Education Week – Christina Samuels
“States would be required to adopt policies to prevent unnecessary use of restraint and seclusion in schools, and a federal gifted education grant program would be reauthorized for six years, under amendments that were added this week to the proposed rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act…The restraint and seclusion bill was brought forward by Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut. It would require state departments of education to develop plans to protect students from abuse, aversive interventions that compromise their safety, or any “physical restraint for seclusion imposed solely for purposes of discipline or convenience.” The gifted education amendment came from retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland…”Serving students who are low-achieving is important, but so is nurturing students who have high ability and enormous potential. I believe we need to know more about these kids, and our teachers need to know how to help these children achieve and succeed,” Mikulski said in a statement introducing her amendment.”(more)