scope of the program and the
right to withdraw consent for participation. For each program, a
participating state is given incentives of $10,000 for initial evaluation
activities and $15,000 annually for ongoing evaluations.
The Multiyear IEP covers the child's natural
transition points. In other years, an annual review of the child's
IEP must be made to determine his/her current level of progress,
whether his/her annual goals are being met and if the IEP must be
amended to meet those goals.
The Paperwork Waiver application must describe
how input from school personnel and parents was collected, and how
the procedures will not result in the denial of FAPE; assure that
the parents told of any requirements that will be waived; and provide
data on outcomes, such as student achievement and functional performance,
and complaints. Comments for both programs are due March 6.
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Waiver of IEP Requirements
For 2% Of Students Taking Tests
On December 14, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced
that the December 15, 2005 Federal Register would include a notice
of proposed rulemaking which would allow a state to count as proficient
the scores of up to 2% of all students tested (20% of students with
disabilities) on modified achievement standards based on modified
grade level content standards in reading/language arts, math and,
beginning in 2007-08, science. Under the proposed rule, States may:
- develop modified achievement standards and give assessments
to qualified students based on those standards. The modified achievement
standards must provide access to the grade level curriculum; be
aligned with the state's academic content standards for the grade
in which the student is enrolled; reflect reduced breadth or depth
of grade level content; and not preclude a student from earning
a regular high school diploma.
- include as "proficient" scores from the modified assessments
when determining Adequate Yearly Progress [AYP] (capped at 2 percent
of the total tested population at the district and state levels).
- continue to include as "proficient" the scores of
students with the most significant cognitive disabilities on alternate
assessments based on alternate achievement standards (capped at
1 percent of the total tested population at the district and state
levels)
- include for purposes of AYP the test scores of students previously
identified as having disabilities within the "students with
disabilities" subgroup for up to 2 years after they no longer
receive special education services. These students are not counted
in the disability subgroup..
States must establish guidelines for IEP teams to determine which
student should be assessed by modified achievement standards. The
student can be from any of the 13 disability categories. The IEP
team must conclude that
- the student's disability precludes him/her from achieving grade
level proficiency within the school year and
- the student is receiving instruction in the grade level curriculum
for the subject in which he/she is being assessed. Out of level
testing is not accepted. Reasonable accommodations must be provided.
The IEP team must review their decision annually. The state can
never exceed the 1% cap, but it may grant an exception to an LEA.
A state may exceed the 2% cap only if it is below the 1% cap;
and can never exceed the total cap of 3%.
The proposed regulations may be downloaded from the Department
of
Education's website at: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister/proprule/index.html
or from the Federal Register: http://www.gpoaccess.gov.
Comments are due February 28, 2006.
User friendly guidance on IEP decision making may be found at
A Decision Framework for IEP Teams Related to Methods for Individual
Student Participation in State Accountability Assessments at: http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/speced/toolkit/iep-teams.doc.
For more information on Assessing Students with Disabilities from
the Department of Education go to: http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/speced/toolkit/index.html
Supreme Court to Hear
Case On Reimbursement of Expert Fees
On January 6, the U.S, Supreme Court agree to consider whether
the IDEA authorizes the reimbursement of fees to experts hired by
parents who prevail in dispute with a school district. The case,
Arlington Central School District versus Murphy (Case No 05-18),
will be argued in April, with a decision likely by late June. IDEA
authorizes the recovery of attorneys' fees but does not specifically
address the issue of expert fees. However, a legislative report
in a 1986 reauthorization of the Education for All Handicapped Children
Act suggested that lawmakers intended attorneys' fees to include
"reasonable expenses and fees of expert witnesses and the reasonable
costs of any test or evaluation which is found to be necessary for
the preparation of the case." Various federal appeals courts
have disagreed about how much deference to give the legislative
report. (For resources on IDEA and NCLB, check Legislative Updates
at the LDA website: http://www.ldaamerica.org.)
SEEN ON THE WEB
The Department's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) continues to churn out perceptive reports, based on its on-going surveys. Among the latest:
"Parents' Reports of School Practices to Provide Information to Families: 1996 and 2003." This report examines seven school practices to promote parent involvement ( http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006041 ).
"Teacher Professional Development in 1999-2000: What Teachers, Principals, and District Staff Report." This report looks at how teacher professional development was organized and managed, what kinds of activities were available to teachers, and which ones they participated in ( http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006305 ).
"Public Elementary and Secondary Students, Staff, Schools, and School Districts : School Year 2003-04." As the title suggests, this report has data about students enrolled in public education, as well as numbers and types of teachers, other staff, schools, and districts ( http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006307 ).
Also, NCES has updated its rural education site: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ruraled/ .
LDA News from Washington is a periodic publication of The
Learning Disabilities Association of America, Inc. containing news
of interest to the volunteer and administrative leadership of National
LDA and its State and Local Affiliates. Written by LDA's Washington
Representative, Justine Maloney; Kathy Lawson, Editor.
LDA members wishing to be added to the email list may contact Kathy
Lawson, at klawson@ldaamerica.org.
|
