Week In Review: IDEA gets additional funds

“Most-clicked story of the week: States and districts will receive an additional $144 million this year for services to infants, toddlers, children and young adults with disabilities, according to a May 13 announcement by the U.S. Department of Education. The announcement also came with new guidance on how states can use Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funds to help expectant parents of children with disabilities prepare for their child’s birth and plan for services after the birth. Number of the week: 3.65 terabytes The amount of data the cyber gang ShinyHunters claimed to have stolen from 275 million users across 9,000 schools worldwide in a data breach of Instructure’s Canvas learning management system. Instructure “reached an agreement” with a threat actor on May 11 following two breaches of Canvas within a little over a week. Policy roundup During a House Education and Workforce Committee hearing on May 14, U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon discussed her agency’s policies, priorities and fiscal year 2027 budget proposal, which would cut 3% from FY26 funding of $79 billion. McMahon touted federal K-12 initiatives such as state block grants for reading and math achievement, but she faced criticism and tough questions from Democrats about efforts to slash funding and programs, as well as the agency’s slow responses to discrimination complaints. The Education Department shuttered its Office of English Language Acquisition on May 14, over a year after reducing the office's staffing to just one person. Public education advocates contend the closure will compromise school districts’ ability to provide instruction to English learners. The Trump administration, however, defends the action for cutting red tape and ultimately providing more focus on English learners’ needs. A federal judge denied two Minnesota school districts’ request to temporarily stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity on school grounds in a lawsuit that seeks to overturn a Trump administration policy allowing such enforcement. Duluth Public Schools and Fridley Public Schools filed the lawsuit in February in response to Operation Metro Surge, which led to a reported increase in ICE activity on or around school grounds in Minnesota. In the classroom Data from 2023 spring and fall testing cycles shows the average learning loss for K-8 students due to summer slide was “significant” in math but unchanged in reading, according to an analysis by assessment and research company NWEA. The math score drops are equivalent to about 10% to 30% of what students learn in a typical school year, as measured by NWEA. However, average spring and fall 2023 reading scores stayed nearly the same. A bell-to-bell ban of student cellphone use in an unnamed, large urban school district in Florida resulted in more than 80% fewer daily cellphone “visits” — or uses — by high schoolers, according to a paper published May 12 by Education Next. The ban led to improved academic outcomes and attendance in middle and high schools but showed no significant effects for elementary school students, the study found.

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