In a Tuesday interview on the Michael Patrick Shiels radio program, DeVos said the confirmation was an “interesting and protracted” process, and that she was glad to get started as secretary. Asked by Shiels about the education department’s responsibilities, DeVos noted that it was only her fourth day on the job at the department. Then she said:
I can’t tell you today what is being done that’s unnecessary. But I can guarantee that there are things that the department has been doing that are probably not necessary or important for a federal agency to do. We’ll be looking at that. We’ll be examining and auditing and reviewing all of the programs of the department and really figuring out what is the core mission, and how can the federal department of education really support and enhance the role of the departments in the states. Because really, when it comes down to it, education and the provision of education is really a state and local responsibility to a large extent…
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by Andrew Ujifusa | Jul 18, 2017 | Betsy DeVos, Education Week, ESSA, Every Student Succeeds Act, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), National, Washington
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is shooting back at one of her biggest political foes and defending her approach to civil rights enforcement.
In a July 11 letter to Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., DeVos said that while upholding the nation’s civil rights laws is “among the most important missions” at her department, the Obama administration’s decision to expand the scope of investigations into potential violations meant that too many individual students’ complaints went unaddressed. That approach, DeVos said, created a “justice delayed is justice denied” situation.
Murray, however, didn’t respond directly to DeVos’ message. In a July 14 response, the top Democrat on the Senate education committee told the secretary that her department still hasn’t provided information Murray had asked for, including on open cases involving transgender students and sexual harrassment as of the end of January and on all the civil rights probes at her department that have been closed…
Read the full article here. May require an Education Week subscription.
by NNPA ESSA | Apr 19, 2017 | District of Columbia, ESSA, Every Student Succeeds Act, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), New Mexico, Tennessee
U.S. News & World Report notes that just three of the 10 ESSA plans submitted to the Dept. of Education include language related to expanding school choice, despite Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ suggestion that they do so. New Mexico, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C. do not propose any new strategies, but focus on “highlighting policies already in place.” According to Kristen Carr, program director for accountability at the Council of Chief State School Officers, “We know that a lot of states are doing a lot of different things beyond that scope,” but “just because it’s not in the state plan doesn’t mean they aren’t doing it.”
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by NNPA ESSA | Mar 21, 2017 | ESSA, Every Student Succeeds Act, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), National, Pennsylvania, resources
DeVos, state officials meeting face to face
WASHINGTON – Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, a devout advocate for school choice, will likely get an earful when she meets with state education officials Monday to discuss investing in the nation’s public schools.
It will be their initial encounter since DeVos’ appointment met with bipartisan resistance, barely winning Senate approval due to her support for charter schools and government vouchers for students to attend private schools.
President Donald Trump’s budget plan, unveiled four days ago, underscored DeVos’ preference, investing an additional $1.4 billion in school choice programs, including $250 million in a new initiative to provide public money for students to attend private schools.
DeVos said the proposal “places power in the hands of parents and families to choose schools that are best for their children” and represents “the first step in investing in education programs that work.”
Overall, the Department of Education budget is cut by 13 percent, or $9 billion, under the president’s blueprint to downsize the federal government and build up the nation’s military force and border security.
Among reductions are $2.25 billion to help states hire and train teachers, $1 billion for after-school programs and cuts in college aid, including “significantly” shrinking work-study programs. But grant programs for disadvantaged students would receive a $1 billion increase.
The head of an association of state schools officials that’s scheduled to meet with DeVos at their Washington conference said he’s “deeply concerned” about the proposed budget cuts and shifting emphasis to school choice.
“We must continue to invest in our public schools and provide adequate funding so every school has the necessary resources to meet the needs of every child,” Chris Minnich, executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, said in a statement.
Nicole Reigelman, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, criticized the Trump education proposal, saying Pennsylvania is still recovering from state funding cutbacks under former Republican Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration “rejects the notion of shifting funds from already under-resourced public schools to fund vouchers for private education,” said Reigelman.
DeVos and other school choice supporters believe vouchers, charter schools, magnet schools and other creative programs can provide students stuck in distressed public schools with opportunities for a better education and greater chance at success in life.
John Schilling, chief operating officer of the American Federation for Children, a school choice group formerly headed by DeVos, said Trump’s budget proposal “included some promising first steps to empower parents.” But, he added, the president should do even more by offering tuition tax credits for families who choose to send their kids to private or charter schools.
Yet an early supporter of Trump, Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., called the idea of cutting after-school programs “misguided” in a letter to White House budget director Mick Mulvaney.
He said the programs assist “working families who rely more and more on afterschool and summer learning programs to effectively balance maintaining a job and raising children in a safe environment.”
Republican Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri and Republican Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, chairmen of the Senate and House education appropriation committees, expressed caution about diminishing and eliminating programs helpful to educating the nation’s children.
Blunt acknowledged that generally “there are many concerns with non-defense discretionary cuts” in the Trump budget plan. Cole said Congress should focus on reducing costly entitlement programs to avoid making “painful cuts to good programs.”
by NNPA ESSA | Jul 7, 2016 | ESSA, Every Student Succeeds Act, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), K12 Education, National
by Myrna Mandlawitz, AOTA Legislative Consultant
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the successor to No Child Left Behind (NCLB), must be fully implemented in school districts across the country in the 2017-18 school year. To assist states and districts in meeting that deadline, the U.S. Department of Education is engaged in developing regulations to clarify complex provisions of the law. States, in turn, are beginning to write their implementation plans and figure out the new state accountability requirements.
The Regulatory Process
The regulatory process began with several weeks of “negotiated rule making,” with a panel of stakeholders – administrators, teachers, parents, representatives of students with disabilities, and civil rights advocates, among others – debating the assessment provisions of the law. Unfortunately, all specialized instructional support personnel (SISP), including OT, were represented only by an alternate to the panel who was a speech-language pathologist. Considering SISP are included in ESSA in a more comprehensive way than under NCLB, AOTA felt SISP deserved a regular seat at the table and greater input overall into the discussions.
As a next step the Department of Education is now soliciting comments on the draft regulations on assessment, as well as on the new accountability provisions. AOTA will provide comments to the Department to ensure the OT perspective is considered. There is some urgency to get these regulations out for comment, since there are a number of steps after comments are submitted before the final regulations are issued. The presidential election increases that urgency, since a new administration can choose not to accept any pending regulations developed by its predecessor.
Earlier this year the Department of Education asked for input on what types of guidance they should provide to states on implementing ESSA. You can read AOTA’s letter suggestion that the the Department of Education address the critical roles of specialized instructional support personnel, including occupational therapy practitioners in ensuring student success. Furthermore we suggested the Dept. of Education highlight the role of OT in early learning, transitions, and multi-tier systems. That letter is attached below.
Title I State Plans
States are already in the process of developing their Title I state plan. Title I is the core of ESSA that includes instruction and assessment of and accountability for the four subgroups of students most affected by the law. Those subgroups – the same as under NCLB – are economically disadvantaged students, students from major racial and ethnic groups, children with disabilities, and English learners. State’s must develop a plan (in accordance with new ESSA requirements) to meet the needs of these subgroups.
So what can you do to affect this process? The law requires that SISP are one of the groups state departments of education must consult in developing their plans, as well as being part of the peer review process. This plan is critically important because it remains in effect for the duration of ESSA, unless the state needs to submit some amendments as situations may change.
AOTA members can find out immediately where their states are in this important process. More important, they should find out if OT is represented or if the state is still determining who will be consulted in the development and review of the plan. If they are not, you can work with AOTA and your state association to promote inclusion of occupational therapy practitioners in the plan development. The easiest way to get this information is to search the state department of education website for “ESSA implementation.” This is an opportunity to be at the table as the state decides how it will implement the law and what role various stakeholders will assume.
In future blog posts we will break down the different Titles and pieces of ESSA and how they relate to the role of occupational therapy in schools.
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Commentary By David C. Bloomfield & Alan A. Aja