August 25, 2009
The e-Rate can play a significant role in the national broadband plan being developed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), panelists said during an Aug. 20 hearing–but for this to happen, commissioners must raise the program’s funding cap. "When the e-Rate began, our connectivity consisted of a few dial-up connections in our school libraries," said […]
August 20, 2009
Education Secretary Arne Duncan spoke Tuesday before a group of state special education officials gathered in Washington, pledging his commitment to prevent "horrific tragedies" resulting from inappropriate use of seclusion and restraints on students, and asking officials to be a part of the development of common state standards to make sure the un ique needs […]
August 18, 2009
Offering vouchers for students diagnosed with special needs to attendprivate schools leads to fewer diagnoses and could save state and federaldollars, according to a new study by the pro-school-choice Manhattan Institute. More than 20 percent of D.C. public school students are diagnosed withlearning disabilities, compared with about 12 percent in Montgomery County andabout 14 percent […]
August 13, 2009
When the Hollopeters, a Coast Guard family now living on the base in Fort Wadsworth, moved here from California last year, they thought their autistic son would be able to receive the same level of subsidized health care. They were wrong. Not only was Taylor, 7, deemed ineligible by the New York State Office of […]
August 7, 2009
The statecomptroller reported Thursday that the Corning-Painted Post school district hadmismanaged more than $1 million in Medicaid reimbursements, purchases and otherexpenses. But hismessage was one of praise and congratulations. Askedwhat had prompted his visit to the district’s administrative offices for a newsconference, when hundreds of other audit reports are handled by e-mails andfaxes, Comptroller Thomas […]
August 6, 2009
A federal center is trying to help states incubate and spread goodspecial education practices that are already taking place in theirdistricts. The State Implementation and Scaling-Up of Evidence-based Practices Center,has been working with Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and Oregon sinceSeptember. The center intentionally picked states that have made asubstantial investment in evidence-based practices; starting newprograms from […]
August 5, 2009
In 2002, the Office of the Inspector General, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Justice conducted several audits of the School Supportive Health Services Program in certain school districts in New York State, including New York City. In those audits, the Federal government cited school districts for not consistently maintaining […]
August 5, 2009
Washington, DC — U.S. Secretary of Education ArneDuncan today announced that the Department will accelerate stimulusspending by making $11.37 billion in Title I, IDEA, and VocationalRehabilitation (VR) funding, as part of the American Recovery andReinvestment Act (ARRA), available to states one month early to helpsave jobs and drive reform. "The President and I directed the […]
July 28, 2009
WASHINGTON – For the fourth time in four months, 2nd District Rep. John Kline introduced an amendment today that would increase funding for special education through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which he said would free up needed resources for schools nationwide. “For far too long, our nation’s schools have been waiting patiently […]
July 28, 2009
Dangling the promise of $5 billion in grants, President Barack Obama on July 24 pressured states to embrace his ideas for overhauling the nation’s schools — ideas that include performance pay for teachers and more charter schools. To get the money, state officials might have to do things they, or t he teachers’ unions, dislike. […]