April 15, 2020
Since the enactment of the CARES Act stimulus legislation, we have been concerned about a provision in the Act requiring the Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, to advise Congress of any provisions in the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that, in her view, should be “waived.” We have been scouring the internet and back channels on a daily basis in an effort to ascertain which IDEA provisions would become proposed waiver targets, understanding that any actual waiver would require further action by Congress.
It appears that the first shots have been fired by the New York State School Boards Association in an April 13, 2020 letter to Senator Chuck Schumer. It is interesting to note that the Association was able to identify multiple waiver targets in its letter when Secretary DeVos has not yet publicly identified even one. Read the Association’s letter and Gary Mayerson's own letter to Senator Schumer in response:
