Senate To Revisit School Restraint, Seclusion

Lawmakers are set to consider the use of restraint and seclusion in the nation’s classrooms this week, rekindling efforts to establish first-ever federal rules governing the practices.

The topic is scheduled to be front and center Thursday at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

The issue has been a hotbed for disability advocates since 2009 when an advocacy group report uncovered widespread abuse and even deadly instances of restraint and seclusion in schools, problems which were later confirmed in a government report as well.

Students with disabilities were most often subject to the questionable practices, the reports found.

In response, legislation sharply restricting restraint and seclusion was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010, but when Senate talks fell apart later that year, action on the issue largely fizzled.

Currently, a patchwork of state and local rules exist. Disability advocates say that federal requirements are needed to ensure student safety.

However, at least one group representing educators — the American Association of School Administrators — opposes such regulation arguing that it is unnecessary and would put school staff at risk.

Read more of Michelle Diament's Disability Scoop article HERE.

Case Made for Restoring, Boosting Special Ed. Research Spending

This afternoon, a U.S. Senate subcommittee on labor, health, and human services boosted the budget for the National Center for Special Education Research by $10 million, though it remains to be seen whether that will be accepted by the Senate appropriations committee and the rest of Congress. Below, you'll read about why advocates and researchers want special education research spending to be restored to previous levels, a case they made during a briefing on the issue earlier today.

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Students with disabilities still don't graduate at the same rate as their peers; they score far worse on national tests, and they are far less likely to get jobs after high school. So, for all those reasons, it makes no sense to cut back on special education research spending, researchers and advocates said at a briefing on Capitol Hill today.

"That research has helped us debunk many of the myths that these children are unteachable," said Margaret McLaughlin of the University of Maryland and president of the Council for Exceptional Children, which organized the briefing.

Her organization and others are fighting to have the budget for the National Center for Special Education Research restored. President Barack Obama recommended a cut to the center's budget in his spending proposal last year, and Congress cut the center's budget even more than the president proposed—from $71 million to about $50 million. While that was only a sliver of the extensive cuts made to education spending last year, it represents nearly a third of the center's budget.

Read more of Nirvi Shah's On Special Education article HERE.