by Common Ground | Feb 28, 2013 | Capitols
The Obama administration has issued a groundbreaking directive requiring school districts to provide equal extracurricular athletic opportunities for students with disabilities, in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. In a letter to schools in late...
by Common Ground | Feb 28, 2013 | Capitols
In January, advocates urged the New Jersey State Board of Education (SBOE) to change recently adopted procedures for public input. The effort comes as the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) is proposing regulatory changes in many areas, including special...
by Common Ground | Feb 28, 2013 | Capitols
A package of bills filed in 2012 would require schools to conduct early screenings for dyslexia and other reading disabilities, train teachers in serving these students, and specifically define dyslexia as a reading disability in school regulations. The bills mirror...
by Common Ground | Feb 28, 2013 | Capitols
An “Education Transformation Task Force” established by Governor Chris Christie last year has released its final report. The eight-member group has asked that the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) eliminate or change more than 400 rules,...
by Common Ground | Nov 13, 2012 | Capitols
The U.S. Department of Education has announced new steps to help close the achievement gap for students with disabilities by moving away from a one-size-fits-all, compliance-focused approach to a more balanced system that looks at how well students are being educated,...
by Common Ground | Nov 13, 2012 | Capitols
A recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that charter schools nation wide enroll a lower percentage of students with disabilities than traditional public schools. In school year 2009-2010, the most recent year for which data are available,...
by Common Ground | Nov 13, 2012 | Capitols
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) received more complaints about disability-related issues from 2009-2011 than ever before. OCR enforces civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination based on race, national origin, sex, disability and...
by Common Ground | Nov 13, 2012 | Capitols
A report released by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention suggests that victims of school bullying, many of whom are students with disabilities, are often distanced from learning, disadvantaged academically, and are...
by Common Ground | Nov 13, 2012 | Capitols
The U.S. Department of Education has reaffirmed the need for school districts to consider ‘least restrictive environment’ when determining work placements for students with disabilities during the transition years. In a letter issued in response to an...
by Common Ground | Sep 25, 2012 | Capitols
“The measure requires that a provider of clinical nursing services to a medically-fragile student in a school setting meet the certification standards established by the Department of Human Services for Medicaid and New Jersey FamilyCare program for clinical...
by Common Ground | Sep 23, 2012 | Capitols
The U.S. Department of Education has rescinded an offer it made to school districts last summer that would have allowed them to cut special education spending in exchange for a lesser financial penalty than in the past. The federal “maintenance of effort”...
by Common Ground | Sep 22, 2012 | Capitols
“If a parent seeks an independent evaluation in an area not assessed as part of the initial evaluation or a reevaluation, the school district shall first have the opportunity to conduct the requested evaluation.”This spring, the U.S. Department of...
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