Washington Post--Education Dept. phased out 72 policy documents for disabled students. Here's why
The Education Department said Monday its rollback of 72 special education policy guidance documents will have no effect on services provided to students with disabilities, whose advocates expressed alarm at the revisions.
The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services wrote in a newsletter Friday that “a total of 72 guidance documents . . . have been rescinded due to being outdated, unnecessary or ineffective,” part of the Trump administration’s effort to purge regulations it deems superfluous from the books. Monday, the department said many of the guidance documents were cut because they no longer reflect current regulations.
“There are absolutely no policy implications to these rescission,” said Elizabeth Hill, a spokeswoman for Secretary Betsy DeVos. “Students with disabilities and their advocates will see no impact on services provided.”
In a list provided Monday to the Washington Post, the department explained why it phased out each of the 72 policy documents, many of which clarified for students, parents and educators how the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act works.
Moriah Balingit, Washington Post| Updated: October 23, 2017 — 8:00 PM EDT
Education Week-- With Latest Education Investments, Gates Pivots Again
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s announcement last week of huge new investments in K-12 education signals its latest, but not its first, major shift in direction.
Nearly two-thirds of the $1.7 billion pledge will go into helping networks of middle and high schools to scale up best practices, and into improved curricula that match state standards for student learning. It conspicuously leaves behind the foundation’s focus, beginning in 2008, on revamping teacher evaluation, teachers’ career progression, and pay.
It is the latest iteration for a philanthropy that has both had a significant influence on K-12 policy over its two-decades-long involvement in the sector—and drawn harsh criticism for pushing ideas that some see as technocratic.
Stephen Sawchuk|October 23, 2017