The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) works to improve the lives of children and adults afflicted by disabilities. Its main efforts revolve around establishing and maintaining research and development programs through government grants at both the state and regional levels. The three main components of OSERS are special education, vocational rehabilitation, and research.
The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services was established as part of the Department of Education by the 1979 Department of Education Organization Act. OSERS founding law can be found in US Code: Title 20, Chapter 48, Subchapter II, Section 3417. The Organization Act created the Department of Education by combining offices from several federal agencies under one larger department to oversee their actions.
Previous to its inception there had been many legislative acts to authorize special education and rehabilitative programs and activities, including the Randolph-Sheppard Act, which was first passed in 1936 and established the Vending Facility Program giving preference to the blind to operate vending facilities on public property; it was most recently amended in 1974. Previously, Congress had also passed the Act to Promote the Education of the Blind in 1879 that supported the American Printing House for the Blind which provided educational materials to individuals enrolled in educational or vocational training programs below the college level. OSERS continues to finance programs at the American Printing House. In 1969 Congress established the Helen Keller National Center, an institution that provides services on a national basis to individuals who are deaf and or blind, their families, and their service providers.
Along with OSERS’ founding Organization Act of 1979, Congress also passed the Rehabilitation Act of 1979, which established a program to support vocational rehabilitative services through assistance to the states. With this program, services are formed specifically for each person through an Individualized Plan for Employment.
In addition, there have been more recent acts, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which was last amended in 1997 and continues to fund grant programs that assist States in providing aid. The 1997 amendment provided grant programs for disabled children ages 3 through 21 to receive free public education in the least restrictive environment possible, as well as early intervention services for families with disabled children from birth to age 2. In 2004 Congress passed the Assistive Technology Act which enhanced access to technology that could help individuals with disabilities have greater control over their lives and increase participation in their environment. The act has provided these individuals with special communication devices, adapted appliances, adapted computers, and specialized software.
OSERS’ main mission is to work on projects to better help individuals with disabilities and their families. The Office has three main programs that provide financial and leadership assistance in the education and advancement of the disabled. The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) focuses on developing programs for disabled children from birth to age 21. OSEP administers the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which gives grants to states, institutions of higher education, and non-profit organizations to promote research and development for programs aimed at children.
The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) conducts multiple research programs and activities to facilitate achievement of the full inclusion, social integration, employment, and independent living of people with disabilities. NIDRR works with the Rehabilitation Services Administration, the Office of Special Education Programs, and the Interagency Committee on Disability Research, as well as co-sponsors research programs with foreign governments and international agencies; according to their website, in 2001 there were 344 on-going projects. NIDRR scientists continue to explore advancements in rehabilitation medicine, psychosocial medicine, and virtual and built environments in an effort to integrate disability research into the nation’s policies.
OSERS’ other main research program is the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), which supervises grant programs aimed at helping individuals with physical or mental disabilities find employment and live more independently with the oversight of counseling, medical, and psychological services. RSA’s major grant program provides funds to state vocational rehabilitation agencies for this sole purpose. There are currently around 20 grant programs ranging from American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services, to the Independent Living Services for Older Individuals Who Are Blind, to Recreation Programs, and Rehabilitation Training.
The 2008 fiscal year budget appropriated roughly $14 billion to OSERS, through the Department of Education, of which about $12 billion is distributed to special education programs through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This act provides grants to States, as well as finances national activities such as state personnel development, technical assistance, and parent information centers. Approximately $3 billion is spent on rehabilitative services and disability research including vocational rehabilitation state grants, training, the Helen Keller National Center, and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. A small amount of money is also given to the American Printing House for the Blind ($21 million), the National Technical Institute for the Deaf ($60 million) and to Gallaudet University ($113 million). More information on the Department of Education’s budget can be found at: Department of Education Fiscal Year 2008 Congressional Action
Programs and Initiatives
News
|
Founded: 1979
Annual Budget: $14 billion
Employees:
|
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
|
|
|
Posny, Alexa
Assistant Secretary
|
|
|
Alexa E. Posny, chosen by President Barack Obama to run the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, previously served in a similar capacity for the Bush administration, after holding various education administration posts in Kansas for many years. She was confirmed by the Senate October 5, 2009.
After graduating from Washington High School in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, in 1970, Posny attended college at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where she double majored in sociology and psychology. She moved to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for graduate school, earning a master’s in behavioral disabilities and a PhD in education administration.
Her career began as a teacher, instructing elementary, middle and high school students. Posny worked as a senior research associate at Research and Training Associates in Overland Park, KS, before embarking on a series of school administration positions.
She was Director of the Curriculum and Instruction Specialty Option as part of the Title 1 Technical Assistance Center (TAC) network of TACs across the United States until 1997. That year, she accepted the post of Director of Special Education for the Shawnee Mission School District.
Two years later, she became Kansas’ state director of special education.
In 2001, Posny was made deputy commissioner of education in the Kansas Department of Education. In this role she supervised the delivery of services for school districts, other local education agencies, and teacher preparation institutions regarding school improvement and accreditation, curricular standards, state assessments, licensure and teacher education, state and federal education programs, special education and technical education, and research, data analysis and reporting.
In 2005, while Posny was still deputy commissioner, the Kansas State Board of Education gained national attention for its controversial efforts to promote the theory of intelligent design over evolution in school curriculums. Posny often clashed with conservatives on the board over this issue and others.
Posny relocated to Washington, DC, in 2006 to serve as director of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the Education Department during the George W. Bush administration. She assisted state and local efforts to educate children with disabilities, and served as liaison between OSEP and constituencies.
The following year, in June, Posny returned to Kansas to become the state’s Commissioner of Education, responsible for working with the state education board and the state education department to implement their policies. She also spent time teaching at the University of Kansas as an adjunct faculty member.
|
|
|
Justesen, Tracy
Previous Assistant Secretary
|
|
|
Tracy R. Justesen served as Assistant Secretary at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services from December 26, 2007, until the end of the administration of George W. Bush in January 2009. He earned his JD from Drake University and his Master of Laws (LLM) from George Washington University. Justesen began his political career working as an Associate Director in the Domestic Policy Council at the White House. He later worked as an attorney-advisor in the disability rights section at the Department of Justice. Justesen currently serves as the deputy director for the department’s National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research program.
Justesen has a twin brother, Troy, who also works as the Department of Education’s assistant secretary for vocational and adult education. He began his career in the Department of Education in 2000, working as an education policy analyst in the Office of Special Education Programs in OSERS.
|
|
|
|