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Judy B. Engelhard, CAN Coordinator for the Division for Learning Disabilities, provides brief reports for TeachingLD.org so that visitors can keep informed about important developments in policies affecting students with learning disabilities and their teachers. TeachingLD.org is pleased to offer this page as a place for people concerned with learning disabilities to keep up to date.
22 November 2004
IDEA REAUTHORIZATION UPDATE
Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was passed by both the House and Senate November 19, 2004. Titled “Improving Education Results for Children with Disabilities Act,” the bill passed the House by a vote of 397-3 and the Senate by voice vote. President Bush is expected to sign the bill soon.
ISSUES IN IDEA 2004
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) feels the bill lets down both the nation's special education teachers and its students with disabilities in two important areas. First, the highly qualified provisions fail to recognize the multiple roles special education teachers fill in our schools and the complexity of the students these teachers serve. CEC is further disappointed that the federal government continues to refuse to meet its obligation to provide 40 percent of the excess cost of educating students with disabilities.
CEC will provide a summary and analysis of key issues soon; these will be available at http://www.cec.sped.org/pp/legislative_update/modules/news/index.php
IDENTIFICATION OF SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES
IDEA 2004 allows for the elimination of the requirement to establish a severe discrepancy between ability and achievement in the identification of Specific Learning Disabilities. DLD continues to work with other LD groups in suggesting regulatory language for identification procedures.
NEW SECRETARY OF EDUCATION NOMINATED
President Bush nominated Margaret Spellings to succeed outgoing Secretary of Education, Rod Paige. As a domestic policy advisor to Bush, Spellings was instrumental in the development of No Child Left Behind.
Judy B. Engelhard
CAN Coordinator, DLD
