Category: News in the Field

PA “Meets Requirements” as USDE Eyes IDEA Part B Updates (June 29, 2024)

According to 2022 fiscal year data, 38 states, territories, and the District of Columbia were categorized as “needs assistance” with regard to implementing special education requirements and improving student outcomes  for students ages 3-21 during the year evaluated or for two or more consecutive years. On June 21st, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) released a list of state determinations. The previous year’s “needs assistance”  number was 35.

Twenty states and the Republic of the Marshall Islands earned the highest rating of “meets requirements.” No state fell into the lowest-performing category of “needs substantial intervention.” The Bureau of Indian Education received a rating of “needs intervention,” which is the next-to-last category.

According to The Advocacy Institute, a nonprofit organization that tracks IDEA state determinations, only six states — Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — have been rated as “meets requirements” each year since 2014.

As reported by K-12 Dive, for 2025 and beyond the USDE is considering three updates related to IDEA Part B determinations as part of efforts to “incorporate equity and improve results for children with disabilities.” These new provisions could include:
–Whether a state would be prohibited from attaining “meets requirements” if OSEP had identified long-standing noncompliance for at least three or more years.
–Additional factors for improvement in proficiency rates on regular and alternate statewide assessments. 
–Whether and how to continue including NAEP participation and proficiency in the state determinations. 

Additionally, the USDE is looking at two adjustments in IDEA Part C determinations. One would factor in long-standing noncompliance. The other concerns whether and how to consider certain data on results for child outcomes.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

PA Receives CMS School-Based Services Grant, CMS Provides New Resources (June 28, 2024)

On June 25, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the 18 states that are award recipients of the grants for the Implementation, Enhancement, and Expansion of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) School-Based Services (SBS). The states will use these funds to implement, support, or enhance their efforts to connect millions more children to critical health care services, especially mental health services, at school. Made possible by the historic investments of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), the states will each receive at least $2.5 million over 3 years for the implementation, enhancement, and expansion of the use of school-based health services through Medicaid and CHIP.

Additionally, the CMS school-based services technical assistance center released two additional resources as a part of its continual effort to support states in implementing school-based services in their schools. They are:
–Medicaid School-Based Services Readiness Checklist Tool: A resource to help state Medicaid agencies draft an SBS state plan amendment (SPA), adopt certain flexibilities, and generally assist in the process of working with CMS to reimburse for SBS.
–Updated School-Based Services Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Additional technical assistance FAQs for state Medicaid agencies based on questions received from the states.

To see the full list of states and learn more about the grants, visit Medicaid.gov.

Distributed by Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS).

Penn Analysis: Proposed $5B increase in Ed. Funding for PA Schools Would Deliver Long-term Benefits (June 25, 2024)

According to University of Pennsylvania analysts, there would be long-term benefits for public schools across the commonwealth from a $5.1 billion proposal to change the way Pennsylvania funds education. Released on June 18, 2024, the analysis by the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education quantified those prospective benefits. According to the analysis, there would be:
-Improved student outcomes including an additional 3,800 high school graduates, a 4.47% point increase in high school graduation rates, a 4.54% point increase in college enrollment and 3,860 more college enrollees, according to the report.
-Higher earnings for high school graduates over time and greater equity in staffing across school districts  with regard to teacher salaries.
-The creation of more than 18,000 K-12 jobs.

From a pupil services perspective, 82% of PA’s underfunded school systems would see student-teacher and student-counselor ratios rise to match those of well-funded systems.

According to lead researcher Brooks Bowden, associate professor of education and head of the Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education, benefits of improving school quality outweigh the cost through “a strategic investment that would pay off for the state and its students [who] would have better access to teachers and counselors, succeed in higher numbers, and strengthen the state’s workforce.”

As a result of a landmark 2023 Commonwealth Court decision that found that Pennsylvania’s existing education funding system fails to meet students’ constitutional rights by failing to provide sufficient resources for schools, a judge ordered the General Assembly to come up with a fix. Subsequently, the Basic Education Funding Commission spent months holding hearings and designing a system that would pour the $5.1 billion in additional funding into state schools over seven years.

For the 2024-25 school year, the proposal would increase education spending by $864 million statewide.

Thus far, the PA House has approved the new system, which is now before the PA Senate where some stiff resistance is expected.

For more details regarding the study, visit the Philadelphia Inquirer by clicking here.  

Sickle Cell Disease, Epilepsy and Cancer could Trigger Student Civil Rights Protections (June 25, 2024)

According to a new set of resources issued on June 20, 2024 the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR), medical conditions such as sickle cell disease, epilepsy, and cancer could trigger protections in K-12 and postsecondary schools under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which protects people against disability discrimination. Some of the accommodations listed in the new resources include allowing students with cancer to consume food and water during classes and excusing students with sickle cell disease from class to go to medical appointments. In addition, students experiencing a seizure may have a sudden onset of emotions or display repetitive behaviors, such as twitches and mouth movements.

The new set of USDE resources follow OCR’s February release of guidance for civil rights protections for students with asthma, diabetes, food allergies, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or gastroesophageal reflux (GER). Schools could face an OCR investigation if there is a complaint that these rights are being violated.

OCR is responsible for enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

Governor’s 2024-25 Proposed Budget Would Make Major Investments In ID/A Services, Workforce (June 22, 2024)

On June 20, 2024, Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh today visited Children and Adult Disability & Educational Services (CADES), a provider serving Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A) in Delaware County, and discussed the need for historic investments in Governor Josh Shapiro’s 2024-25 proposed budget, which would increase the number of Pennsylvanians who can access ID/A services, and support the professionals who care for Pennsylvanians with ID/A.

The proposed  budget has received bipartisan support and would invest $483 million in federal and state funding to provide more resources for home and community-based service providers so they have the ability to increase the average starting wage from approximately $15/hour to $17/hour; an increase in wages would both attract and retain the qualified staff who provide these essential services. The governor also announced that DHS would re-examine rates earlier than required to better support home and community-based service providers and the direct support professionals who dedicate their careers to helping Pennsylvanians with ID/A. In addition, service providers also received a one-time supplemental payment in June to assist with workforce recruitment and retention. 

Earlier this year, Governor Shapiro directed DHS to immediately release additional program capacity to counties, which will allow an additional 1,650 Pennsylvanians to receive services this year. The 2024-25 proposed budget seeks to build on this by investing $78 million in federal and state funds to serve an additional 1,500 Pennsylvanians in the next fiscal year. 

If passed, Governor Shapiro’s budget would increase the number of Pennsylvanians with ID/A who are able to receive home and community-based services, kicking off a multi-year growth strategy to make Pennsylvania a national leader and end its adult emergency waiting list. To support this growth, the budget would increase rates for providers, which will support higher wages for the direct support professionals who care for Pennsylvanians with ID/A.

To read the Governor’s budget proposal, click here.