 ASHA President, Dolores Battle, testified at the February 7th IDEA Meeting in Boston, MA (PDF format) that was hosted by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS). Battle focused on ASHA’s concerns about changes to personnel qualifications in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 and the potential for changes in qualification standards and hiring practices that may result from the reauthorized law.
Battle stated that it is critical that state education agencies establish appropriate qualifications for related service providers, as this practice is in the best interest of helping children with disabilities meet educational goals, especially those related to Adequate Yearly Progress criteria in compliance with No Child Left Behind. Battle also submitted written comments to the ED on this and other issues of concern to ASHA.
 The meeting in Boston attracted a wide array of participants, including related services providers, representative of state departments of education, parents, association/coalition representatives, regular education teachers, and attorneys. Issues addressed included: personnel qualifications; related services, 3-year Individualized Education Program (IEP), paperwork, IEP excusal, short term objectives, transition, funding, discipline, due process, over-representation, and funding.
ED hosted this series of public meetings across the country from Jan. 28 through Feb. 24, 2005 to seek input and suggestions for developing regulations for the reauthorized IDEA 2004. ED anticipates the release of proposed rules on IDEA at the end of March or early April 2005, at which time there will be another series of regional meetings on its notice of proposed rulemaking.
 In a related matter, ASHA recently met with OSERS staff to discuss the Association’s comments on its Dec. 29, 2004 Federal Register notice, particularly ASHA’s concerns regarding the potential changes in qualification standards and hiring practices that may result from changes in IDEA 2004.
For more information, contact Catherine D. Clarke, ASHA’s director of education and regulatory advocacy, by e-mail at cclarke@asha.org or by phone at 800-498-2071, ext. 4159.
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