Conference Call to Discuss Fiscal Year 2013 Budget

If you would like to read the budget fact sheet Expanding Opportunities for People with Disabilities and other fact sheets about the President's 2013 Budget, please visit this link: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget_factsheets_key/ . On Wednesday, February 15th at 2:00 p.m. EST, please join Kareem Dale, Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy, for a conference call to discuss President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2013 Budget. This call will highlight the Obama Administration’s budget priorities and provide an opportunity for you to ask questions. Please RSVP here (http://www.whitehouse.gov/webform/white-house-budget-update-february-15-2pm) to join us and learn more.

WHAT: White House Budget Update
WHEN: Wednesday, February 15th
Start Time: 2:00 p.m. EST
Dial In: (800) 762-4758
Passcode Title: White House Budget Update

For captioning go here at the time of the call http://www.fedrcc.us//Enter.aspx?EventID=1905629&CustomerID=321 . Please only use this feature if you are deaf or hard of hearing.

Obama Administration Offers Flexibility from No Child Left Behind

U.S. Department of Education sent this bulletin at 09/23/2011 10:51 AM EDT

The Obama Administration outlined how states can get relief from provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act – or No Child Left Behind (NCLB) – in exchange for serious state-led efforts to close achievement gaps, promote rigorous accountability, and ensure that all students are on track to graduate college- and career-ready.

“To help states, districts and schools that are ready to move forward with education reform, our administration will provide flexibility from the law in exchange for a real commitment to undertake change. The purpose is not to give states and districts a reprieve from accountability, but rather to unleash energy to improve our schools at the local level,” President Obama said.

What this means for you: 

•  For Teachers: A collaborative learning culture where teachers can target instruction towards the needs of students and offer a well-rounded curriculum. Fair and responsible evaluations that are based on multiple measures including peer review, principal observation, and classroom work.

•  For Principals: Greater flexibility to tailor solutions to the unique educational challenges of their students and recognition for progress and performance.

•  For Parents: Accurate and descriptive information about their children’s progress and honest accountability that recognizes and rewards success – where schools fall short – targeted and focused strategies for the students most at risk.

•  For Students: A system that measures student growth and critical thinking to inspire better teaching and greater student engagement across a well-rounded curriculum.

For more information on how this flexibility package may affect you, read our blog post: What NCLB Flexibility Means for You.

First Lady Names Respected Pediatrician Judith S. Palfrey, M.D. to Lead Let's Move! Program

Palfrey was past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics and has been a pediatric clinician and teacher for over 30 years

WASHINGTON – First Lady Michelle Obama today announced that one of the country’s leading pediatricians, Judith S. Palfrey, M.D., will lead her Let’s Move! childhood obesity initiative as Executive Director starting on Tuesday, September 6. For decades, Dr. Palfrey has provided clinical care to thousands of children and families, conducted groundbreaking pediatric research, taught future physicians and led major medical organizations. Palfrey has been a longtime supporter of the Let’s Move! campaign and spoke at its launch in February of 2010 when she was president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

“It was my children’s pediatrician who first told me that I needed to pay closer attention to my children’s health so I understand the significance doctors play in family health.  That’s why we are eager to welcome Judy Palfrey to the White House where I know that she will take the Let’s Move! program to new heights. Judy has worked with families one-on-one and partnered with communities on health promotion initiatives.  She is a leading researcher and respected voice in the field.  Her tremendous experience and insight in pediatrics and community health will make her a strong leader for Let’s Move! and make a real difference in the lives of our nation’s children,” said First Lady Michelle Obama.

“As a doctor, I know how important fighting the epidemic of childhood obesity is, and I’ve seen firsthand the struggles families can face in keeping their kids healthy. That’s why I’m so eager to work with the First Lady to build on the successes of Let’s Move! and continue to empower parents to make the healthier choices. I look forward to working with communities all over America as they support families and children,” said Dr. Palfrey.

“Over the past 20 years, our nation has seen an alarming rise in the number of our children who are overweight and obese. It will take a continued concerted effort and thoughtful collaboration to create healthier communities for children,” said O. Marion Burton, M.D., FAAP, AAP president. “Dr. Palfrey has spent her career advocating for the health and well-being of children. She brings a wealth of clinical, research and practice expertise, as well as a comprehensive knowledge of preventive health and promotion. The AAP has had the privilege of drawing upon this expertise for many years, and wishes her much success in this important new role. She is the ideal candidate for the job.”

Dr. Palfrey has been a pediatric clinician and teacher for over 30 years, and her clinical work and teaching has included primary care, developmental pediatrics, inpatient pediatrics and community health. At Harvard Medical School, Dr. Palfrey was appointed as the first incumbent of T. Berry Brazelton Professorship of Pediatrics. Most recently, she directed the global health efforts of the Department of Medicine at the Children’s Hospital in Boston. She has served this past year as immediate past president of AAP – the nation’s largest pediatric organization with a membership of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists. From 1986 to 2007, Dr. Palfrey was chief of the Division of General Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital, Boston. Dr. Palfrey has served as chair of the AAP Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, president of the Academic Pediatric Association, director of Building Bright Futures, and national program director of the Dyson Community Pediatrics Initiative. In each of these programs, she has placed a major emphasis on prevention and health promotion.

Dr. Palfrey is a recipient of the Milton J.E. Senn Award from AAP, the Millie and Richard Brock Award of the New York Academy of Medicine and the Marie Felton Award of the Boston Center for Independent Living. Originally from El Paso, Texas, Dr. Palfrey holds an A.B. from Harvard and an M.D. from Columbia University. She is married with three children.

President Obama's Remarks on Education

As the weather suggests that spring, and then summer, is coming to Washington, President Obama has asked the education community and Congress to think ahead to fall. “I want every child in this country to head back to school in the fall knowing that their education is America’s priority,” he said at Kenmore Middle School in Arlington, Va. “Let’s seize this education moment. Let’s fix No Child Left Behind.”

We have learned over the last decade what works for students and educators—and what doesn’t—about NCLB, and we have seen in the last two years what reform and innovation can come from programs like Race to the Top that leverage relatively small investments to bring about bottom-up improvements to our education system.

In his speech to a group of students, teachers and representatives from a diverse mix of education organizations, the President, joined by Secretary Duncan, laid out his priorities and key changes for education, both for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and for the federal education budget. In an exceedingly difficult fiscal climate, the President believes firmly that we must invest in education to win the future, and he made clear that he will oppose any efforts to scale back this critical investment.

In case you missed the President’s speech at Kenmore Middle School, here is a summary of his proposal to reauthorize ESEA:

• A fair accountability system that shares responsibility for improvement and rewards excellence, and that is based on high standards and is informed by sophisticated assessments that measure individual student growth;
• A flexible system that empowers principals and teachers, and supports reform and innovation at the state and local level;
• And a system focused on the schools and the students most at risk -- that targets resources to persistently low-performing schools and ensures the most effective teachers serve students most in need.

You can read the full text of the President’s remarks at WhiteHouse.gov.

As the President said, "It’s not enough to leave no child behind. We need to help every child get ahead."

Education Secretary Launches U.S. Education Dashboard

The U.S. Department of Education today launched a new website that provides convenient and transparent access to key national and state education data, highlighting the progress being made across the country in every level of the education system and encouraging communities to engage in a conversation about their schools. The United States Education Dashboard, available at http://dashboard.ed.gov, presents important indicators of whether the country is making progress toward the President's goal – that, by 2020, the United States will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.

http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/education-secretary-launches-united-states-education-dashboard

Obama Administration's Education Reform Plan emphasizes Flexibility, Resources and Accountability for Results

The Obama administration' s blueprint to overhaul the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) will support state and local efforts to help ensure that all students graduate prepared for college and a career.

Following the lead of the nation's governors and state education leaders, the plan will ask states to ensure that their academic standards prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace, and to create accountability systems that recognize student growth and school progress toward meeting that goal. This will be a key priority in the reform of NCLB, which was signed into law in 2002 and is the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA).

  "We will work with Congress on a bipartisan basis to reauthorize ESEA this year," Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said about the blueprint, which the Obama administration released on Saturday. "We owe it to our children and our country to act now."

NCLB highlighted the achievement gap and created a national conversation about student achievement.  But it also created incentives for states to lower their standards; emphasized punishing failure over rewarding success; focused on absolute scores, rather than recognizing growth and progress; and prescribed a pass-fail, one-size-fits- all series of interventions for schools that miss their goals.  The administration' s proposal addresses these challenges, while continuing to shine a bright light on closing the achievement gap.

"To make ESEA work, we have to fix accountability and get it right," Duncan said. "A rigorous and fair accountability system measures student growth, rewards schools that accelerate student achievement, and identifies and rewards outstanding teachers and leaders. NCLB says that fifth-grade teacher who helps a student reading at a second-grade level reach a fourth-grade level, within one year, has this missed their goal.  In fact, that teacher is an excellent teacher and should be applauded."

Under the Obama administration' s blueprint, state accountability systems will set a high bar of all students graduating from high school ready to succeed in college and careers. The accountability system also will recognize and reward high-poverty schools and districts that are showing improvement getting their students on this path, using measures of progress and growth.

States and districts will identify and take rigorous actions in the lowest-performing schools. The administration has proposed a significant investment to help states and districts in these efforts.

Under the ESEA blueprint, states and districts will continue to focus on the achievement gap by identifying and intervening in schools that are persistently failing to close those gaps.  For other schools, states and districts would have flexibility to determine appropriate improvement and support options.

With states setting high standards we must ensure that states, districts, schools, and teachers have the support they need to help students meet these higher standards, especially in high-need schools. The blueprint asks states and districts to develop meaningful ways of measuring teacher and principal effectiveness in order to provide better support for educators, enhance the profession through recognizing and rewarding excellence, and ensure that every classroom has a great teacher and every school has a great leader.

"We're offering support, incentives and national leadership, but not at the expense of local control." Duncan said. "Our children have one chance for a great education.  Together, we need to get it right."

The administration' s priorities for ESEA can be downloaded HERE. Copies of "A Blueprint for Reform" are available at: http://www2. ed.gov/policy/ elsec/leg/

Message from Secretary Sebelius: Appointment Of Sharon Lewis, ADD Commissioner

I’m pleased to announce that Sharon Lewis will be joining HHS as Commissioner of the Administration on Developmental Disabilities at the Administration for Children and Families.

 Sharon has extensive experience as a disability policy advocate. She has worked as the Senior Disability Policy Advisor to U.S. House Committee on Education & Labor Chairman George Miller since 2007. In that role, she has advised Chairman Miller on legislative strategy and disability-related policy in education, employment and healthcare, and has served as the lead staffer on the disability provisions of key pieces of legislation and on implementation oversight. Sharon will begin her work at HHS next month.

I want to thank Acting Commissioner Faith McCormick for her leadership at ADD, and I also want to extend my gratitude to everyone who works to support the mission of the Administration on Developmental Disabilities. Thank you all for the critically important work you do every day.

Please join me in welcoming Sharon Lewis to HHS.  

Sharon Lewis, Commissioner, Administration on Developmental Disabilities, Administration for Children and Families

Sharon Lewis has over ten years of experience as a disability policy advocate. She currently serves as the Senior Disability Policy Advisor to U.S. House Committee on Education & Labor Chairman George Miller, a position she has held since 2007. In this capacity, she advises Chairman Miller and members of the Committee on legislative strategy and disability-related policy in education, employment and healthcare. Sharon also serves as the lead staffer on disability provisions of key pieces of legislation and on implementation oversight.  During President Obama’s transition, Sharon served as a member of the Department of Education Agency Review Team. Previously, she worked as a Kennedy Public Policy Fellow for U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Children & Families Chairman Chris Dodd.  Prior to her work in Congress, Sharon served on the state level in various disability policy and program roles, and as a grassroots community organizer. Sharon received her BFA from Washington University in St. Louis.  

TEAM Project Program Manager appointed to the Rehabilitation Council of Texas by Governor Perry

Texas Governor Rick Perry appointed Amy Woolsey of Cypress to The Rehabilitation Council of Texas for a three-year term set to expire Oct. 29, 2012. Full article >

The Loss of a Legend

There’s a whole community out there that you’re likely not aware of, unless you have a child with a disability.  This community is made up of other parents of children with special needs and also the professionals who provide services to children with disabilities and their families.  This community may not have an official name, but it has its own culture, its own traditions, its own laws; it even has its own language.  It’s a confusing language to learn, one liberally sprinkled with acronyms, legal terms, technical terms, and medical terminology.

If you’re not aware that this community exists, then you might not be aware that this community just lost a legend.

Renee Whaley spent the last half of her life improving the lives of children with disabilities and their families.  She was an incomparable public speaker, teacher, and trainer, a formidable presence whether on a stage or at a meeting table.  She fought against injustice and intolerance, noncompliance and ignorance.  She stood up for each and every parent and each and every child she came into contact with, and made it her personal mission to ensure that all children with disabilities would receive the best educational experience possible.

As the past director of Florida’s federally-funded Parent Training & Information Center, Renee Whaley’s job was to train and coordinate others so that they, too, could pass along advice and critical information to parents of children in Special Education, helping them to understand the laws and protections and become more involved and effective advocates for their children.  But Renee was out there, teaching and sharing and helping others, both before she had that job and then again after she retired.  There is a huge network of parents and professionals out there who, without a single doubt, credit Ms. Whaley directly for their children’s and their students’ successes. 

Renee Whaley’s devotion to the community she served stemmed from her passion for her son. 

 David, who had autism, was the light of Renee’s life, and she was an incredible mother.  She was determined to share with David, everything good that life had to offer, and she did.  It was the worst kind of tragedy when David died so young and of course Renee was devastated but she was strengthened in her resolve to help others like him.

 Renee was a parent, a wife, an advocate.  She was a trainer, a teacher, a speaker, an entertainer.  She was an artist and a creative genius.  She was a most generous and hospitable hostess.  She was a listener.  She was a talker.  She was a friend.

 Renee Whaley passed away on November 9, 2009.  She was – and still is – a legend.  She will be greatly missed.

Data Collection Comment Request

The Federal Register recently provided notice under the Department of Education - Annual Mandatory Collection of Elementary and Secondary Education Data for EDFacts - that included collecting data on seclusion and restraint.  Restraint and Seclusion are defined in this data collection as:

Restraints—any manual method, physical or mechanical device, material, or equipment that immobilizes the ability of an individual to move his or her arms, legs, body, or head freely.

Seclusion—involuntary confinement of an individual alone in a room or area from which the individual is physically prevented from leaving.

Details regarding this data collection, including reporting tables, can be found at: http://edicsweb.ed.gov/browse/downldatt.cfm?pkg_serial_num=4127.

Comments regarding this data collection are due November 10, 2009 and can be submitted via email to: ICDocketMgr@ed.gov. The link to the Federal Register notice is:  http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-21935.htm

President Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Duncan Announce National Competition to Advance School Reform

Obama Administration Starts $4.35 Billion “Race to the Top” Competition, Pledges a Total of $10 Billion for Reforms

Taken from a press release (July 24, 2009) from the Office of Communications & Outreach, U.S. Dept of Ed.

President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced on July 24, 2009 that states leading the way on school reform will be eligible to compete for $4.35 billion in Race to the Top competitive grants. Between the 2009 budget and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), more than $10 billion in grant money will be available to states and districts that are driving reform.

“This competition will not be based on politics, ideology, or the preferences of a particular interest group. Instead, it will be based on a simple principle – whether a state is ready to do what works. We will use the best data available to determine whether a state can meet a few key benchmarks for reform – and states that outperform the rest will be rewarded with a grant. Not every state will win and not every school district will be happy with the results. But America’s children, America’s economy, and America itself will be better for it,” President Obama said in a speech at the U.S. Department of Education headquarters in Washington.

The centerpiece of the Obama administration’s education reform efforts is the $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund, a national competition which will highlight and replicate effective education reform strategies in four significant areas:

• Adopting internationally benchmarked standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and the workplace;
• Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals;
• Building data systems that measure student success and inform teachers and principals how they can improve their practices; and
• Turning around our lowest-performing schools.

“The $4.35 billion Race to the Top program…is a challenge to states and districts.  We’re looking to drive reform, reward excellence and dramatically improve our nation’s schools,” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said at the event. 

In addition to the Race to the Top Fund, over the coming months the Department plans to award more than $5.6 billion in additional grants through several other federal programs that support the Administration’s reform priorities, making available dollars that have been allocated by Congress under the FY 2009 budget and the ARRA. The Department of Education will be publishing draft regulations on each of the programs in coming weeks. The additional programs include the $650 million Investing in Innovation Fund, part of the ARRA to support local efforts by school districts and partnerships with nonprofits to start or expand research-based innovative programs that help close the achievement gap and improve outcomes for students.

With $297 million in the Teacher Incentive Fund, states and districts will create or expand effective performance pay and teacher advancement models to reward teachers and principals for increases in student achievement and boost the number of effective educators working with poor, minority, and disadvantaged students and teaching hard-to-staff subjects.

With $315 million from the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems program, states will expand their data systems to track students’ achievement from preschool through college and link their achievement to teachers and principals. 
With $3.5 billion in Title I School Improvement Grants, the Department will support states in efforts to reform struggling schools, and focus on implementing turnaround models in the lowest-performing schools. Secretary Duncan has set a goal of turning around the bottom 5 percent of schools in the next five years. In addition, $919 million in State Educational Technology Grants to help bring technology into the classroom will be made available.  These funds are distributed to states by formula but states must deliver at least half of the money to districts on a competitive basis.  States can make all of the money competitive.

Within Race to the Top, $350 million has also been set aside to help fund common assessments for states that adopt common international standards. 

The Department will finalize the regulations and start accepting applications for the Race to the Top competition this fall.  The first round of grants will go out early next year.  The second round of applications will likely be due in June 2010 and final awards will be made in September.  “States will have two chances to win,” Duncan said. “They have plenty of time to learn from the first-round winners, change laws where necessary, build partnerships with all key stakeholders, and advance bold and creative reforms.”

Survey of NIMAS and Related Information Posted to State Education Agency (SEA) Web Sites

The NIMAS (National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard) Center is a member of OSEP's TA&D Network.  NIMAS has posted a scorecard on SEA Website information regarding NIMAS at

http://nimas.cast.org/about/resources/statesdoesurvey

Note that it includes a detailed table for each SEA, information on criteria used for evidence, and additional information, including links, for each SEA.  This is very important information about accessibility of instructional materials for students with disabilities and the timely delivery of specialized formats to students with print disabilities."

On June 2, 2009, the Region 3 PTAC and the SERRC hosted a conference call for SEA and PTI/CPRC representatives on the IDEA supplemental regulations effective January 1, 2009.  The presenters were Diana Autin with SPAN/Region 1 PTAC and Pamela Kraynak with NERRC.  A recording of the conference call is available until July 2 at 3:44 pm.   To listen,

1. Dial 1-888-203-1112.
2. Enter replay ID 63577283#.

The materials referenced in the call were:

• Final Rule (the actual supplemental regulations with commentary)
• US DOE Guidance on the Supplemental Regulations
• Protecting Students with Disabilities
• Parent Center Guide to Major Revisions to IDEA Regulations January 2009
• Parent Guide to Major Revisions to IDEA Regulations January 2009
• The IDEA and Section 504

Parent to Parent of Miami Director Receives Advocacy Award

Isabel Garcia, director of Parent to Parent of Miami, was recently presented with the Cruz-Whitehurst Advocacy Award at the annual Tropical Nights event benefiting the University of Miami’s/Nova Southeastern University’s Center for Autism and Related Disorders. Isabel was being honored for her ongoing advocacy for the rights of children with disabilities and their families. The event supports various programs providing direct services to families as well as various research initiatives. Congratulations to Isabel on receiving this award!