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LDA News from Washington
Spring 2004

BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS. Both the House and the Senate have passed their Budget Resolutions for Fiscal Year 2005. Budget resolutions, which do not need to be signed by the President, set the revenue and expenditure targets for the 13 appropriations bills and are the official "spending" bills for Congress. As conferees debate the differences in the budget resolutions, the various appropriations committees have begun work on their bills.

REAUTHORIZATION OF THE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT ACT (WIA). Conferees still have not yet been named to settle differences between the House and Senate bills.

REAUTHORIZATION OF TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE for NEEDY FAMILIES (TANF). The 1996 welfare bill expired on Sept. 30, 2003 and has been running on continuing resolutions since then, the latest of which extends TANF until June 30. During the debate which began on April 29, the Senate could not agree on work requirements placed on recipients of aid; the amount of work-related activities, such as job search and community work activities to be allowed; the amount of time that can be devoted to training, education, and family needs; and raising the federal minimum wage. The bill was set aside temporarily because of controversy over raising the minimum wage.

NEW FREEDOM INITIATIVE PROGRESS REPORT (NFI). The White House has released the 2004 Progress Report of the NFI, President Bush's blueprint for eliminating barriers to the full integration of people with disabilities in America. The NFI was launched in 2001. The current progress report highlights the government's accomplishments in four areas of disability services: increasing access through technology, expanding educational opportunities for youth with disabilities, integrating Americans with disabilities into the workforce, and promoting full access to community life. See http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/newfreedom/newfreedom-report-2004.pdf

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA). More than 3,400 ADA documents including the regulations, technical assistance manuals, settlement agreements, and opinion letters can be accessed at http://www.adaportal.org/

CONGRESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

INDIVIDUALS WTH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT (IDEA)

The Senate IDEA Reauthorization bill (S 1248) is scheduled to go to the Senate floor the first week of May. A "manager's package" containing technical amendments may be substituted for the bill passed last June. Under the agreement made in the first session of the 108th Congress, the Republicans are expected to offer amendments on funding, attorney's fees, and paperwork reduction. The Democrats are expected to offer amendments on mandatory full funding, services to homeless and migrant children, and on the National Children's Study. Except for the latter the exact wording of the amendments has not been disclosed.

Following Senate passage, conferees from both Senate and House must meet to resolve their differences to come up with a final bill - which must then be passed by the House and the Senate. This may take more time than is left in the 108th Congress. If not completed in time, reauthorization must begin all over again in the 109th Congress. If this occurs, Part B, Assistance to States (which is permanently authorized) would remain unchanged. However, authorization for Parts C (early intervention) and D (discretionary programs, including the parent training centers) expires. However, in all likelihood, Congress will continue to appropriate money for these programs.

A new coalition, the League of Special Education Voters, asked parents to visit Washington or call their Senators on March 25 to urge them to vote against the Senate bill. According to TASH (The Association for the Severely Handicapped), about 100 parents came to Washington. No information is available on the number of phone calls made. LDA opposed the House bill, but does not oppose the Senate bill as it now stands. However, LDA will oppose any amended version of IDEA which would The following Disabilities Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF, www.dredf.org) report summarizes the bill as follows:

The Senate bill improves the current IDEA by:

  1. providing funding to schools for positive behavior supports,
  2. increasing research and development of alternate assessments;
  3. strengthening the transition provisions of the IEP; and
  4. applying the "highly qualified" personnel provisions of NCLB to special education teachers.

The Senate bill weakens the current IDEA by:

  1. eliminating short term objectives in the IEP;
  2. requiring parents to present their due process claims at a "resolutions meeting" before going to due process;
  3. limiting the amount of time to file a due process request;
  4. failing to define non compliance with the law;
  5. moving research and development from the Office of Special Education Programs to the new Institute of Education Science; and
  6. failing to include a definition of "highly qualified" related services personnel.

CLINTON IDEA AMENDMENT ON NATIONAL CHILDREN'S STUDY

Senator Hillary Clinton proposes to add a non-controversial amendment to IDEA which would require the U.S. Department of Education to work with the other federal agencies -- the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) -- authorized under the Children's Health Act of 2000 to study the effects of environmental influences on the health and development of children from birth until age 21. This National Children's Study defines "environment" broadly and will take a number of issues into account, including:

  • Natural and man-made environment factors;
  • Biological and chemical factors;
  • Physical surroundings;
  • Social factors;
  • Behavioral influences and outcomes
  • Genetics;
  • Cultural and family influences and differences;
  • Geographic locations.

OTHER LEGISLATION

It looks more and more as if the following bills will not pass in this 108th Congress. They will have to be reintroduced when the 109th Congress convenes next January.

  • Head Start ( HR 2210) (S1483)
  • The Ready to Teach Act (HR 2211)
  • The Child Medication Safety Act (HR 1170) (S 1390)
  • PASS - Pathways For Students To Succeed (S 1554)
  • Graduation for All Act (HR 3085) which would provide resources for schools to improve adolescent literacy and improve graduation rates.
  • The Environmental Health Research Act of 2003 (HR 852) (S 1588)
  • Keeping Families Together Act (HR 3243) (S 1704) which would prevent families from having to give up custody of their children in order to get treatment for mental illnesses.

A number of other bills which amend either IDEA or NCLB have even less chance of passing in this session of Congress.

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

THE CARL PERKINS VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION ACT

In a speech in Arkansas on April 6th, President Bush referred to the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act as a program unchanged over the last century and one that does not address students' academic needs.

The President proposes to redirect $1 billion in annual funding from the Perkins Vocational Education program into a new Secondary and Technical Education State Grant program. The new program would require that participating schools offer 4 years of English, 3 years of math and science, and 3 years of social studies as part of their vocational education curriculum. The White House fact sheet on this is at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040406-3.html.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Guidance on No Child Left Behind. On March 26, 2004, the Secretary of Education issued new policies allowing states to average the requirement that 95% of students in a school participate in state testing over a three year period instead of annually. In addition, students who are unable to take the test because of a "unique significant medical emergency" are excluded from the count.

Four states (MN, MT, OH, VA) have submitted requests for exceptions to the 1% cap on the number of students whose test scores on alternate assessments can be counted as proficient under the No Child Left Behind Act. Texas officials said they have also sent a letter requesting the waiver. At least two more states, Michigan and Indiana, may follow suit.

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Training from JAN

JAN, the Job Accommodation Network, facilitates the employment and retention of workers with disabilities by providing information on job accommodations, self-employment, and small business opportunities. The article cited here discusses JAN's approach to reasonable accommodations in the workplace. JAN is a service of the Office of Disability Employment Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor: see article at http://www.onestops.info/article.php?article_id=229

LDA News from Washington is a monthly publication of the Learning Disabilities Association of America. Written by Justine Maloney; Jane Browning, Editor. Paper copies by mail are available free to members upon request. Call 1-888-300-6710 or email info@ldaamerica.org

Learning Disabilities Association of America
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© 2004 LDA of America