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On June 22, the House Education and the Workforce Committee voted 31-5 to approve the Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act, legislation that amends the Charter Schools Program authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), better known as No Child Left Behind. H.R. 2218 includes new provisions to better address the needs of students with disabilities in charter schools that CEC has advocated for.
With Congress still working on rewriting the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) – better known as No Child Left Behind – the U.S. Secretary of Education is starting to take matters into his own hands, calling for “regulatory flexibility” for states and school districts.
What such “flexibility” will entail is still under discussion, however Secretary Duncan has indicated that leaving NCLB in place, as is, will result in an overwhelming number of schools in the country mislabeled as failing. With the 2011-2012 school year approaching, Secretary Duncan states that our nation’s students cannot afford to wait any longer for such changes.
Greg LaMore, Michigan CAN Coordinator, receives CEC’s Outstanding CAN Coordinator Award.
Each year, CEC hosts a Children and Youth Action Network (CAN) meeting for CAN coordinators.
This diverse group of individuals work tirelessly through the entire year to channel communication, gather resources, coordinate events, and motivate their members and units to advocate for children with exceptionalities nationally and at the state and local level. This year, CEC honored its CAN Coordinator of The Year, Greg LaMore, for his dedicated service to the members and consituents of Michigan. Throughout the four days of informational meetings, the CEC Policy and Advocacy Services team coordinated with legislators, staffers, and national and international educational organizations to examine and analyze the policies and practices that guide the education of students with exceptionalities.
CEC President Marilyn Friend meets with her Senator, Kay Hagan (D-NC).
Flag Day, Tuesday, June 14th, CEC stormed the Hill to advocate on behalf of students with exceptionalities. CEC’s President, Marilyn Friend, together with CEC’s Teacher of The Year, Don DeVito, and the CAN coordinators met with their congressmen and senators to discuss CEC’s recommendations on issues including: re-authorization of ESEA and the Workforce Investment Act, the Keeping All Children Safe Act, co-sponsorship of the TALENT Act, and full funding of IDEA.
Among the advocates were two incredible students from the Sidney Lanier Center in Gainesville, Florida. The students and their families traveled to the nation’s capital with Don DeVito, their music teacher and CEC’s Teacher of The Year, to tell their stories to members of Congress. A highlight of the day was the singing of the Star Spangled Banner followed by a drum cadence on the Capitol steps, led by both students and accompanied by the CAN Coordinators and passersby!
CAN Coordinators kick off Hill Day.
Another highlight of the day was the presentation of CEC’s Outstanding Public Service award to Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa. Senator Harkin has been a committed advocate of students with exceptionalities throughout his tenure as a civil servant in both the house and the senate. Senator Harkin’s personal connection to education equity for students with exceptionalities makes the presentation of this award that much more meaningful to CEC and it’s members.
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) meets with two exceptional students, Lina Cloutier and Lyndon White, and their families.
If you have any interest in joining the CAN network in its grassroots advocacy activities, please contact the policy and advocacy services team for more information at pubpol@cec.sped.org.
Last week, Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA), chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, introduced the second -- in what House leaders say will be a series of bills reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) -- this one focused entirely on increasing access to charter schools. The “Empowering Parents Through Quality Charter Schools Act” (H.R. 2218) would expand the current federal Charter School Program and provide grants to states to help facilitate development and expansion of charter schools. As introduced, it includes some minimal protections to encourage charter schools to address the needs of students with disabilities.
Based on reports from around the nation that charter schools often either (1) “counsel out” students with disabilities, advising them the charter school doesn’t have the ability to serve them or (2) enroll them at much lower rates than the surrounding traditional public schools, CEC has recommended that Congress add protections to the law to ensure that students with disabilities are appropriately included and served.
H.R. 2218 would expand the current Charter School Program by providing states more incentives to support the development and expansion of charter schools. The bill, as introduced, would add some protections to ensure charter schools address the needs of students with disabilities, including requiring charter authorizers to ensure charters they govern can meet the needs of students with disabilities, allowing states to use some of the funding to provide technical assistance to charter school operators in serving students with disabilities and requiring that charters enroll students with disabilities at a “rate similar to traditional public schools in the area.”
CEC remains vigilant in working with Congress and the Administration to ensure that all education initiatives, including charter schools, appropriately include students with disabilities and reinforce the existing requirement to comply with IDEA.
You can read more of CEC’s coverage of charters and a recent hearing held by the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education examining the role of charter schools in the nation’s education system in the Policy Insider here.
An archived webcast of the hearing, as well as related documents, can be found here.
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