Comments on President's Report

I received this from the Council for Exceptional Children. I thought some of you might be interested.

OSERS Wants Input on President’s Commission’s Report

As we told you in last week’s update, the President’s Commission on
Excellence in Special Education issued its final report on special
education, entitled A New Era: Revitalizing Special Education for
Children and their Families.

President Bush charged the Commission with studying issues related to
federal, state, and local special education programs in order to improve
the educational performance of students with disabilities. The
Commission held 13 open hearings and meetings across the country. At
those meetings and hearings, the members heard from 109 expert witnesses
and more than 175 parents, teachers, students with disabilities, and
members of the public. Hundreds of other individuals provided the
Commission with letters, written statements, and research. The
Commission’s effort represents the most expansive review of special
education in the 27-year history of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act. The Commission submitted this report to the White House
on July 1 as required by the Executive Order.

This report, A New Era: Revitalizing Special Education for Children and
their Families, is available on-line at:

http://www.ed.gov/inits/commissionsboards/whspecialeducation/reports/pcesefinalreport.doc

The Education Department’s Office of Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) is now requesting public comment on the
report by August 19, 2002. OSERS has stated that it will use the
comments to help write its IDEA reauthorization proposals. To access
the official notice, go to the Federal Register’s Web site at
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html, and enter in
yesterday’s date (07/18/2002), and the search term “Special Education.”