Today, Friday, July 19, the U.S. House of Representatives rolled - TopicsExpress

Today, Friday, July 19, the U.S. House of Representatives rolled back time with the passage of H.R. 5, The Student Success Act—legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) currently known as No Child Left Behind. The bill passed on a vote of 221 to 207.H.R.5 allows unlimited alternate assessments on alternate standards for students with disabilities — parents beware: this practice could force millions of students off the path to a regular high school diploma. Here are the other top reasons this bill is a disaster (though there are more): H.R.5 lowers expectations for students with disabilities and turns the clock back to a time when students with disabilities were not expected to graduate from high school or attend college. H.R. 5 fails to Keep All Students Safe by placing a bright line limit on the use of restraints and seclusion in schools. H.R.5 contains a dangerous exception regarding a student taking the AA-AAS counting as a graduate. This provision is dangerous because it is ambiguous and therefore may undermine the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It can create confusion about the meaning of a free, appropriate public education (FAPE), and raise ambiguity about whether being ‘counted’ as having graduated, would be perceived as allowing the termination of the delivery of FAPE, thereby reducing critical services and supports early in a child’s education as well as beyond the age of 18 for some eligible students. H.R.5 allows tracking of students, learning content that is not aligned with state standards or grade level content as early as third grade. H.R.5 eliminates the requirement to provide early intervention, targeted instruction and support for struggling students who are not making adequate academic gains.