From the Capitol – New Grants to Improve Transition For Students With Disabilities
The U.S. Department of Education’s Rehabilitation Services Administration has announced $224 million in grants for innovative demonstration projects “focused on the creation of systemic approaches to improve access to pre-employment transition services for children...
From the Capitol: Students with Disabilities Are Waiting for Evaluations and Services
New guidance from the US Department of Education warns that children suspected of having disabilities are waiting too long for evaluations, and special education services are not being fully implemented in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education...From the Capitol: USDOE is Urged to Ban Seclusion in Schools
A dozen democratic federal lawmakers, most from Illinois, have written a letter to the Trump administration calling for the Department of Education to update its 2016 guidance on restraint and seclusion. They have urged that the USDOE specifically ban seclusion; ban...From the Capitol: Feds Clarify Parental Role in Placement Decision-Making
The USDOE, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) issued additional guidance on the role of parental involvement in placement decisions, and in particular, the decision about how far from home a child with disabilities can be educated. The guidance came in...From the Capitol: NJDOE Issues Guidance Document on Seclusion and Restraint
The New Jersey Department of Education has issued a Guidance Document on the issue of restraint and seclusion in school settings. In January, former Governor Christie signed into law a bill establishing certain requirements for the use of restraint and seclusion with...From the Capitol: Special Education Rules on Disproportionality Delayed
The Trump administration has delayed for two years the implementation of an Obama-era rule designed to prevent students from certain backgrounds from being wrongly placed in special education, halting the so-called “significant disproportionality” rule. Under the...From the Capitol: Guidelines Allow USDOE to Ignore Thousands of Civil Rights Claims
Under new guidelines at the US Department of Education that went into effect in March, 2018, the Office for Civil Rights can dismiss reports if “a complaint is a continuation of a pattern of complaints previously filed with OCR by an individual or group against...Charter Schools, Vouchers & Special Education
By Maria Docherty and Lauren Agoratus, M.A. With the increased focus in the United States on charter schools and the use of vouchers to support student attendance at private schools, more and more parents of students with disabilities are asking questions about how...From the Capitols: Rules on Disparity Delayed
As part of a larger effort to reduce rules and regulations deemed unnecessary, the Trump administration has proposed a two-year delay of a new rule that would require states to take a stricter approach to identifying whether local school districts have wide racial or...NJCommonGround.org, and the Common Ground E-newsletter are projects of the NJ Council on Developmental Disabilities
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- The Right to a Free and Appropriate Public Education
- What to Do if You Suspect Your Child has a Disability Impacting Their Education
- Initial Special Education Evaluations and Eligibility
- The Individualized Education Program (IEP)
- Special Education Placement
- Q&A: What are Extended School Year (ESY) Services?
- Q&A: Dispute Resolution