T HE N ATIONAL A SSOCIATION OF S TATE D IRECTORS OF S PECIAL E DUCATION NASDSE 74 th Annual Conference And Business Meeting GOVERNMENT RELATIONS UPDATE OCTOBER 17, 2011

NASDSE 2011 N ASDSE G OVERNMENT R ELATIONS P RIORITIES IDEA implementation (and work on reauthorization principles) ESEA reauthorization FY 11 appropriations/FY 12 budget and appropriations Data issues (including SPP/APR concerns) Economic recovery issues (e.g., ARRA reporting) Seclusion and restraint legislation Reauthorization of Workforce Investment Act (includes voc rehab)

NASDSE 2011 N ASDSE G OVERNMENT R ELATIONS P RIORITIES Health care reform implementation School choice (includes charter schools/virtual school issues/vouchers) Early childhood Autism Medicaid (special ed-related concerns) Foster care New Congress issues Respite care

NASDSE 2011 S TATE OF THE S TATES State budget cuts will hit education, health care, and other state-funded services harder in 2012 fiscal year than any year since recession began. New state superintendents in more than half of the states 19 new state special education director (and one state without one) Layoffs in state education agencies

NASDSE 2011 I DEA I MPLEMENTATION Data, data and more data Table 8 (update posted 10/10) SPP/APR indicators Part C regs New Part C side-by-side Part B Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Full funding legislation Sen. Harkin introduced bill funded by tobacco taxes House bill about to be introduced Assessments (see ESEA reauthorization) and No one in Washington is talking about IDEA reauthorization

NASDSE 2011 ESEA R EAUTHORIZATION

NASDSE 2011 ESEA R EAUTHORIZATION – I N THE H OUSE H.R – Charter Schools bill H.R – Flexibility in using Federal Funds H.R – Repeals ineffective or ‘unnecessary’ education programs to focus federal programs on quality programs for disadvantaged children Expecting 1-2 more bills to cover Titles I and II

NASDSE 2011 ESEA R EAUTHORIZATION IN THE S ENATE Harkin/Enzi bipartisan bill – markup scheduled 10/18 Republican bills: 1. Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools (S. 1566) 2. Teacher and Principal Improvement Act (S. 1567) 3. State Innovation Pilot Act of 2011 (S.1568) 4. Empowering Local Educational Decisionmaking Act (S.1569) 5. Elementary and Secondary Education Amendments Act (S.1571)

NASDSE 2011 M AJOR I SSUES TO C ONSIDER Highly effective teachers vs. highly qualified teachers Alternate assessments/modified assessments Accountability approaches Use of PBIS/RtI/multi-tiered interventions/UDL Transferability of funds Graduation rate calculations AYP vs. growth models Title I/IDEA working group recommendations – download paper at

NASDSE 2011 NCLB F LEXIBILITY Waiver authority Documents posted at

NASDSE 2011 B UDGET /A PPROPRIATIONS

NASDSE 2011 B UDGET /A PPROPRIATIONS FY 11 fiasco FY 12 – at least four budgets (I’ve lost count) President’s budget House budget Budget Control Act target numbers Senate Labor/HHS/Education appropriations bill House Labor/HHS/Education appropriations bill Continuing Resolution through 11/18 CR cut to Titles I and II, IDEA and Career & Tech Ed Elephant in the room: Pell grants

NASDSE 2011 B UDGET C ONTROL A CT Goal is to reduce deficit by $2.3 Trillion over 10 years through Caps on discretionary spending ($841 B) Sequestration if Congress approves budgets higher than specified amounts automatic cuts will happen ‘Super Committee’ deficit reduction plan Charged with finding $1.5 T in deficit reduction – can cut Social Security AND Medicare and/or raise taxes If Super Committee can not agree or Congress rejects its proposal, triggers $1.2 T in sequestration cuts (but Medicaid is protected) but it will equal $2 T in cuts More info: or

NASDSE 2011 D ATA I SSUES SPP/APR policy forum – summary document available at Proposed changes by OSEP have been announced and will be proposed in the Federal Register Overlapping data issues – NASDSE/NTIA paper

NASDSE 2011 E CONOMIC R ECOVERY I SSUES Extension for spending of Title I ARRA funds does not apply to IDEA ARRA expenditures ARRA reporting (see Table 8) Extension in data reporting for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) under Title in exchange for more data reporting

NASDSE 2011 S ECLUSION AND R ESTRAINT L EGISLATION Rep. Miller introduced H.R – same as last year Sen. Harkin working on Senate bill– major differences from Miller bill More reporting Biggest issue: prohibition on inclusion in IEP – Senate bill would also prohibit usage in behavior plans

NASDSE 2011 R EAUTHORIZATION OF W ORKFORCE I NVESTMENT A CT What moves slower than a glacier? Slower than ESEA reauthorization? ANSWER: WIA reauthorization Unresolved issue: what to do about ‘sheltered workshops’?

NASDSE 2011 E ARLY C HILDHOOD Part C regulations out just in time for reauthorization!! Early Learning Challenge Fund: earlylearningchallenge/index.html earlylearningchallenge/index.html Comment period closed Question as to whether funding will remain

NASDSE 2011 A UTISM Reauthorization of Combating Autism Act has been signed into law. Law authorizes: $33 M for each of three years for Centers for Disease Control; $48 M for Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA for early detection, training and development of effective interventions; $161 M to NIH for autism research; and Reauthorizes the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee Please note the difference between authorizing and appropriating

NASDSE 2011 M EDICAID New Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to address concerns re parental consent Concerns about potential cuts to Medicaid that would affect funding for special education

NASDSE 2011 V OUCHERS Military special ed vouchers Traded vouchers for a study More a state issue at the moment

NASDSE 2011 F OSTER C ARE Upcoming HHS/ED conference on education and foster care – focus on implementation of Fostering Connections Act. 3-person state teams coming to DC for conference Possible amendment to ESEA Children with disabilities in foster care – critical issue with not enough attention being paid to it

NASDSE 2011 O THER G OVERNMENT R ELATIONS P RIORITIES Not active at this time: Health care reform – very complex issues that go beyond NASDSE’s scope and expertise Respite care – support for Respite Care coalition and initiatives, including funding New Congress

NASDSE 2011 T HINGS WE P AY A TTENTION TO (N OT GR P RIORITIES ) Anti-bullying initiatives (joined PACER Center as primary anti-bullying partner for Anti- bullying Month) I3 Grants ED technology initiatives Higher education for students with disabilities

NASDSE 2011 NASDSE C OALITIONS Committee for Education Funding (CEF) National Alliance of Pupil Services Organizations (NAPSO) Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) Personnel Shortages Coalition Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Task Force El/Sec Coalition (listserv only) Early Childhood Coalition Medicare (loose) Full funding National Coalition on Public Education (NCPE)

NASDSE 2011 NASDSE G OVERNMENT R ELATIONS P ARTNERSHIPS Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) National Title I Directors Association (NTIA) Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR) New: 619 Coordinators/Division for Early Childhood/NASDSE

NASDSE 2011 NASDSE W EBSITES

NASDSE 2011 W HERE TO GO FOR MORE INFORMATION Alliance for Excellent Education: Center on Education Policy: Common core standards: Center for American Progress:

NASDSE 2011 C ONTACT I NFORMATION Nancy Reder NASDSE , ext. 334