We are proud to announce that Michael Yudin, the Assistant Seretary of Education for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, granted this blog an exclusive interview. This is a big honor for our blog. Michael Yudin is the top guy in the federal agency that regulates special education, so what he thinks and says is of importance to our readers. This is a big deal!
In the coming weeks we will provide a series of posts that reflect my interview. We thank the Assistant Secretary and his staff for their generosity in giving us this interview. His views on many topics of interest to special education stakeholders will be illuminating and thought provoking.
In the coming weeks we will provide a series of posts that reflect my interview. We thank the Assistant Secretary and his staff for their generosity in giving us this interview. His views on many topics of interest to special education stakeholders will be illuminating and thought provoking.
To provide some background on Mr. Yudin, the following is his official biography information form the Department of Education website:
Michael K. Yudin is the assistant secretary for special education and rehabilitative services and in that capacity leads the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) at the U.S. Department of Education. The president nominated Yudin for that position in July 2013, and the U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination on June 2, 2015.
Yudin has been with the Department of Education since 2010, serving the secretary of education in a number of capacities dedicated to improving opportunities for all students. Yudin served as acting assistant secretary of OSERS from August 2012 to February 2015, leading the office in its mission to support full integration and participation in society of people with disabilities by promoting inclusion, ensuring equity, and creating opportunities for them from cradle through career.
He also served as acting assistant secretary and principal deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) from June 2010 to July 2012. There he helped lead the formulation and development of policy designed to promote academic excellence and ensure equitable opportunities for educationally disadvantaged students in K-12 education. Yudin also served as senior advisor to the secretary of education. In this capacity, Yudin worked across the Department to improve opportunities and outcomes for individuals with disabilities, assisted the Department in implementing Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) flexibility, and helped develop and implement the recommendations to the president's My Brother's Keeper initiative.
Prior to joining the Department, Yudin served nine years as a U.S. Senate staffer. He was the legislative director for Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, senior counsel to Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, and HELP Committee counsel to Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont. In these roles, he assisted in developing, promoting, and advancing a comprehensive legislative agenda related to education, children and families, disabilities, and poverty. Working for senior members of the HELP Committee, Yudin helped draft, negotiate, and pass various pieces of legislation, including the No Child Left Behind Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004, the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, and reauthorization of the Head Start Act.
Before joining the Senate, Yudin served as an attorney at the Social Security Administration and at the U.S. Department of Labor for nearly 10 years. In these positions, he provided legal advice on various policy initiatives, including social security, disability, employment, and welfare reform. He also served as director of employment policy for two leading national disability organizations, the ARC of the United States and United Cerebral Palsy (UCP).
The interview will follow in a series of subsequent posts.
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