Kudos to ED for Gutsy Call on Special Ed :: Frederick M. Hess

Kudos to ED for Gutsy Call on Special Ed :: Frederick M. Hess:

Kudos to ED for Gutsy Call on Special Ed

by Frederick M. Hess • Sep 1, 2011 at 9:09 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

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I've long griped that the Obama administration has talked too often about more school spending and not enough about smarter school spending, and I was particularly disenchanted to hear the President go back to talking this week about pumping more borrowed federal funds into school facilities and salaries. So I'm pleased to laud the administration for its recent, smart, and gutsy decision regarding special education spending. Especially given that its decision was sure to annoy the intimidating, self-righteous special education lobby, ED showed admirable courage and common sense.

Here's the deal. Education Week's Nirvi Shah yesterday reported that, "Districts that want to reduce special education spending from one year to the next without restoring what was cut now have the blessing of the U.S. Department of Education." In June, Melody Musgrove, ED's director of the office of special education programs,sent a letter to the National Association of State Directors of Special Education declaring that a school district "is not obligated to expend at least the amount expended in the last fiscal year for which it met the