Legislative Updates > News From Washington > Archive LDA News from Washington September 2004

IDEA. Ending a long standoff, Senate Democrats named all the members of the HELP Committee as conferees for the reauthorization of IDEA (HR 1350, S 1248). The House has yet to name their conferees. There is not much time to reconcile differences between the two bills before adjournment. If a final bill is not passed, the reauthorization must begin again in the 109th Congress. More below

TANF (TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE TO NEEDY FAMILIES) UPDATE. Congress is expected to pass a continuing resolution to maintain authorization for TANF for six months.

WIA REAUTHORIZATION IN DOUBT. As with IDEA, the House and Senate have passed their bills for WIA, the Workforce Investment Act, but further action is in limbo as the face off between Democrats and Republicans continues.

THE CARL PERKINS VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION ACT. The House passed its bill (HR 4496) on July 22. The Senate HELP committee was expected to mark up its bill (S 2650) on September 22. There is an outside chance that this bill may pass.

REAUTHORIZATIONS HIGHLY UNLIKELY: Adolescent Literacy Acts; Head Start; Higher Education Act; Environmental bills.

“THE ROAD TO NOWHERE.” September 27, 2004, the Abell Foundation issued this report claiming that “students with disabilities across the nation, including Baltimore City, are failing to achieve their academic potential. Inadequate instruction and other inappropriate or unlawful practices cause and conceal the dysfunction of special education.” The full report can be found at www.abell.org.

Also, appropriations of interest; the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act; Assistive Technology Act; No Child Left Behind; and more.

CONGRESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

A number of bills of concern to individuals with learning disabilities still awaited Congressional action when members returned after the August recess. Although the 108th Congress lasts until December 31, it is scheduled to adjourn on October 8. However, Congress is expected to return for a lame duck session the week of November 15 or 22. Bills under consideration are as follows.

IDEA

Ending a long standoff, Senate Democrats named all the members of the HELP Committee* as conferees for the reauthorization of IDEA (HR 1350, S 1248). The House has yet to name their conferees. There is not much time to reconcile the differences between the two bills before Congress adjourns. If a final bill is not passed the reauthorization must begin again in the 109th Congress.

* SENATE HELP COMMITTEE

APPROPRIATIONS

Congress cannot delay action on the thirteen appropriation bills which fund activities of the federal government. Current appropriations expire at the end of the fiscal year on September 30. To date, only one of these bills has been passed and signed into law. Funding for the remaining bills may be continued by one or more continuing resolutions (CR’s) and/or by combining the un-passed bills into a single omnibus appropriations bill. This omnibus bill may include Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations, which cover most of the programs which serve individuals with learning disabilities.

The full House passed its bill (HR 5006) on September 9th. The Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee passed its bill (S 2810) on September 15. The Senate bill includes increases of $1.2 billion for IDEA and $1.1 billion for No Child Left Behind, as compared to House increases of $1 billion for each program. The Senate bill also restores some education programs eliminated in the President’s budget, including $36 million for elementary school counselors.

Relevant Senate appropriations are as follows:

SPECIAL EDUCATION: $12 billion: Grants to States (Part B) $11 billion; Preschool grants $390 million; Part C (Infants and Toddlers), $444 million; State Program Improvement, $51 million; Research and Innovation, $78 million; Technical Assistance and Dissemination, $54 million; Personnel Preparation, $93 million; Parent Information Centers,$27 million; Technology and Media Services, $39 million, including $11 million for Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic and $1.5 million for the Reading Rockets program.

VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION: Grants to States, $2.6 billion; Client Assistance Program, $13 million.

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND: $25 billion: Grants to Local education Agencies, $13 billion; State Assessments and Enhanced Assessment Instruments, $ 420 million including a competitive grant to support efforts of states to improve the quality and fairness of their assessment systems; Reading Programs, $1.2 billion, including a new $25 million program to help teenagers struggling to read; Teacher Quality State Grants, $2.9 billion; English Language Acquisitions, $700 million; and Rural Education, $175 million.

VOCATIONAL AND ADULT EDUCATION: Basic Grants, $1.1 billion; Adult Education, $590 million.

EARLY CHILDHOOD: Child Care, $12 million; Head Start, $160 million.

HIGHER EDUCATION: Pell Grants $12.8 billion; Trio Program, $844 million; Gear Up Program, $302 million.

The Senate bill probably will not go to the floor but be revised during conference with the House bill. The House passed its first CR (H Res. 107) to keep government agencies running until November 20th. The Senate is expected to pass its CR before October 1.

THE GARRETT LEE SMITH MEMORIAL ACT

Demonstrating that that they can act fast if they want to, on September 9, both the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation to support state and local suicide prevention programs. The legislation, known as the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act (S 2634) was approved by the House 352-64 and later cleared the Senate by unanimous consent. President Bush has pledged to sign the bill into law. S 2634 authorizes $82 million over the next 3 years to support state development of comprehensive youth suicide prevention and early intervention strategies. It also authorizes a new federal Suicide Prevention Resource Center to develop model early intervention programs. Finally, S 2634 also authorizes new assistance to colleges and universities to support on campus mental health services.

THE ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY ACT

On June 14, the House passed the bipartisan “Improving Access to Assistive Technology for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2004” (HR 4278) which would reauthorize the Tech act to provide alternative financing and device loan programs and make demonstration centers and device recycling programs discretionary. On June 24, the Senate version of the bill (S 2595) was introduced by Senators Gregg and Harkin. The hope is that Congress will pass a bill before final adjournment.

THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND IMPROVEMENT ACT (S 2794)

On September 13, Democrats on the HELP Committee introduced the No Child Left Behind Improvement Act. This bill makes no fundamental changes in the requirements of the law, but addresses problems in its implementation including:

• Competitive grants for states to develop accurate and reliable assessments for students with disabilities and limited English proficiency
• Competitive grants to states to develop or improve the capacity of their assessment and accountability data collection systems
• Subgrants to local school districts to measure the progress and achievment of individual students
• Allow schools and districts to recalculate AYP from the 2002-2003 school year based on new rules issued by the Department of Education
• Bars all supplemental services providers from discrimination against children.
• Requires states to submit reports to ED on graduation and dropout rates.
• Requires states to develop and implement standard criteria to ensure veteran teachers are considered "highly qualified”.

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Changes in the “N” for students with disabilities under No Child Left Behind.

The Department of Education has given a number of states permission to increase the school’s minimum number of students with disabilities (“n”) whose test scores count toward a school's AYP, thus lowering the risk that a school could be found in need of improvement. The subgroup population test performance, however, could be calculated at the district level. The “n” for the following states is now: Kansas, from 30 to 40; Alaska, from 20 to 40; Missouri, from 30 to 50; Ohio, from 30 to 45. Tennessee negotiated its request for an “n” of 55 to 45 or 1 percent of the tested students in a school.

States lobby to raise limit on alternative standards.

States also sought to raise the 1 percent cap on the number of alternative assessments taken by students with severe cognitive disabilities that can count toward AYP, to include students who have significant disabilities, but who don't have severe cognitive disabilities. The Dept. of Education denied Texas's request to use the passing scores of thousands of special education students on an alternative exam to calculate their schools' adequate yearly progress. Many say Texas is now in a no-win situation: schools whose special education students now take the alternative tests will become automatic failures under NCLB as these students are unprepared to pass the regular state exams.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

CENTER ON EDUCATION POLICY

On September 14th, the Center on Education Policy held a forum to discuss workable alternatives to the current NCLB provisions for students with disabilities and limited English proficiency. Presenters on students with disabilities were Alexa Pochowski, Kansas Department of Education; Margaret McLaughlin, University of Maryland; and Joe O'Brien, superintendent of schools in Springfield, Pennsylvania. McLaughlin pointed out that, despite problems, “It wasn't until NCLB that we've seen schools and school districts sit up and take notice of these students." However, O’Brien commented that “special education kids are putting our schools on the failing list."

One possible solution panelists recommended was to count the performance of LEP and special needs students in their particular subgroup for many years after they are reclassified as general education students. Panelists also suggested measuring AYP by following the same group of students over time, instead of testing the same grade each year that has a new batch of students. This would give educators a better sense of the effectiveness of interventions, the panelists said. Also, using a variety of tests, observations and portfolios would help teachers better measure the progress of each student, advocates said. Copies of the presenters’ papers can be found at www.cep-dc.org under CEP Forums under NCLB in the left hand column.

NCWD/YOUTH’S GUIDE

The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability’s Career Planning Begins with Assessment is now available online in PDF (140 pages) and Word with CD-ROM available soon. This guide for multiple audiences within the workforce development system gives information on selecting career-related assessments, determining when to refer youth for additional assessment, and additional issues such as accommodations, legal issues and ethical considerations.
http://www.ncwd-youth.info/resources_&_Publications/assessment.html

LDA: News from Washington is a monthly publication of the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Inc. Written by LDA's Washington Representative, Justine Maloney; Jane Browning, Editor. LDA members wishing to be added to the mailing list may contact LDA.

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