Sometimes My Job Is Pretty Cool #WhereIsJG?

Weekly Question!

Now that the Endrew F decision by the Supreme Court has been around for a while, has it made any difference in the education of children with disabilities? #FAPE

Breaking: White House Plans To Merge Education and Labor Departments #Department of Education.

The Trump administration plans to merge the federal departments of Education and Labor.  The proposal is part of a 132-page document outlining a broad restructuring of the federal government. The consolidation would create, within the new department, four subagencies, including one called the American Workforce and Higher Education Administration. The proposal would also create subagencies devoted to K-12 education, research/evaluation/administration, and enforcement.  Here is an NPR story about the proposal.

Here is the plan. Here is statement by Education Secretary DeVoss about the plan.

So what do you think? Is this a solid policy decision to eliminate duplication, or a cynical attempt to lead to the elimination of one or both federal agencies, or something else?

Weekly Question!

Now that the Endrew F decision by the Supreme Court has been around for a while, has it made any difference in the education of children with disabilities? #FAPE

Children With Disabilities and Absenteeism #school attendance

The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) has released a report on Students with Disabilities and Absenteeism. The brief provides information about chronic absenteeism and possible implications for students with disabilities when a state selects it as a measure of school quality or student success under ESEA.

Here is an excerpt from the report:

The 2013-14 national data showed that elementary school students with disabilities served by IDEA were 1.5 times as likely to be chronically absent as elementary school students without disabilities. High school students with disabilities served by IDEA were 1.4 times as likely to be chronically absent as high school students without disabilities. Across subgroups, only Native students (American Indian or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander) exceeded the rates of chronic absenteeism for students with disabilities. This disparity is echoed in more recent data collected by states. For example, Connecticut’s (2017) data for the 2015-2016 school year showed that students with disabilities served by IDEA continued to exhibit substantially higher chronic absenteeism rates than their general education peers despite statewide prevention and intervention efforts. Eighteen percent of Connecticut’s students with disabilities were chronically absent compared to 9.6 percent overall. 

The report analyzes the legal implications of the problem and makes a number of recommendations concerning the topic- including recommending an IEP Team Meeting when absences are connected to the student's disability.

You can read the eight page report here.

Weekly Question!

Now that the Endrew F decision by the Supreme Court has been around for a while, has it made any difference in the education of children with disabilities? #FAPE

Groups Sue OCR Over Changes to Processing Manual #discrimination

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) recently filed a suit against the U.S. Department of Education over changes to the Education Department's rules for civil right investigations.

In March 2018, the federal Department of Education amended the office for Civil Rights Case Processing Manual unilaterally. The changes include new provisions to require dismissal of certain complaints and the elimination of complainants’ right to appeal OCR decisions. OCR has a Case Processing Manual specifying how its offices respond to complaints. In changes made recently, ED mandates that complaints by anyone who has previously filed a pattern of complaints will be dismissed without investigation. The changes also eliminate the appeals rights of complainants. 

The actual complaint filed in the U S District Court fro the District of Maryland is available here.Here is a Washington Post article on the lawsuit. This is a post by our friends at the Council for Exceptional Children.

Weekly Question!

Now that the Endrew F decision by the Supreme Court has been around for a while, has it made any difference in the education of children with disabilities? #FAPE