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Overview:

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.

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History:

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.

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What it Does:

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.

Additionally, OSERS supports programs at three institutions: The American Printing House for the Blind, which produces educational materials, The National Technical Institute for the Deaf, which promotes employment for the deaf by providing technical and professional education to the deaf youth population, and Gallaudet University, which is a federally chartered, private, nonprofit educational institution that provides elementary through graduate programs with a traditional liberal arts curriculum.

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

Reports and Resources

Grants and Funding

Legislation and Policy

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Former Directors:

John H. Hager

Born in 1936, Hager began his career working for the American Tobacco Company in Richmond, Virginia, serving as its government affairs representative. In 1975 he was a volunteer for Lieutenant Governor John N. Dalton and by 1984 he became a delegate to the Republican National Convention. He continued his political aspirations as the director of Virginia’s homeland security under Governors Jim Gilmore and Mark Warner, and in 1997 he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. In 2004 Hager was appointed to the Assistant Secretary position for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Resigning from this position in 2007, Hager now serves as the chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia and is now the father-in-law to President Bush’s daughter Jenna, who recently married his son Henry.

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Comments

Suraj 8 months ago

One of the first things I larened in my quest to be a better advocate for my children was advice from Pete Wright's website to start a 3 ring binder and save everything. Seriously. This was one of the first things I did, way back when my oldest daughter (now a freshman) was in first grade, was to begin a binder. None of my kids had yet been identified but I knew it was just a matter of time Last year, my documentation was a critical piece to prompt the LEA to settle after we'd filed for a due process hearing. The district's position began to crumble when their attorney insisted that the school staff claimed I'd revoked consent for the school to have any contact with my child's mental health professional. In fact, I'd sent written communication to the school (which I saved) and written communication to the doctor that they could communicate by phone ONLY if I was included in the call and could communicate in writing ONLY if I was cc'd on all communication. I had not revoked consent at all. After that, it was downhill for the district when everything they insisted was true was promptly verified, in THEIR documentation, as being untrue.So, you're right on the money and your advice is critical to all parents of students with disabilities. Save everything, it might be important one day. P.S. Question for you, Jen: I've begun to scan and keep all my documentation in electronic format (hoping to reduce the glut of papers in my house). Is it worth doing this or is the original hard copy all that counts?

Table of Contents
Overview
History
What it Does
Where Does the Money Go
Controversies
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Founded: 1979

Annual Budget: $14 billion

Employees:

Official Website: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/index.html?src=mr

Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

Yudin, Michael

Acting Assistant Secretary

The chief federal official for matters pertaining to special education is Michael K. Yudin, who succeeded Alexa Posny, who served as assistant secretary of Education for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services from October 2009 to June 2012. In this position, Yudin supervises the Office for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the U.S. Department of Education.

Born circa 1963, Yudin earned a B.A. in English at the State University of New York at Albany and a law degree at the Western New England College School of Law in 1991, where he was a notes editor on the Western New England Law Review.

Going into government practice after law school, Yudin served as an attorney at the U.S. Department of Labor from 1991 to 1994 and at the Social Security Administration from 1994 to 2001, providing legal advice on policy initiatives regarding social security, disability, employment, and welfare reform. Leaving the Executive Branch of the federal government, Yudin served as Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee counsel to Senator Jim Jeffords (Ind.) of Vermont from January 2001 to January 2003.

Yudin served as director of Employment & Transportation Policy for the Disability Policy Collaboration, a joint effort of The Arc of the United States and United Cerebral Palsy to affect national public policy for people with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, and related disabilities and their families, from February 2003 to 2004. He returned to the Senate, serving as senior counsel to Senator Jeff Bingaman (Dem.) of New Mexico from 2004 to 2009, and legislative director for Senator Jeanne Shaheen (Dem.) of New Hampshire from 2009 to 2010. In these roles, Yudin helped draft and negotiate various pieces of legislation, including the No Child Left Behind Act and IDEA 2004, and also worked on the reauthorizations of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Head Start, the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 2006, and the Higher Education Act.

Yudin joined the Department of Education in June 2010 as the deputy assistant secretary for policy and strategic initiatives, where he worked on policy related to student achievement and school accountability, high school reform, early childhood initiatives, and Indian education. From July 2011 to May 2012, Yudin served as acting assistant secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, overseeing the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. In June 2012, he took over as acting assistant secretary of Education for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

He is listed on the website of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Institute, a non-partisan, tax-exempt educational and research organization, as an openly gay political leader. A Democrat, Yudin contributed $250 to Sen. John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign.

-Matt Bewig

Official Biography

Policy Specialists Give Public Policy Collaboration Added Capitol Hill Clout (press release)

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Posny, Alexa

Previous 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.

In 2008, President Bush appointed Posny to be a member of the National Institute for Literacy Advisory Board.

Alexa Posny Biography (Kansas Commissioner of Education) (PDF)

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Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

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