2/27/2018

EDUCATION/OBAMA ADMIN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration is delaying the implementation of an Obama-era rule that seeks to address the high proportion of black and Hispanic children in special-education programs.
The rule, which the Education Department is reviewing as part of a larger rollback of Obama administration social policy, was set to take effect on July 1. It was designed to ensure that states use a uniform approach to identify school districts with disproportionately high numbers of minority students enrolled in special-education programs or segregated into isolated classroom settings.
Proponents of the policy, which was issued in the final weeks of the Obama administration, view it as a check on schools that knowingly or unknowingly move minority students down paths that can lead to lower educational attainment… The delay, published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, is one step in a larger Education Department review as officials weigh whether to scrap the Obama-era rule entirely.
If it remains on the books, the rule, which set up a multipart formula for determining when a situation demanded more scrutiny, will now take effect in 2020. Meanwhile, 10 states plan to move ahead and implement the regulation in July despite the delay, the department noted in its federal notice.”

-Michelle Hackman, “Special-Education Rule Issued by Obama Administration Is Delayed, ” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 27, 2018 8:02pm