CEC Policy Insider

U.S. Department of Education Hosts Teacher Summer Seminars

As part of their Teacher Summer Seminar series, the U.S. Department of Education will be hosting a seminar on What Teachers Need to Know about Personalized Learning on Tuesday, July 10 from 6:00 to 7:30pm EST. The purpose of this seminar is to provide department perspective on creating adaptive learning environments for every student in the class, focusing on the future of personalized learning and using real-time data to individualize teaching and instruction for students.

This seminar is available for free, either online or at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. Space is limited, however, so register soon! For more information, please click here.

U.S. Department of Education Provides Guidance on Transportation Safety for Students

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Safe and Healthy Students is partnering with the Safe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center and the National Association for Pupil Transportation to coordinate guidance on Creating a Safe and Respectful Environment on Our Nation’s School Buses. The purpose of this partnership was to provide materials to stakeholders in student health and safety as well as student transportation that will help ensure the prevention of bullying and the safety of all students and transportation officials.

This website provides a series of several modules on the health and safety of students and transportation officers. For more information, or to see any of the slides, handouts or outlines, please click here.

Five More States Approved for NCLB Waivers

Today, the U.S. Department of Education announced that five more states will be able to waive some of NCLB’s most controversial provisions – including getting all students to proficiency by 2014.  These five states – Arkansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Utah, and Virginia – brings the total number of approved waiver-states to 24.  The waiver applications of an additional thirteen states are still under review.

U.S. Secretary of Education stated that many of the new state-created accountability systems capture more students at risk, including low-income students, students with disabilities, and English learners, adding, "States must show they are protecting children in order to get flexibility. These states met that bar."

As the PI Blog has followed, states have been applying for waivers since last year when the Department first announced it would provide relief from certain NCLB provisions – AYP, increased funding flexibility, enforcement of highly qualified provisions – in exchange for states committing to implement teacher evaluation systems tied in part to student achievement, state adoption of college and career ready standards, and closing achievement gaps among the lowest performing schools, among other assurances. 

CEC has been closely monitoring the waiver process so that high expectations and accountability for students with disabilities is upheld and reinforced through the waivers.  As the waivers are implemented, CEC will provide updates on how the process is impacting students with disabilities.

Here’s a full list of states that have been granted waivers: Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia.

More CEC Information About Waivers

More Information from the Department About Waivers

House Education Funding Mark-Up Postponed Indefinitely

As loyal PI readers know, CEC was extremely pleased that the Senate Committee that recommends the levels for funding education programs recommended increased spending on Special Education.  CEC members sent almost two thousand letters letters to the Senate urging it recommend this needed funding and your voice was heard!

The next step in the process is that the Committee in the House of Representatives that makes its recommendations for funding education programs must put pen to paper. (Civics 101: The House and the Senate must agree on the levels for each program before they can send anything to the President for Signature.) So we are still a long way off from having a done deal. Still every step in the process is important!  

Originally, the House Committee had indicated that it would be ready to issue its recommendations around June 20. This date has been indefinitely postponed, however. There is no word currently when the House might make its decisions. Your voice is important, and CEC will let you know when it is time to act. We need to keep the pressure on our legislators to ensure they know how children and youth, families, educators and others are impacted when funding is cut. Thanks again to all who helped out – and stay tuned! We are far from done!

U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Key Provisions of Affordable Care Act

Today, the United States Supreme Court upheld most provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This ruling will have significant impacts on many individuals with disabilities. Most importantly, the ACA ensures that individuals cannot be denied healthcare due to a pre-existing condition or discriminated against based on their health status, two provisions essential to providing fair access to services for individuals with disabilities.

Today’s decision is particularly critical for individuals who access Medicaid services.  While the Court did not entirely affirm the law’s Medicaid expansion, importantly, it affirmed the right to grant. In short, the Court allowed states to choose to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid services, if states comply with new federal conditions, set forth in the ACA. The Court also held, however, that if a state does not want to join this Medicaid expansion, it can refuse to accept the additional funds slated for the expansion and thus, will not have to comply with any of the new conditions.  It is unclear at this time how many states will choose to participate in the Medicaid expansion. But, under this ruling, states have the option to open Medicaid eligibility to all individuals and families with income up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. In 2010, as many as 3.5 million adults with disabilities living in the community have household incomes between 100 and 133% of poverty and therefore may qualify for Medicaid under the expansion.  Finally, the Court ruled that even if a state does not choose to participate in the expansion, it can continue to participate in Medicaid as it exists currently – meaning there will be no impact on current services.

For more information on this ruling and what the ACA means for people with disabilities click here.

CCD Press Release

For information and analysis of today’s decision click here.

To read the full decision click here.

 

 

To read how this  might impact your state go here:

 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/healthreform/downloads