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ADA Anniversary Highlights

posted July 23, 2009
A number of events around Washington on July 22, 2009 marked the 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was signed into law on July 26, 1990. Among the highlights:

* Senator Dick Durbin, Assistant Majority Leader (D-IL), called the ADA the greatest civil rights legislation of the past 40 years but decried the lack of progress on the employment of people with disabilities. "It is shameful that more than 60% of people with disabilities are unemployed, and it is unacceptable to use the current recession as an excuse." Citing the poor record of the Federal government (less than one per cent of the Federal workface has a disability), he announced plans to proactively recruit PWD for staff positions in the Senate.

* House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) lauded the recently passed ADA Amendments Act for restoring the original intent of the law to protect the rights of all Americans with disabilities, and pledged that any health care reforms must include coverage for pre-existing conditions. She announced that on Oct. 7 a statue of Helen Keller will be unveiled at the Capitol.

* Assistant Labor Secretary Kathy Martinez, newly confirmed as head of the Office of Disability Employment Policy, declared her intention to take disability "off the special shelf" and into the mainstream. Noting that "attitude is caught not taught," she stated that ODEP aims to drive policy so that PWD can be perceived as participatory and productive citizens.

* Education Secretary Arne Duncan, giving the keynote address at the AAPD Justice for All awards ceremony, pointed out that students today represent the first generation to grow up under the ADA, with the additional benefits of IDEA and No Child Left Behind. He told an audience including several Members of Congress and White House senior officials that Stimulus funds offer an unprecedented opportunity to create a learning environment in which every child can succeed.

* MEAF/AAPD Congressional Interns -- part of that first generation mentioned by Secretary Duncan -- were given certificates at the awards ceremony as their summer internships on Capitol Hill draw to a close. Former Congressional intern Stacy Cervenka was singled out by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS, a Justice for All awardee) as a "gift" to his office and an example of the exceptional abilities of young people with disabilities. Stacy now serves as the correspondence director for the Senator.

And later this week...President Obama will sign the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, adding the United States as the 141st signatory and capping many years of effort by disability advocates.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, ADA!

MEAF Co-Hosts Forum on "ARRA IDEA Funding -- Doing It Right"

posted July 21, 2009
The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) designates $12B for special education, offering an unprecedented opportunity to transform the way schools educate students with disabilities. But there are also huge challenges to investing the funds wisely -- especially at a time when cash-strapped school districts confront so many needs. Moreover, the ARRA will only last two years, requiring short-term decisions for long-term goals.

To examine both the opportunity and the challenges, MEAF co-hosted a Congressional forum this week on ARRA IDEA Funding: Doing It Right. Panelists included senior officials from the Dept. of Education, the head of a family advocacy group, a special ed district supervisor, and a school principal, representing the spectrum from policy-makers to advocates to on-the-ground decision-makers. Primarily aimed at Congressional staff members, the forum attracted more than 60 representatives of education, policy, and disability organizations, along with a sizeable youth cohort.

Several of the panelists highlighted the benefits of inclusive education for both students with and without disabilities. Among the recommendations was to "Eliminate special education as a separate parallel program and move it to becoming an integrated support for the entire instructional system."

Summary notes from the forum follow. [We will be happy to send the PDF Handout attachment on request.]

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Forum on ARRA IDEA Funding – July 13, 2009 – Summary Notes & Resources

This week's forum on ARRA IDEA funding brought into focus both the unprecedented opportunities to effect real transformational change in how students with disabilities are educated, and the formidable challenges to investing in ways that will do so.

On opportunities, some of the points highlighted by the panelists were:

* Improving instructional quality and access to general education curriculum – Investing in professional development, technology for differentiated learning, and data management systems.
* Integration and inclusion are key – Tapping into multiple funding streams, "silo breaking,” moving toward special education as integrated support for the entire instructional system.
* No need to reinvent – Research-based strategies and best practices, such as response to intervention, positive behavioral supports, and universal design for learning, are available for dissemination.
* Focus on performance – Monitoring and evaluation can move beyond policy compliance to focus on meaningful outcomes and substantive student performance.

Among the primary challenges are the inherent complexities of the funding process, the sometimes conflicting needs of state and local educational agencies, and lack of understanding of what’s required for systemic change. Recurring themes raised by panelists and audience members were:

* The need for continuing communication from the Department of Education on the intended outcomes, spending guidelines, and reporting requirements for the ARRA funds.
* The need for vigilant tracking of spending decisions made by state and local educational agencies, as well as monitoring changes in LEA ratings that impact the flow of funds.
* The potential need for policy fixes down the road relating to maintenance of effort, permissive use of funds, and system requirements that limit joint funding of instructional initiatives.

For additional information:

Dept. of Education guidance:
www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/guidance/idea-b.pdf

Best practices in inclusive education:
www.ncld.org/on-capitol-hill/policy-related-publications/challenging-change

Special Education investment options:
www.smartmoneywisechoices.org

Universal Design for Learning:
www.cast.org

Tracking ARRA IDEA spending:
www.IDEAmoneywatch.com

We would like to thank all of you who helped organize the forum, attended or expressed interest in attending, and most especially, our outstanding panelists: Judy Wurtzel and Patty Guard, Department of Education; Candace Cortiella, The Advocacy Institute; Judith Moening, North East Independent School District, Texas; and Claire Crane, Ford NASA Explorer Elementary School, Lynn MA.

And we welcome your comments, counterpoints and questions -- let the conversation go on!

Rayna Aylward
Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation
Rayna.aylward@meus.mea.com

Stewart L. Hudson
Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation
Hudson@tremainefoundation.org

Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation
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Suite 1150
Arlington, VA 22209