October 31st, 2017

Secretary Devos Rescinds 72 Documents Outlining Students' Rights 

In a move that both frightened and alarmed disability rights advocates, the Education Department rescinded 72 long-standing documents last month that outlined the rights of students with disabilities. 

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services wrote in a newsletter on Oct. 20 that it had “a total of 72 guidance documents that have been rescinded due to being outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective — 63 from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and nine from the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA).” The documents, which fleshed out students’ rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Rehabilitation Act, were rescinded Oct. 2. 

While some, such as Professor Bill Koski, director of the Youth and Education Law Project at Stanford University agree with the Department's position that the changes won't affect practice or policy in schools, advocacy groups feel slighted because they weren't informed until two weeks after the documents were rescinded. They are continuing to research whether the recension of the documents will have any real-world impact. 
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