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LDA NEWS FROM WASHINGTON
January, 2006
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 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.
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.
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