Special Education Could Suffer Billion Dollar Automatic Cut

Across-the-board federal budget cuts could take a nearly $1 billion bite out of federal special education spending, with the bulk of that representing state grants for the education of school-age children with disabilities.

The automatic cuts, or sequestration, could come in January if Congress doesn't come up with a way to put the country on firmer fiscal footing, as my colleague Alyson Klein explains over at the Politics K-12 blog.

At a hearing this week in the Senate, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the education committee, shared a list of possible reductions that would be made to education and other programs if the automatic cuts are triggered in January.

The potential cuts to special education "could translate into the layoffs of more than 10,000 teachers, aides, and other staff who provide essential instruction and other support to 6.6 million children with disabilities," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan testified this week.

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

SEEKING PARENTS WITH RESTRAINT/SECLUSION STORIES FOR U.S. SENATOR HARKIN’S STAFF

Last week, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin introduced the Keeping All Students Safe Act, S.2020, to protect students nationwide from dangerous restraint and seclusion. As the GAO (U.S. Government Accountability Office) has found, restraint/seclusion are dangerous, resulting in deaths, injuries, and trauma to children nationwide. WE ARE SEEKING LETTERS IN SUPPORT OF THE BILL FROM PARENTS THAT CAN BE SHARED WITH SENATOR HARKIN’S STAFF AND PERHAPS OTHER SENATE STAFF. WE ARE ALSO INTERESTED IN STORIES OF CHILDREN WHO WERE RESTRAINED OR SECLUDED AND WHO MIGHT HAVE BEEN HELPED IF THE BILL WAS LAW. You do not have to have a story to send a letter. Please email Jessica Butler, Congressional Affairs Coordinator, Autism National Committee, at jessica@jnba.net if you have a story or think the bill would have helped your child, or if you would like to send a letter in support of the bill (even if you do not have a story). Please feel free to forward and share with others.

See more of Jessica Butler, Autism National Committee request on the National Autism Association website HERE.