Disability Scoop

For months, there have been concerns that the U.S. Department of Education could allow millions in special education research dollars to lapse. Now, a federal judge is stepping in. U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs is ordering the Education Department to update her by Monday about the status of the government’s education research funds. As of last week, about $180 million in funding for the Education Department’s Institute of Education Sciences, or IES, which handles statistics, research and evaluation, remained unallocated and is set to expire at the end of September, Burroughs said. It’s unclear how much of that is intended for special education. The situation comes after a report this spring warned that just $11 million out of $77 million in the government’s budget for special education research and evaluation program had been spoken for. Subsequently, the National Center for Learning Disabilities, the Massachusetts Teachers Association and other stakeholders sued to prevent the funds from lapsing…

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