CEC Policy Insider

Join us! CEC’s Policy Team Heads to CEC’s Annual Convention and Expo with a Packed Agenda!

We hope you will be joining us and thousands of special educators in St. Louis, Missouri for CEC’s Annual Convention and Expo! CEC’s Convention will provide us all with an opportunity to reflect on special education and how we can continue to advance the profession and support better outcomes for children and youth with disabilities and gifts and talents.  This year’s convention will offer over 800 professional development sessions featuring the most pressing issues in the field, as well as speakers and celebrations you won’t want to miss!  

CEC’s Policy and Advocacy team will be bringing to you the hot policy topics from budget to ESSA and beyond! Here is the schedule of events:

• All Week – CEC’s Legislative Action Center: Come by CEC’s Legislative Action Center in CEC Central to learn more about the 114^th Congress, CEC’s policy initiatives and the advocacy that you can do on behalf of children and youth with exceptionalities, their families and the professionals who work with them!

• Wednesday, April 13, 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Room 227 Convention Center: What Every Educator Needs to Know About Coming Changes to Special Education Policy – Deb Ziegler, Director, CEC. 

• Thursday, April 14, 10:30 – 11:30 AM – Room 226 Convention Center: What’s New and Notable in the National Center for Special Education Research – Joan McLaughlin, Commissioner, NCSER.

• Thursday, April 14, 3:30 – 4:30 PM – Room 226 Convention Center: ESSA – Ruth Ryder, Acting Director, OSEP.

• Friday, April 15, 9:15 – 11:30 AM – Room 226 Convention Center: What’s Happening in Washington - Ruth Ryder, Acting Director, OSEP and Deb Ziegler, Director, CEC.

• Saturday, April 16, 9:15 – 10:15 AM – Room 226 Convention Center: IDEA Reauthorization Town Hall -  Deb Ziegler, Director, CEC, Antonis Katsiyannis, President, CEC, Tim Lewis, Chair IDEA Work Group, CEC. 

Click here for more info on CEC’s 2016 Convention! Hope to see you in St. Louis!

If you are not able to join us in St. Louis look for handouts and PowerPoint presentations from the convention that will be posted to CEC’s website after the convention.

Tell Us: Are Budget Cuts Impacting You, Your Students?

Take a Short Survey to Share What’s Going on in Your School

As a member of the National Coalition on Personnel Shortages in Special Education and Related Services, the Council for Exceptional Children has been actively advocating against funding cuts to education programs. 

Last year, over $2 billion was cut from federal education programs, including slashing over $700 million from Title I and $600 million from IDEA’s special education programs due to sequestration, the federal automatic spending cuts. 

This year, there’s even more uncertainty surrounding the federal budget.

Help us explain to policymakers the impact of funding cuts on services for children and their families, educators, and schools by taking a short survey that will be used to advocate for increasing the federal investment in education with Congress and the Obama Administration. Also, we will share the results with you for your own state/local advocacy!

Please note: Deadline for survey submissions is November 15, 2013. Individual names will not be shared.

Click here to take the survey! Thank you for your participation! 

Sen. Mikulski Asks: Invest In or Cut Funding for Special Education?

As the budget battles continue on Capitol Hill, Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) -- who is the Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee – has laid out two points for moving ahead in funding the federal government: invest in programs (like special education) or resort to more cuts which “threaten the health, safety, and financial security of American families,” as she stated in a notice to all Senators. 

To be clear, Mikulski has said continuing sequestration – the automatic spending cuts which stripped over $600 million from special education -- will be a “disaster”.

In fact, Mikulski, a social worker by training, has been working to increase funding for special and gifted education programs.  This summer, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to increase special education funding and to restore funding for the Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act to $15 million, more than twice the amount it was last funded in FY 2010, before all funding was eliminated.  

Unfortunately, the Senate Appropriations bill has stalled in the legislative process and instead we have seen a federal government shutdown and a ‘continuing resolution’, a temporary measure to simply keep the government funded at last year’s sequestration levels.  Now, budget leaders in Congress are working to determine a path forward and they have until Friday, December 13^th to submit a report (hopefully, no pun intended!) which will lay out the parameters for funding specific programs (which Congress has to decide by January 15^th).

Now is the time to tell your elected officials how important special/gifted education funding is to you, children and schools.  Use CEC’s Legislative Action Center to contact Congress – it only takes a couple of minutes!

Also, be sure to share with CEC how budget cuts are impacting you by taking this short survey!   CEC will share the findings with policymakers so that they can better understand the impact of their funding decisions!

Does Obama’s Win Signal Changes for Education in Second Term?

Last night’s election results – which secured wins for President Obama, Senate democrats and House republicans – have us all speculating what the next four years will hold for education policy issues.  Here are a few initial observations:

• Education Funding will Still Face Hurdles: Although President Obama has been historically supportive of increasing funding for education programs, we cannot forget that Congress is the branch of government that actually sets funding levels and the impact of the political split between a Republican-led House of Representatives and a Democratic-led Senate will likely result in a continuation of the recent fiscal debates. 

First Focus Hosts Children’s Budget Summit 2012; Education Programs are a Priority

Today, CEC attended the annual Children’s Budget Summit to highlight federal funding for children in mandatory and discretionary programs. The Summit is hosted by First Focus, with special guest Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) to provide an overview of their Children’s Budget book for 2012. Congresswoman DeLauro received recognition for her work as the ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee for Labor, Health, Human Services and Education. She addressed the summit about the precarious position of children in our nation, and the challenges that they face in the current economic climate such as hunger, access to education and health issues. Her speech was followed by remarks from David Brooks, New York Times columnist and author. The summit ended with an overview by First Focus president Bruce Lesley, who gave a presentation highlighting some of the key findings published in the First Focus Children’s Budget book.