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LDA NEWS FROM WASHINGTON
A Publication of The Learning Disabilities Association of AmericaJUNE 30, 2005
IMPORTANT The Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Law becomes effective on July 1st. "States, state educational agencies, and local educational agencies are required to comply with the IDEA 2004 on that date.
Regulations and the absence of regulations is not a compelling argument for not being able to comply. Many of the regulations that are in the old law are still applicable unless Congress made direct changes to that particular provision." Acting OSEP Director Troy Justesen, webcast May 18, 2005
On June 10, the Department of Education posted on its website the "unofficial " notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for Parts A. B. and D of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (www.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/idea2004.html). The document is over 600 double spaced pages long. It includes a good deal of extraneous material, such as a list of the sites for public meetings on the regulations, an explanation of the proposed regulatory changes, a summary of the costs and benefits of the changes, tables showing the current regulatory section and the corresponding section in the proposed regulations, and finally, the proposed regulations themselves. Attorney Pete Wright ignored much of this information and made the key elements of this document - Proposed IDEA Regulations (97 pages) and Explanations & Commentary (65 pages) - available at his website, http://www.wrightslaw.com/nltr/05/al.0612.idea.regs2.htm. The Council for Exceptional Children (http://www.cec.sped.org/) has posted an "Initial Summary of Selected Provisions from the "Unofficial' Proposed Regulations" which compares the proposed regulation, the current regulation, and the Office of Special Education Programs' (OSEP) discussion of the proposed change.
Meetings to solicit public comment on the proposed regulations were scheduled for Nashville, TN (June 17); Sacramento, CA (June 22), Las Vegas NV (June 24), New York, NY (June 27), Chicago, IL (June 29), San Antonio, TX (July 7) and Washington, DC (July 12). Although there was little time to read and understand these proposals, much less comment on them, LDA has prepared talking points to help those attending these meetings. The emphasis was on the proposed regulations on Eligibility for Students with Specific Learning Disabilities and the requirements for a Summary of Performance for transition from school to postsecondary options. These talking points are posted on the LDA website; www.ldaamerica.org. Following the first meeting, Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education Programs John Hager was quoted as saying, "I was very encouraged that the comments were as limited as they were. .I thought that while there were a few specific references, some general references and a lot of wish lists, it was an endorsement and that we must have done a pretty good job." This statement was made despite a report from the same source that: "The proposed IDEA regulations] do little more than reiterate the language of the statute ... it shifts accountability and control away from individualized education program teams, to school systems, which have historically not been compliant with IDEA," Hager's response to those criticisms was that much of the criticism and concerns aired stemmed from dissatisfaction with the IDEA itself and not the regulation crafted around it. "Hardly anybody is going to take the time to come and say they like something. ..This is a place to vent, so to speak." He pointed out that in putting together the regulations, OSERS' job was to implement the intent of Congress, as expressed through its legislation, and that no effort was made to go beyond what the legislature passed and President Bush signed. Discipline, IEPs, and RTI were the top concerns voiced at New York IDEA hearing. A spokesman for the International Reading Association supported the RTI and a spokesman for the New Jersey Speech and Hearing Association urged that speech language pathologists be part of the RTI team.
The "official" notice of proposed regulations was published in the Federal Register on June 21, 2005. Comments are due by September 6. All comments must be sent to Troy R. Justesen, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Potomac Center Plaza, Room 5126, Washington, DC 20202-2641.
Because all first-class and Priority mail sent to the Department is put through an irradiation process, resulting in lengthy delays, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) recommends that commercial delivery services or e mail be used to ensure timely delivery of comments. Comments sent through the Internet may be sent to IDEAComments@ed.gov. The term IDEA-Part B must be in the subject line of the electronic message. Assistant Secretary Hager announced that the final regulations should be out by around December 1.
In his May 18 Webcast on the IDEA regulations, Justesen emphasized the importance of being specific about what is supported and what is to be changed in a given regulation. Form letters are not useful. Instead, the impact on the proposed regulation on the education of children with disabilities should be described.
UPDATE ON THE 2% TESTING FLEXIBILITY FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Although it is not clear which students are eligible and how they are to be assessed, as of June 1, 42 states had submitted letters of intent to use the 2% waiver.. Despite the requirement that states have the same subgroup size for students with disabilities as for other subgroups, Alaska, Kansas, New Jersey, Washington and Wisconsin -- all of which have a higher subgroup size for students with disabilities - were among the states applying. Washington proposes to solve the problem by raising its N size for all subgroups to that of students with disabilities. The nine states that did not apply are Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, New York, South Carolina, Rhode Island, Texas and Wyoming. The Education Department already has given 17 states verbal approval to take advantage of the new 2 percent testing flexibility for students with disabilities. All but one of these will be allowed to apply the flexibility retroactively when calculating whether schools made AYP for the 2004-05 school year. These states are: Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Washington. None of the remaining 25 states has been officially rejected.
APPROPRIATIONS
The House Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee marked up its appropriations
bill on June 6. Education received an increase of only $115 million or
0.2%; the smallest increase in a decade but better than the President's
budget, which called for a $530 million cut from FY05 levels. Of the major
education programs, Pell grants were increased by $1 billion, Title I
of No Child Left Behind received a $100 million increase (actually NCLB
received an overall cut of $806 million, or 3.3%) and IDEA state grants
received a $150 million increase (with other cuts in IDEA, federal funding
would drop from 18.6% to 18.1%, the first time the percentage of the federal
contribution has dropped since the early '90s). Twenty-three programs
were terminated including the "Demonstration Projects To Ensure Students
With Disabilities Receive A Quality Higher Education," which supports
postsecondary faculty and staff in effectively teaching and serving students
with disabilities. However, $3.6 billion in programs, including TRIO,
GEAR UP, LEAP, regional education laboratories, and Perkins Career and
Technical Education, that the President's budget had marked for cuts were
restored..
Programs which were not eliminated such as adult ed were funded at last year's levels. The President's $1.5 billion high school initiative was not funded and his teacher incentive fund received $100 million instead of the $500 million requested. Vocational Rehabilitation state grants were increased by $84.3 million, but funding for Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers, Projects with Industry, and Supported Employment State grants was cut. The 0.5% increase for the National Institute of Health was the smallest percentage increase in 36 years, and 2.6% short of what NIH estimates it needs just to keep up with inflation in research costs. The Senate will act later.
Note
It is unfortunate that most of our programs of interest are in the same
subcommittee bill competing for the same pot of dollars. LDA supports
adequate and appropriate funding for all our programs of interest...and
that we urge Congress to make "human services" in all its iterations
as its major funding priority!
REAUTHORIZATION OF THE CARL PERKINS VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL
EDUCATION ACT
Despite the Administration's opposition, both the Senate and the House
passed versions of the reauthorization (S 250, HR 366). A conference committee
to reconcile differences between the two bills still has not yet been
named..
REAUTHORIZATION OF THE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT (WIA)
The House is waiting for action from the Senate. The HELP committee passed
its bill. However, it is not expected to come to the floor until the Fall.
REAUTHORIZATION OF TEMPORARY AID TO NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF)
(HR 240, S 667)
Action on the reauthorization is stalled. Another Continuing Resolution
has been passed to authorize the bill until September 30.
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
Mississippi State Superintendent of Education Dr. Henry L. Johnson has been nominated to fill the position of Assistant U.S. Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education recently vacated by Raymond Joseph Simon. Dr. Simon is now Deputy Secretary of Education.
Dr Edward Kame'enui of the University of Oregon has been named the nation's first Commissioner for Special Education Research, the new office within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).
Dr. Troy R. Justesen has been named to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary for OSERS.
On June 15, Deputy Secretary of Education Ray Simon informed Representative Mike Simpson that the deadline for Title I Paraprofessionals to meet the highly qualified requirements will be changed from January 1, 2006 to the end of the 2005-2006 school year.
On June 29, proposed regulations for the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard for elementary or secondary school persons who are blind or who have print disabilities as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 were published in the Federal Register.
LDA News from Washington is a periodic publication of The Learning Disabilities Assocation of America, Inc., 4156 Library Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15234-1349, Phone: 412.341.1515, Fax: 412.344.0224
This is a bulletin containing news of interest to the volunteer and administrative leadership of LDA National 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.
Learning Disabilities Association of America
4156 Library Road
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Phone (412) 341-1515 Fax (412) 344-0224
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© 2004 LDA of America