The Spellings Report: Special Ed. Edition

U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is giving all of us a reminder that, under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, students with learning disabilities are expected to read, do math, and understand science (at the same grade-level proficiency as non-learning disabled students) no later than 2014:

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced the new regulations for Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The final regulations further the president's goal that no child—including each and every one of America's many students with disabilities—is left behind. By aligning the regulations with the No Child Left Behind Act, there is a new focus on ensuring that students with disabilities are held to high expectations.

"Thirty years ago, America's students with disabilities were for the first time assured access to a free and appropriate public education thanks to a new law passed by Congress, now called IDEA," said Spellings. "Yet in those 30 years, too many students with disabilities have faced what President Bush calls 'the soft bigotry of low expectations." Students with disabilities can meet high standards, as long as we adults have high expectations and hold them to these standards. Thanks to the No Child Left Behind Act, we are holding ourselves accountable for making sure students receive the education they deserve. And with these final regulations for IDEA aligned with No Child Left Behind, we are ensuring that students with disabilities are challenged and prepared for successful lives."

Read the whole press release here, a preliminary copy of the new regulations here, and see a government-issued fact sheet about NCLB and IDEA over there. -------------------------See our latest education-related entries.