Harkin
Urges Reversal of Captioning Decision
- FY 2005 Budget Update
- House Holds Hearing on
Highly Qualified Teachers
- Harkin Urges Reversal of
Captioning Decision
- Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative
- Federal Register Notices
- ED Seeks Contractor to
Conduct IDEA Monitoring Study
FY 2005 Budget Update
Reportedly, Budget conference negotiations are still underway, and Senate
and House Budget Committee Chairmen Nickles (R-OK) and Nussle (R-IA) met yesterday.
Nickles, reportedly, stated that they are still trying to get members back
in town and focused. An agreement and possible floor action is expected next
week.
No compromise has been reached on the pay-as-you-go rules, as included in
S.Con.Res. 93. Senate leadership has been hoping to get Senator Snowe's (R-ME)
vote to adopt an FY Œ05 budget resolution. Senate Republican moderates Snowe,
Chafee (R-RI), McCain (R-AZ) and Collins (R-ME) all voted for the Feingold
PAYGO Amendment on the Senate floor. Collins has remained silent on her current
position.
Reportedly, OMB Director Joshua Bolten has mentioned that the administration
might support a compromise that would exempt from pay-as-you-go rules the
three tax cuts Republican leadership hopes to pass this year ($1,000 child
tax credit, tax relief for married couples, and the expanded 10 percent bracket).
However, Senate Republican moderates, including Senator Snowe (R-ME), have
repeatedly voiced their opposition to exempting any tax cuts from pay-as-you-go
rules.
Action to Take: As always, CEC continues to advocate for full funding
of IDEA programs, and for increased funding for gifted and talented programs.
You can send a message to your members of Congress on these issues through
CEC¹s Legislative Action Center. Simply go to: http://capwiz.com/cek/home/
and click on the message you¹d like to send.
House Holds Hearing on Highly Qualified Teachers
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing this past
Wednesday, April 21, on The Importance of Highly Qualified Teachers in Raising
Academic Achievement.
Providing testimony for the Committee were:
Ms. Gaynor McCown
Executive Director
The Teaching Commission
New York, New York
Mr. Kurt Landgraf
President and CEO
Educational Testing Service
Princeton, New Jersey
Mr. Ross Wiener
Policy Director
The Education Trust
Washington, DC
Ms. Eileen Mitchell
Elementary School Teacher
P.S. 31 - The William T. Davis School
Staten Island, New York
Mr. Tracey Bailey
1993 National Teacher of the Year
Director of National Projects
Association of American Educators
Fredericksburg, Virginia
According to Rep. John Boehner, who chairs the Committee, the purpose of the
hearing was to discuss the importance of highly qualified teachers in improving
academic achievement for all students -- regardless of race, income, geography,
English-fluency, or disability.
To read Rep. Boehner¹s opening statement, as well as the testimony provided
during the hearing, go to: http://edworkforce.house.gov/hearings/108th/fc/nclbteachers042104/wl042104.htm
To view the video of the hearing, go to: http://edworkforce.house.gov/hearings/hrgarchive.htm
CEC has produced a position statement on Academic Subject Matter Content of
the General Curriculum And Special Educators. To read our position statement,
go to:
http://www.cec.sped.org/pp/submatpos.pdf
Harkin Urges Reversal of Captioning Decision
Following is a press release from Sen. Tom Harkin¹s office.
April 13, 2004
HARKIN URGES REVERSAL OF CAPTIONING DECISION DISALLOWING FUNDING FOR CERTAIN
PROGRAMING
WASHINGTON-Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), along with Senator Edward M. Kennedy
(D-MA), today wrote to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Rod Paige urging
the immediate reversal of the Department's decision to disallow funding for
captioning of nearly 200 television programs. Harkin and Kennedy urged Secretary
Paige to direct the engagement of a fair, consumer-directed process to decide
how to best allocate these vital funds.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires the Department
of Education to distribute funding for the captioning of "educational, news
and informational" programs. In years prior, the Department distributed federal
funding to captioning agencies and required that these agencies create Consumer
Advisory Boards to assist in selecting what qualifies as "educational, news
and informational." That process, however, has recently been superseded by
a list of disapproved programs, which was compiled by the Department without
consumer input. Many important entertainment news and sports news programs
have been disapproved.
"Without access to these news programs, deaf and hard of hearing students
will be unable to participate in many conversations with their peers and unable
to understand references to sports and popular culture, which are often used
by teachers to make concepts relevant to youth. The disapproval of news shows
and other programs also prevents deaf parents from reviewing these programs
for their children - depriving them of many valuable learning opportunities,"
the letter said.
Harkin also expressed concern with the Department of Education's claims that
it instructed an external panel of experts with guidelines regarding which
programming met their criteria. Harkin wrote, "One of these experts has reported
to Congress he was not told he was serving on a government panel, did not
meet other panel members, was not informed of the purpose for his input and
comments and was not given any definitions, written instructions, or examples
to guide his decisions."
Harkin, whose brother Frank was deaf, authored the ADA in the Senate and has
led efforts to increase access to captioned television programming for individuals
with disabilities.
Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative
Education Secretary Paige has announced an initiative to engage teachers and
education experts in sharing techniques for raising student achievement and
to keep teachers informed of the latest strategies and research on educational
practices that work.
The four-pronged Teacher-to-Teacher initiative features:
· Teacher Roundtables‹This spring and summer, the U.S. Department of
Education will host discussions with teachers around the country on effective
teaching, professional development, teacher leadership and ways to advance
the teaching profession. The emphasis will be on listening and engaging teachers
about what support they need to meet the academic needs of students.
· Summer Workshops‹Teachers and education experts who have improved
student achievement and closed the achievement gap will share experiences
with fellow teachers on how to emulate these programs. Teachers will also
receive additional resources, such as online assistance, to support them as
they incorporate new strategies in the classroom.
· Research-to-Practice Summit‹To be held this summer in Washington,
D.C., the summit comprises a day of listening and learning from experts in
the field of scientifically based research and teachers with success in improving
their students' achievement levels.
· Teacher E-mail Updates‹Electronic updates will keep teachers apprised
of the latest policy, research and developments in the profession.
The initiative also includes a new Web site‹www.teacherquality.us‹with
information about effective practices and initiatives at the state and local
levels and upcoming teacher-oriented events. Educators may apply for one of
the summer workshops or register for the e-mail updates on the Web site.
Action to Take: Please send this information to any special education
teacher that you think might be interested in participating in the workshops
or receiving the updates. We need to make sure that special educators are
involved in all aspects of this initiative.
For more information, go to: http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2004/04/04212004.html
Federal Register Notices
The following notices of proposed information collection requests were recently
published in the Federal Register:
v Report of Infants and Toddlers Receiving Early Intervention Services and
of Program Settings Where Services are Provided in Accordance with Part C,
and Report on Infants and Toddlers Exiting Part C http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2004-2/041404a.html
v Report of Early Intervention Services on IFSPs Provided to Infants, Toddlers
and Their Families in Accordance with Part C and Report of Number and Type
of Personnel Employed and Contracted to Provide Early Intervention Services
- Notice of Proposed Information Collection Request http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2004-2/041304b.html
v Report of Children with Disabilities Exiting Special Education During the
School Year http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2004-2/041304d.html
v Report of Children with Disabilities Receiving Special Education under Part
B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA-B) http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2004-2/041204b.html
v Part B, Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA-B) Implementation
of Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) Requirements http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2004-2/041204c.html
Federal Register - April 21, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 77)
The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services recently published
the following notices inviting applications for new awards for fiscal year
2004:
v Special Education--Research and Innovation To Improve Services and Results
for Children With Disabilities--Initial Career Awards - The purpose of this
program is to produce, and advance the use of, knowledge to improve the results
of education and early intervention for infants, toddlers, and children with
disabilities. For more information go to http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/2004-2/042104g.html
v Training and Information for Parents of Children with Disabilities--Parent
Training and Information Centers - The purpose of this program is to ensure
that parents of children with disabilities receive training and information
to help improve results for their children. For more information go to http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/2004-2/042104i.html
v Technical Assistance and Dissemination to Improve Services and Results for
Children With Disabilities--National Clearinghouse on Deaf-Blindness - Statement
of Priority: The establishment and operation of a national clearinghouse on
deaf-blindness to improve outcomes for children and individuals who are deaf-blind.
For more information go to http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/announcements/2004-2/042104h.html
ED Seeks Contractor to Conduct IDEA Monitoring Study
On April 16, the U.S. Department of Education issued a request for proposals
to conduct ³An Evaluation of States' Monitoring and Improvement Practices
under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act² Solicitation 01. For
more information, go to:
http://www.eps.gov/spg/ED/OCFO/CPO/ED%2D04%2DR%2D0011/listing.html
© 2004 ConnSENSE
Bulletin
