Connecticut Files Suit Against ED For Unfunded Mandates In NCLB

Comments on Proposed IDEA Regulations Are Due on September 6th!

CEC encourages everyone interested in the reauthorization of IDEA to submit comments on the proposed regulations to the Department of Education by the September 6 deadline. You can email your comments to ED at ideacomments@ed.gov . In addition, please email a copy of your comments to Deb Zeigler, Associate Executive Director Policy and Communication Services, debz@cec.sped.org, or to Dan Blair, Senior Director for Public Policy, danb@cec.sped.org .

CEC has provided initial comments on selected issues in the proposed IDEA regulations. In addition, we will be providing further, more extensive comments to the Department of Education before the September 6 deadline. We will let you know when our final comments are available on our Web site.
You can read CEC’s comments to date at http://www.cec.sped.org/cec_bn/cec_comments_regs.html .
You can also read side-by-side comparisons of selected issues in the proposed regulations and the IDEA ’97 regulations at http://www.cec.sped.org/cec_bn/side-by-sides.html .

Connecticut Files Suit Against ED Claiming Unfunded Mandates In NCLB

On August 22, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal filed suit against the Department of Education over unfunded mandates in the No Child Left Behind Act, making Connecticut the first state to formally object to the Act in federal court. Attorney General Blumenthal, with the support of local education leaders and state officials, claims that the Federal government has illegally imposed unfunded mandates - specifically relating to testing and accountability - under NCLB as detailed in the state’s complaint, Connecticut v. Spellings.

Attorney General Blumenthal claims that the lawsuit is the culmination of numerous attempts to obtain waivers and full funding from ED, as Connecticut attempted to comply with the mandates of NCLB. Blumenthal cites section 9527(a) of the NCLB Act that, “prohibits the federal government from directing or controlling the states' programs or curricula, and requires full federal government funding" as a basis for Connecticut’s lawsuit against the Federal government.
The Department of Education has 60 days to file a legal response.
To read the Connecticut Attorney General’s full complaint against ED, visit: http://www.cslib.org/attygenl/mainlinks/linkindex12.htm

National Center for Special Education Research Now Part of Institute of Education Sciences

The National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER), created during the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA, is now an arm of the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES). As one of four centers within the Institute of Education Sciences, NCSER supports research on special education and related services.

As part of its mission to provide research-based education information, IES has numerous grant opportunities on a variety of topics. For additional information on IES and NCSER and to sign up for the IES list serve to receive the latest information go to, http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ies/index.html