by Common Ground | Oct 29, 2019 | Capitols
The New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities (NJCDD) released a comprehensive report, School Safety Issues Affecting Students with Disabilities: A Call to Action. The report includes tangible school safety solutions for students with disabilities. While most...
by Common Ground | Oct 29, 2019 | Capitols
Led by New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ, and Senator Robert Menendez, D-NJ, Congress has authorized $1.8 billion in spending on autism in the coming years by extending the Autism CARES Act (Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support), which was...
by Common Ground | Aug 12, 2019 | Capitols
New legislation in Washington, DC would help ensure that students with disabilities have the information they need to choose the right college and get the supports they need to be successful. Respond, Innovate, Succeed and Empower (RISE), S.1585, would amend the...
by Common Ground | Aug 12, 2019 | Capitols
Last spring, leaders in Washington, DC gave New Jersey just three months to change the state’s judicial system for resolving special education disputes. The US Department of Education has found that NJ’s current process involving the Office of Administrative Law (OAL)...
by Common Ground | May 6, 2019 | Capitols
Trenton lawmakers have introduced a bill (A-4692) that would change the way in which state aid to local public schools for special education is calculated. The state currently provides special education aid to school districts, using a census-based method. In this...
by Common Ground | May 6, 2019 | Capitols
Under a measure introduced in the New Jersey Legislature (A-381), parents, grandparents, and guardians of a child attending school or childcare would be allowed to take up to 40 hours a year off from work, in order to participate in school-related activities. The...
by Common Ground | Jan 24, 2019 | Capitols
The New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities (NJCDD) releases its new position statement supporting the rights of individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (I/DD). The statement reads, in part: People with intellectual and/or...
by Common Ground | Jan 24, 2019 | Capitols
Last fall, Michigan educator Laurie VanderPloeg was appointed to lead the federal Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) within the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. She brings nearly 40 years of experience to the position, including many...
by Common Ground | Jan 24, 2019 | Capitols
A new report issued by the Washington-based National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) found that teacher-licensing tests in most states fail to measure whether both elementary special and general educators have mastered the basic building blocks of reading...
by Common Ground | Jan 24, 2019 | Capitols
In January, New Jersey lawmakers introduced a bill that would establish a Task Force on Student Mental Health. The 16-member task force would make recommendations regarding identification of students who experience depression, anxiety, stress, or other psychological...
by Common Ground | Sep 6, 2018 | Capitols
The New Jersey Department of Education has issued a Guidance Document on the issue of restraint and seclusion in school settings. In January, former Governor Christie signed into law a bill establishing certain requirements for the use of restraint and seclusion with...
by Common Ground | Sep 6, 2018 | Capitols
The Trump administration has delayed for two years the implementation of an Obama-era rule designed to prevent students from certain backgrounds from being wrongly placed in special education, halting the so-called “significant disproportionality” rule. Under the...
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