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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">TO: District and ESD Special Education Directors
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Sarah Drinkwater, Ph.D.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Assistant Superintendent<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Office of Student Services<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">______________________________________________
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">October 23, 2017<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">RE: OSERS Regulation Reform Update - the impact of these revocations is yet to be fully determined.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-variant:small-caps">United States Department of Education<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-variant:small-caps">Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:24.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">On February 24, 2017, President Trump signed Executive Order 13777, “Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda,” which established a Federal policy
“to alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens” on the American people. In accordance with the Executive Order, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) published a notice in the
<i>Federal Register</i> on June 22, 2017, seeking input on regulations and guidance that may be appropriate for repeal, replacement, or modification. The deadline for submitting input was September 20, 2017. I am pleased to provide an update on the work that
the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) has been doing since the President’s Executive Order, and the closing of the public input period.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:12.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">OSERS is currently reviewing regulations and guidance in phases, which includes analyzing the input submitted by the public. The first phase involved
reviewing guidance that OSERS has published on the <i>Individuals with Disabilities Education Act</i> (<i>IDEA</i>), and the
<i>Rehabilitation Act</i> of 1973 (<i>Rehab. Act</i>), as amended. Initially, we evaluated the guidance to determine those that were outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective. At this time, OSERS has a total of 72 guidance documents that have been rescinded due
to being outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective—63 from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and 9 from the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:12.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Attached is a chart that includes the guidance OSERS published on the
<i>IDEA</i> and the <i>Rehab. Act</i>., which have been rescinded due to being outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:12.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">I encourage you to visit the Department’s website to review the
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Department's Regulatory Reform Task Force's progress report. The Department is committed to an open and transparent process, and I will send periodic updates on the progress
OSERS is making with the regulatory reform efforts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:12.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Thank you for the work you do every day to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:24.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:3.75in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.25in">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Kimberly M. Richey<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:3.5in;text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Acting Assistant Secretary
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img width="154" height="41" style="width:1.6083in;height:.425in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D34BD7.1225B7F0" alt="cid:image001.jpg@01D27BBF.8C867E00">
<i><span style="font-size:9.0pt">Ruby Sandberg, Executive Assistant<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:9.0pt"> Oregon achieves…together! to Assistant Superintendent Sarah Drinkwater<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:#1B75BC"> </span></i><i><span style="font-size:9.0pt">Office of Student Services<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:9.0pt"> 503-947-5738
</span></i><a href="http://www.oregon.gov/ode"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:blue">www.oregon.gov/ode</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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