FYI: President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education Holds First Meeting, Sets Meeting Schedule

[Victor Steinbok <Victor.Steinbok@VERIZON.NET>]

> Subject: President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education Holds First
>  Meeting, Sets Meeting Schedule
>
> http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/01-2002/01152002.html
>
> Related Resources
>    *
> <http://www.ed.gov/inits/commissionsboards/whspecialeducation/index.html>Commission's
> website *
> <http://www.ed.gov/Speeches/01-2002/20020115.html>Secretary's
> remarks at the welcome and swearing-in *
> <http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPA/news/011502-1.html>Audio clip
>
>
> President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education Holds
> First Meeting, Sets Meeting Schedule
> FOR RELEASE:
> January 15, 2002 Contact: Kathleen Mynster
> Jim Bradshaw
> (202)-401-1576
>
> The President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education was
> sworn in today and set out its agenda for the next four months.
>
> U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige delivered welcoming remarks
> and swore in the 19-member commission.
>
> "He is committed to the bold proposition that every child can
> learn," Paige told the commission. "This doesn't mean that, after
> you siphon off the children who have disabilities; or the children
> who were never properly taught how to read; or the children who
> never learned English; or the children who disrupted their
> classrooms, most of the rest of them can learn.
>
> "It means that all of our kids, even the ones our system calls 'hard
> to teach' can learn. This means that even students with disabilities
> can learn to high standards."
>
> Paige also called on the commission to discover what works to
> improve the performance of students with disabilities.
>
> "Your task as a commission is to discover what works to improve the
> performance of students with disabilities receiving special
> education," he said. "Talk to other experts. Examine research. Study
> preventive reading programs, and tell us how Washington can help
> state and local communities provide excellent special education
> services."
>
> President Bush created the commission in October to collect
> information and study issues related to federal, state and local
> special education programs with the goal of recommending policies
> for improving the educational performance of students with
> disabilities. The purpose of the meetings is to hear from experts
> and members of the public who will provide the commission with
> information and guidance.
>
> The commission is charged with producing a final report to the
> president by this summer that contains findings and recommendations
> in the following nine areas:
>
> Cost-effectiveness: The effectiveness and cost of special education
> and the appropriate role of the federal government in special
> education programming and funding, including an analysis of the
> factors that have contributed to the growth in costs of special
> education since the enactment of the Education for All Handicapped
> Children Act (a predecessor of IDEA);
> Improving Results: How federal resources can best be used to improve
> educational results for students with disabilities;
> Research: A special education research agenda;
> Early Intervention: The impact of providing appropriate early
> intervention in reading instruction on the referral and
> identification of children for special education;
> Funding Formulae: The effect of special education funding on
> decisions to serve, place, or refer children for special education
> services and possible alternative funding formulae that might
> distribute funds to achieve better results and eliminate any current
> incentives that undermine the goals of ensuring high-quality
> education for children with disabilities;
> Teacher Quality and Student Accountability: How the federal
> government can help states and local education agencies provide a
> high-quality education to students with disabilities, including the
> recruitment and retention of qualified personnel and the inclusion
> of children with disabilities in performance and accountability
> systems;
> Regulations and Red Tape: The impact of federal and state statutory,
> regulatory and administrative requirements on the cost and
> effectiveness of special education services, and how these
> requirements support or hinder the educational achievement of
> students with disabilities;
> What Models Work in the States: How differences in local education
> agency size, location, demographics and wealth, and in-state law and
> practice affect which children are referred to special education and
> the cost of special education; and
> Federal v. Local Funding: A review of the experiences of state and
> local governments in financing special education, and an analysis of
> whether changes to the federal "supplement not supplant" and
> "maintenance of effort" requirements are appropriate.
> Commission members approved the following meeting schedule: Feb.
> 25-27, Houston, Texas; March 6, Denver, Colo.; March 13, Des Moines,
> Iowa; March 20, San Diego, Calif.; March 21, Los Angeles, Calif.;
> April 9-10, Miami, Fla.; April 16, New York City, N.Y.; April 18,
> Nashville, Tenn.; and May 30-31, Washington, D.C. Meeting times and
> locations will be available at a later date, and additional meetings
> may be added by the commission, if necessary.
>
> The commission members are: Terry Edward Branstad of Iowa, chairman;
> Adela Acosta, Maryland; Steve Bartlett, Texas; William Berdine,
> Kentucky; Paula Butterfield, Pennsylvania; Jay G. Chambers,
> California; W. Alan Coulter, Louisiana; Floyd Flake, New York;
> Thomas Albert Fleming, Michigan; Jack M. Fletcher, Texas; Douglas H.
> Gill, Washington; David W. Gordon, California; Nancy Grasmick,
> Maryland; Steve Hammerman, New York; Bryan Hassel, North Carolina;
> Douglas Carl Huntt, Ohio; Michael J. Rivas, Texas; Cheryl Rei
> Takemoto, Virginia; and Katie Wright, Illinois.
>
> For more information, visit the commission's Web site at
> <http://www.ed.gov/inits/commissionsboards/whspecialeducation/index.html>http://www.ed.gov/inits/commissionsboards/whspecialeducation/index.html.
> This page last modified-January 15, 2002 (lvb).
>
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