Fewer States Meeting Special Ed Obligations – AcceliBEAT Weekly Round Up
July 13, 2017
In disappointing news, this week we’re sharing the findings from the U.S. Department of Education’s annual state determination letters regarding implementation of IDEA. According to the latest review, less than half of states are meeting their obligations to serve students with disabilities under IDEA. In other news, special educators from across the country met for a special legislative summit in the nation’s capital to address a number of pressing issues with lawmakers. Finally, we’ve got the details on why the forthcoming film “Blind” is receiving backlash from disability advocacy groups and why bullying is costing the state of California hundreds of millions annually. All this and more in this week’s AcceliBEAT!
Feds Find Fewer States Meeting Special Ed Obligations
In an annual review, the U.S. Department of Education found that only 22 states deserved the “meets requirements” designation for the 2015-2016 school year. All other states were placed into the “needs assistance” category.
Special Educators Head to Capitol Hill With ‘Sense of Urgency’
Advocates are working furiously to oppose a health care bill that they say would bring devastating cuts to services and supports that people with disabilities rely on.
‘Blind’ Film Takes Heat For Casting Alec Baldwin In Lead Role
The Ruderman Family Foundation, a leading organization advocating on behalf of people with disabilities, has come out against the forthcoming film “Blind.” The group accuses the movie of “crip-face” — akin to blackface — in its casting of the able-bodied Alec Baldwin as the blind lead.
My Son Is In Special Education And I Want Him To Be Challenged
By the time my younger son is midway through third grade, I realize that his academic progress has stalled. He’s stuck somewhere between kindergarten and first grade. School is a struggle for him. He has a language-based learning disability, which affects how long it takes for him to process new information before he can respond. We have safeguards — classroom accommodations and an Individualized Education Plan, or IEP, a document required by law for students who receive special education — to keep him on track. Except, that he isn’t.
Senate GOP Effort to Shield Disabled from Medicaid Changes Would Leave Many Kids on the Outside
Aidan Long is a 13-year-old in Kalispell, Mont., who has suffered seizures nearly every day for a decade. These episodes defy medical cure, and some of them continue for weeks, requiring Aidan to be airlifted to children’s hospitals in Denver or Seattle. The medical bills, covered in large part by Medicaid, have been enormous. “I kept track of these until about 2 million bucks,” recalls his father, Ben Long, “and then I said I can’t spend any more time worrying about it.”
Why Does Bullying Cost California Schools $276 Million Every Year?
While school bullying has been widely condemned for harming students’ emotional health, a new study calculates the financial cost to school districts: $276 million annually in California. The study published in June in School Psychology Quarterly is the first to count the direct losses caused by bullying-related student absences.
Social-Emotional Learning Has Long-Lasting Positive Effects on Students, Study Says
Programs that teach students how to recognize their emotions, solve problems, and form healthy relationships may continue to show positive benefits for students months, or even years, after they complete them, a new meta-analysis finds.
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