CEC Policy Insider

CEC Feedback on Office of Civil Rights Data Collection Requirements Needed

In preparation for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) biannual data collection survey, which samples approximately 7,000 school districts on a variety of civil rights issues impacting students with disabilities and/or gifts and talents, CEC is seeking feedback on proposed changes to key definitions including gifted and talent programs and a new proposal to define restraints and seclusion.  CEC asks that feedback be provided to CEC by October 28th to enable CEC to meet the Department’s November 10th deadline for comments. 

Congress Passes Measure to Keep Government Funded

This week, the Senate passed a Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government for another month at FY 09 levels. The House approved a similar provision last week.  This action is necessary as the federal fiscal year ended September 30.  Congress will now have an additional month to finish all FY 2010 spending bills including the labor, health and education bill.  These bills are being held up by the healthcare debate and it is still unclear when Congress will tackle them.

U.S. Department of Education to Upgrade ERIC

The U.S. Department of Education will spend $29 million over the next five years to enhance the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) digital library which provides free access to a broad array of education literature. ERIC is the world's largest and most frequently used digital library of education, containing more than 1.3 million bibliographic records indexed from 1966 to the present.

New enhancements include:
 - Collaboration with the agency's library to digitize and process archival materials related to the history of the Department, such as early 20th century records from the Commissioner of Education
 - Enhanced online submission format allowing Department of Education grantees and contractors to easily submit reports and related published research
 - Establishment of a Library Committee, composed of school, academic, and special librarians who will recommend journals and sources, changes to the ERIC Thesaurus, and services and outreach
 - Optical Character Recognition (OCR) of 486,000 digitized microfiche documents to ensure universal access

Early Learning Challenge Fund Would Provide Billions

On Thursday, Sept. 17, the House of Representatives passed the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (H.R. 3221) by a vote of 251 to 171. This bill includes a new Early Learning Challenge Fund, which would create competitive grants, distributed jointly by the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, to challenge states to develop and build comprehensive, high-quality early learning systems for children up to age five, with an emphasis on increasing the number of disadvantaged children receiving quality early education.

Secretary Duncan Issues Call to Reform NCLB

This week, CEC participated in a meeting convened by the U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to urge for the reauthorization – or rewrite – of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, which amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) originally passed in 1965. Secretary Duncan conveyed a sense of urgency in his remarks calling NCLB the civil rights issue of this generation.  CEC agrees with Secretary Duncan that changesmust be made to the current law, and believes that any such law must better address the needs of students with disabilities and/or gifts and talents and the professionals who work on their behalf.