CEC Policy Insider

Welcome to the CEC Policy Insider Blog!

CEC is pleased to offer the Policy Insider as a regularly updated blog, a complement to the weekly digest you’ve come to rely on for the latest in special and gifted education policy news.

The CEC Policy Insider digest, which comes via e-mail every Wednesday, will be a round-up of stories from the blog, where you can always find news in its entirety. Sign up for CEC's Policy Insider digest today!

 

 

CEC Members Raise Top Special Education Issues at White House Meeting

Today, in a meeting reserved solely for members of the Council for Exceptional Children and the National Center for Learning Disabilities, CEC members met with top officials within the Obama Administration to discuss critical issues confronting special education across the nation. 

At a time when the economy is impacting schools across the country and as the Obama Administration is pursuing reforms in education through the Race to the Top program and granting waivers from some of NCLB’s most stringent requirements, CEC members asked officials questions that are on the minds of many special educators, such as:

The President’s FY 2013 Budget: What does it mean for Special and Gifted Education?

Today, the President released his budget for FY 2013. CEC is pleased that the President clearly is committed to education and has offered an alterative vision for the automatic cuts set to take place January 1, 2013 if Congress doesn’t act. But, CEC is concerned with the emphasis on new programs at the expense of core programs. Read Deborah Ziegler, CEC’s Associate Executive Director for Policy and Advocacy Services statement below and see a chart highlighting the President’s proposals for special and gifted education at the bottom.

CEC Responds to House ESEA/NCLB Proposals

Over the past year, the U.S. House of Representatives Republican lead Education and Workforce Committee has introduced a series of bills, meant to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as No Child Left Behind (ESEA/NCLB).  In the beginning of 2012, Chairman John Kline (R-MN) released the final two bills, The Student Success Act and the Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act. While CEC is hopeful that Congress will complete a full reauthorization of the law, CEC cannot support these bills.

Secretary Duncan Announces New Teacher Initiative: Submit Your Questions Now!

On Wednesday, February 15 Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will announce a new teacher initiative. You can watch live on U-stream from 3:30 – 4:30 PM EST as Secretary Duncan talks about a new initiative to Transform the Teaching Profession and launch a National Conversation about Teaching.

The event will include remarks from Secretary Duncan and a live town hall which CEC will participate in. In addition to watching live on U-stream, teachers can submit questions for the town hall via Twitter using the hashtagh #TeachTalk. Submit your questions now!

10 States Receive ESEA Waivers

Today, CEC’s Deb Ziegler attended a White House event where President Obama and Secretary Duncan announced that 10 states received waivers from the requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act currently known as No Child Left Behind (ESEA/NCLB). The waivers allow states to replace ESEA/NCLB targets with targets of their own. To get the waivers states had to demonstrate that they adopted college and career-ready standards in addition to comprehensive systems of teacher and principal development, evaluation and support.

CEC Member Brings UDL to the Senate!

For the past few years, George Van Horn, Special Education Director at the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation (BCSC) in Colombus, Indiana and current Indiana CEC President has implemented a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework across the district. As a result, BCSC has lowered its number of students eligible for special education, eliminated many discipline issues and seen student achievement gains. This week, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), highlighted the district’s accomplishments during a hearing in before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the Senate.

Want to be a Fulbright Scholar?

The application process for the Fulbright Scholar Program opened is now open. The program is designed to give participants the opportunity to pursue teaching, research or a combination of the two in one of over 125 countries for the 2013-2014 academic year. In addition to awards designed for university faculty and administrators, there are awards designed for other professions including artists, journalists, scientists, lawyers, independent scholars. The awards span 45 academic disciplines as well as 167 general awards open to applicants of all disciplines.

Does Your School District Want to Participate in a UDL Project?

Are you already using Universal Design for Learning and want to expand it within your district? The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), a non-profit educational research and development organization, is inviting school districts to apply to participate in a year-long project focusing on the application of Universal Designs of Learning Professional Development System (UDL PDS). This program is designed to help school districts apply universal designs of learning concepts across content areas in reading and writing. The initial focus of the project will be middle school literacy practices and fostering success for all learners by drawing on best practices in adolescent literacy instruction.

U.S. Department of Education Teaching Ambassador Fellowship Program: Now Accepting Applications

The U.S. Department of Education is now accepting applications for the fifth cohort of Teaching Ambassador Fellows. The application process opened on January 21, and will close on February 22. The Teaching Ambassador program is highly competitive and allows teachers who have demonstrated leadership, communication skills and education policy insight to work with the Department on a full or part time basis. By including teachers in policy decisions through this program, the Department includes the stakeholders with the most direct interaction with students.

The program is designed to give teachers insights into Department policy that they can then take back to their schools. Teaching Ambassadors are intended to facilitate discussion and conversation about Department policies and how they affect students, teachers and schools across the country. Through three separate year long courses, the Teaching Ambassador program provides a variety of ways for teachers to get involved. In the Washington Fellowship, teachers work full time for the Department at headquarters in Washington D.C. As a Classroom Fellow, teachers work on a part time basis with the regional U.S. Department of Education office. Through the newest addition, the Regional Fellowship program allows participants to work full time with a regional office.

You can find more information about the application process and the individual programs at the Department of Education website, or on U.S.A. Jobs.

Congressmen Respond to the President’s State of the Union

On Wednesday, we featured CEC’s response to President Obama’s third State of the Union Address. In addition to our response, here are several other responses from prominent members of Congress that are relevant to the education community. These responses can help you frame questions and talking points for the upcoming opportunities for advocacy, available across social networking platforms.

Representative Kline’s Response
Rhetoric vs. Action: State of the Union Promises and the House Republican Agenda

Senator Harkin’s Response

Representative Rehberg’s Response

Representative Delauro’s Response

Senator Enzi’s Response

Representative Miller’s Response