On December 11, 2024, President Joe Biden signed a bill into law that will require the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) to make the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) available by October 1 each year. The FAFSA Deadline Act will require the education secretary to update Congress on…
On December 4th, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) issued a new 37-page resource titled Planning Together: A Playbook for Student Personal Device Policies that urges schools, school districts, and states to adopt policies to guide student use of cellphones and other personal devices in collaboration with families, students and…
New guidance from the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) promotes the use of individualized behavioral assessments and support plans for students with and without disabilities to help schools address problem behaviors and reduce suspensions and expulsions. The 25-page, nonregulatory guidance issued last month calls for using ”functional behavioral assessments″ (FBAs)…
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will hold a live streamed virtual listening session on December 13th from 1-2 PM ET on the commission’s YouTube channel with a goal to hear from educators, parents, students, and community members about improving access to education for students with disabilities. The commission is…
President-elect Donald Trump has named Brooke Rollins to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), where she would oversee the programs that reimburse schools providing school meals for low-income children. Rollins, a Texas native, is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a conservative think…
On November 19th, President-elect Donald Trump named Linda McMahon, who served as administrator of the Small Business Association for two years in his first administration, as his nominee for U.S. Secretary of Education. McMahon, is also a former president and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), a company that develops…
On November 15th, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will investigate the federal response to the shortage of qualified special educators and its impact on students with disabilities in a briefing in Washington, D.C. as it develops its Annual Statutory Enforcement Report to be completed in 2025. With a growing…
On November 1, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that, starting in the 2027-28 school year, schools will be prohibited from charging junk fees to low-income families for meals served through the School Breakfast Program and the National School Lunch Program. The new policy will only apply to…
A recent U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) investigation found concerns about St. Johns County School District’s “very high” rate of restraint for students with disabilities. As a result, the school district has agreed to assess its use of restraint on a monthly basis, along with making…
According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released October, 23, 2024, school districts prioritized spending of COVID-19 emergency (ESSER) funds based on community input, financial need, state policies and other influences. It also found that the effectiveness of the ESSER money for COVID-19 recovery efforts is difficult to…
