1. W ASHINGTON U PDATE N ANCY R EDER D EPUTY E XECUTIVE D IRECTOR, NASDSE Tri-State Regional Special Education Law Conference November 2012

2. W HAT T HIS P RESENTATION W ILL C OVER Washington Update Impact of Election?

3. W HAT W ILL THE E LECTION M EAN FOR E DUCATION ?

4. NASDSE G OVERNMENT R ELATIONS P RIORITIES – T IER 1 IDEA implementation (including results work; fiscal issues; and development of reauthorization principles) ESEA reauthorization (including waivers; assessments; teacher evaluations) FY 13 appropriations Data issues (including SPP/APR concerns) Seclusion and restraint legislation Common Core Standards Technology (including virtual schools; accessibility and online learning) Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

5. NASDSE G OVERNMENT R ELATIONS P RIORITIES – T IER 2 Reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act Health care (Medicaid/other issues) Career and Tech Ed School choice (includes charter schools and vouchers) Early childhood Foster care (implementation of the Fostering Connections Act) Respite care ADA/504 issues

6. O VERALL A NALYSIS OF THE P AST Y EAR

7. IDEA I MPLEMENTATION SPP/APR indicators Changes announced at OSEP Leadership Conference at the end of July Follow-up to final changes RDA work Fiscal issues (verification visits; funding) Title 1/IDEA initiative Full funding legislation Going absolutely nowhere Assessments (see ESEA reauthorization) No one in Washington is talking about IDEA reauthorization

8. ESEA R EAUTHORIZATION – G LACIER H ASN ’ T M OVED (N ORTH P OLE I S M ELTING F ASTER !!)

9. ESEA R EAUTHORIZATION – I N THE H OUSE H.R. 2218 – Charter Schools bill -- passed the House H.R. 2445 – Flexibility in Using Federal Funds H.R. 1891 – Repeals ineffective or ‘unnecessary’ education programs to focus federal programs on quality programs for disadvantaged children H.R. 3989, the Student Success Act and H.R. 3990, the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act These four passed out of Committee; not sent to House floor

10. H.R. 3989 – T HE S TUDENT S UCCESS A CT (T ITLE I) Eliminates AYP – student achievement and turnaround around low-performing schools given to states and districts States establish academic standards in reading and math and other subjects if they so choose Annual assessments in reading and math, but not science Maintains subgroups States have flexibility to develop turnaround models Codifies 1% alternate assessment without a cap

11. A ND IN THE S ENATE ….

12. ESEA R EAUTHORIZATION IN THE S ENATE Bill marked October 2011(bill number at last!! S. 3578) Committee report issued mid-October (1,285 pages!!) Issues (still the same issues!!) Accountability – no annual measurable goals Continues subgroup disaggregation Seven turnaround models States need to set college and career-ready standards What about the 1%/2% assessments? No AYP – substituted continuous improvement Highly effective teachers - not based on student test scores Focus on lowest performing 5% of schools

13. C RITICAL I SSUES Highly effective teachers vs. highly qualified teachers Alternate assessments/modified assessments (1%/2%) Accountability approaches Use of PBIS/RtI/multi-tiered interventions/UDL Transferability of funds Graduation rate calculations What to replace AYP with? Title I/IDEA working group recommendations – paper available at www.nasdse.orgwww.nasdse.org

14. L ET ’ S T ALK A BOUT H IGHLY Q UALIFIED T EACHERS What does the current law say? ED’s position permeates all policies Race to the Top Waivers Regulations How did the CR change the definition of HQT? Those in alt cert programs are considered highly qualified; CR asked for data collection on this What will a new ESEA bill do? Both Senate and House bills weaken HQT provisions/Kline bill eliminates it and sends it back to the state How to reconcile with language in IDEA? No one seems to be thinking about this HQT Coalition

15. R ACE TO THE T OP Applications for District Race to the Top funds were due beginning of November Nearly 900 districts applying

16. NCLB F LEXIBILITY 35 states have been granted waivers (ID approved on 10/18) States not applying for waivers: MT, NE, PA, TX, VT (withdrew), WY IL, IO haven’t heard and CA wants a do-it-yourself model; 7 states recently applied Documents posted at http://www.ed.gov/esea/flexibility http://www.ed.gov/esea/flexibility Waiver is good for two years – could be an extension Question: how will states move from waivers to new ESEA? What will happen to waivers in a Romney Administration?

17. W HAT H APPENS N OW ?

18. T HEY S TART A LL O VER A GAIN New bills, new bill numbers

19. FY 13 B UDGET /A PPROPRIATIONS / S EQUESTRATION

21. B UDGET /A PPROPRIATIONS – H OW I T ’ S S UPPOSED TO W ORK President submits budget to Congress House passes budget resolution Senate passes budget resolution House and Senate pass 12 appropriations bills Conference committees iron out differences House and Senate vote on conference reports President signs into law

22. W HAT H APPENED T HIS Y EAR ? President submitted his budget pretty close to being on time – dead on arrival House passed a budget resolution (Ryan budget) cutting as much as 20% from nondefense discretionary spending House passed 6 appropriations bills (Labor/HHS/Education didn’t get committee vote) Senate did not pass any Continuing Resolution passed through 3/27/13 – level funds everything

23. N OW TO THE D ICEY S TUFF ….. T HE B UDGET C ONTROL A CT

24. B UDGET C ONTROL A CT The goal of the BCA is to reduce the deficit by $2.3 T 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’ failed to come up with a deficit reduction plan (it had more latitude, e.g., raising taxes, cutting entitlements) Failure of Super Committee triggers $1.2 T in sequestration cuts (but Medicaid is protected) More info: www.cbpp.org orwww.cbpp.org www.ombwatch.org

25. W HAT I N T HE W ORLD IS S EQUESTRATION ?

26. W HAT H APPENS U NDER S EQUESTRATION ? $1.2 T includes cuts in spending and savings on national debt. Interest savings estimated at 18% of total; leaves deficit reduction target of $984 B Divide $984 B by number of years (2013-2021) = $109 B/year Divide $109 B evenly between defense and nondefense spending – about $54.5 B for each Remove exempt programs from calculation Mandatory spending exempt or limited – Medicare limited to 2% There are a few specific cuts to nondefense discretionary spending (e.g. from the ACA)

27. M ORE ON S EQUESTRATION In FY 13, apply the remaining dollar number in equal percentage cuts across the board (approx. 8.2%) For FY 2014-2021, lower the discretionary spending caps by the sequester amount (allows cuts to be made program by program) If caps broken, automatic across-the-board cuts are triggered FY 2013 sequestration goes into effect January 2, 2013 For programs like Title I and IDEA, cuts don’t happen until summer of 2013 because of forward funding of FY 13 funds. (Impact Aid cuts are immediate)

28. P OTENTIAL I MPACT OF S EQUESTRATION ON IDEA ( FIRST YEAR IMPACT OF BCA) Would cut IDEA Part B $895.6M for FY 13 Would cut 619 $29.1 M Would cut Part C $34.2 M Would cut other special ed programs by $19.4 M

31. W HAT P ROGRAMS A RE E XEMPT ? Short list (not exhaustive) Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Some Pell grants Medicaid SNAP (food stamps) Supplemental Security Income Program TANF

32. G OOD R ESOURCES ON S EQUESTRATION AASA survey on sequestration: http://www.aasa.org/uploadedFiles/Policy_and_A dvocacy/files/AASA%20Sequestration%20July%2 02012.pdf http://www.aasa.org/uploadedFiles/Policy_and_A dvocacy/files/AASA%20Sequestration%20July%2 02012.pdf NEA fact sheet: http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/Disastrous_Impac t_of_Sequestration_on_Education.pdf http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/Disastrous_Impac t_of_Sequestration_on_Education.pdf Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: www.cbpp.org www.cbpp.org Report from Senator Harkin (www.senate.gov)

33. A RE E DUCATION P ROGRAMS ‘W ELFARE P ROGRAMS ?’ Sen. Sessions said on 10/17 that a number of education programs are ‘welfare programs’ Note: Rep. Ryan’s budget that passed the House cuts education programs by 20%

34. S O W HAT ’ S THE F ISCAL C LIFF ?

36. L AME D UCK C ONGRESS

37. W HAT C ONGRESS N EEDS TO DO IN THE L AME D UCK S ESSION Avoid the fiscal cliff TANF needs to be reauthorized Postal Service running out of money for pensions And more…

38. D ATA I SSUES New changes to the indicators announced at OSEP Leadership Conference But changes already have to be made! New data collection under CR regarding HQT

39. S ECLUSION AND R ESTRAINT L EGISLATION Rep. Miller introduced H.R. 1381 in April 2011 – has 56 co-sponsors Sen. Harkin introduced S.2020, Keeping All Students Safe Act in December 2011 – no cosponsors NASDSE has supported Miller bill – more concerns with Harkin bill Biggest issues with this legislation Prohibition on inclusion in IEP – Senate bill would also prohibit usage in behavior plans Cost of training Timing for contacting parent and holding meeting Where do we go from here??

40. C OMMON C ORE S TANDARDS ( IMPLEMENTATION AND ASSESSMENTS ) The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) ED Task Force Coalition has been looking at computer adaptive assessments and developed statement, which NASDSE supports Great resources: IDEA Partnership http://www.ideapartnership.org/index.php?opti on=com_content&view=article&id=1522g http://www.ideapartnership.org/index.php?opti on=com_content&view=article&id=1522g NICHCY http://nichcy.org/schools- administrators/commoncore#overview

41. T ECHNOLOGY ( VIRTUAL SCHOOLS, ACCESSIBILITY AND ONLINE LEARNING Draft legislation has been prepared by the Alliance for Excellent Education NASDSE’s Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities NASDSE’s work with the Gates Foundation

42. U NIVERSAL D ESIGN FOR L EARNING (UDL) NASDSE participates in UDL Task Force and works closely with CAST Best resource is CAST’s National Center for Universal Design for Learning: www.udlcenter.org/ www.udlcenter.org/

43. W HAT M OVES S LOWER T HAN ESEA R EAUTHORIZATION ?

44. R EAUTHORIZATION OF W ORKFORCE I NVESTMENT A CT The biggest issue seems to be what to do about sheltered workshops? Poses problem for IDEA reauthorization because it has to come first

45. H EALTH C ARE ( INCLUDING M EDICAID ) Waiting for publication of final Part B Medicaid rule Work with the NAME Coalition – key outside groups are NASDSE, AASA and CASE The Affordable Care Act but note that it will help individuals with disabilities in numerous ways (e.g., prohibits denying insurance for pre-existing conditions) What is the potential impact of block-granting Medicaid on students with disabilities?

46. C AREER AND T ECH E D Nothing new to report at this time

47. S CHOOL C HOICE ( CHARTER SCHOOLS AND VOUCHERS ) Release last June of GAO report on charter schools and students with disabilities Charter School ‘Summit’ at the Dept of Ed three weeks ago Critical issues Enrollment of students with disabilities in charter schools Capacity of charter schools to serve students with disabilities Training for charter school authorizers and operators Vouchers more active at state level

48. E ARLY C HILDHOOD Early Learning Challenge Fund: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop- earlylearningchallenge/index.html http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop- earlylearningchallenge/index.html

49. F OSTER C ARE Implementation of the Fostering Connections Act NASDSE participates in foster care education coalition Critical issue: who makes decisions about school placements for students in foster care – the IEP team of the child welfare worker who has responsibility under the Fostering Connections Act to keep child in home school or as close to home school as possible NASDSE has asked for joint OSEP/HHS meeting

50. R ESPITE C ARE Important issue those of us in education frequently overlook Respite care grants to states

51. ADA/504 I SSUES Concern remains regarding interpretation by OCR as to how 504 is applied in schools – OCR sees little, if any, differences between IDEA and 504 NASDSE working with OCR to set up regional conference calls between OCR regional offices and state directors of special education United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

52. W HERE TO GO FOR MORE INFORMATION Alliance for Excellent Education: www.all4ed.orgwww.all4ed.org Center on Education Policy: www.cep-dc.orgwww.cep-dc.org Common core standards: www.corestandards.orgwww.corestandards.org Center for American Progress: www.americanprogress.org www.americanprogress.org