Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), parents and advocates can use a number of dispute resolution options when they believe that a school is failing to serve students as required under federal law. One of those options is the written state complaint (WSC). According to the Council of…
On September 8, 2023, the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) released a free toolkit to help school nurses and other school personnel respond to drug overdoses on campuses, including using naloxone to try to reverse an opioid overdose. The toolkit offers resources to assist school nurses and other school leaders in…
As time continues to run out on approving a FY 2024 funding bill, a September 5, 2023 letter to all congressional leaders and members sent by The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) cautions lawmakers about the adverse effects of passing a Republican proposal to cut 80% of Title I money. The letter, signed by 45 education…
Although IDEA requires schools to inform parents of their right to invite others at special ed. meetings on their behalf, if enacted H.R. 4259 would help to make sure they know of this right, since schools would be required to notify parents of students with disabilities that they can invite…
As states and school districts prepare to make final decisions on spending the last and largest allocation of COVID-19 relief money, on September 18, 2022 the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) sent a letter to state education agencies (SEAs) with details on American Rescue Plan (ARP) spending extension requests. According…
Thus far in 2023, Connecticut, Indiana, Nebraska, and Oklahoma have joined Louisiana in making completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) a graduation requirement. Now, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Pennsylvania are considering following suit.According to a 2022 analysis by the National College Attainment Network, the high school class…
As has been a much-anticipated development across the nation, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) continues to delay its release of revised Section 504 regulations. It is hoped that such revisions will clarify how student accommodations under Section 504 align or depart from the rights of students with disabilities under…
50 years after its being enacted, significant updates are being made to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to advance equity and bolster protections for people with disabilities. In fact, on September 7, 2023 the Biden-Harris Administration took further action on its commitment to promote access to health care and…
According to analyses by the White House Council of Economic Advisers in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), broad increases in chronic absenteeism between the 2018-19 and 2021-22 school years may have significantly contributed to declines in post-pandemic test scores, particularly the National…
Last fall, NAPSA joined 41 other national organizations in signing on to a letter supporting the EDUCATORS for America Act (S 3360/HR 6205), which would invest in and revitalize federal educator preparation programs. It was sent to all members of the US Congress. The letter states that there were an…
