Education Department withdrawing nearly 600 policy documents it says are outdated

The following article by Valerie Strauss was posted on the Washington Post website October 27, 2017:

The Education Department under Secretary Betsy DeVos is withdrawing nearly 600 policy guidance documents it says are outdated. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock )

The Education Department said Friday it is withdrawing nearly 600 policy guidance documents it says are outdated, including 72 in special education previously announced and others in offices dealing with K-12 and higher education.

The move is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to reduce existing or planned regulations, many of them from the Obama administration. In education, Secretary Betsy DeVos has walked back policies and rules in higher education implemented by President Barack Obama to protect student borrowers trying to pay for college. She also withdrew guidance directing schools to allow transgender children to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity. And she gave schools leeway in following earlier guidance on how to investigate sexual assaults on campus, saying that the rights of the accused had been trampled by the Obama-era rule. Continue reading “Education Department withdrawing nearly 600 policy documents it says are outdated”