Department of Education December 23, 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Assistant Deputy Secretary for Safe and Drug-Free Schools proposes priorities and requirements for the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) grant program. The Assistant Deputy Secretary may use one or more of these priorities or requirements for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2009 and later years. The REMS program was established in FY 2003 to provide resources to local educational agencies (LEAs) to supportimproving and enhancing emergency management plans. Since the initial competition, the program has undergone several program refinements designed to respond to changes in the emergency management field and the identification of key emergency management priorities. In an effort to continue to refine the REMS program, we are publishing these revised priorities and requirements. We propose this action in order to focus Federal financial assistance on supporting grants that will increase the capacity of LEAs to prevent and mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies. This action is also intended to focus funding on LEAs that have not previously received funding under this program and to establish other core program requirements.

The Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement announces selection criteria under the Teaching American History Grant (TAH) Program. The Assistant Secretary may use these selection criteria for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2009 and later years. We take this action to provide the Secretary with the flexibility to use selection criteria (i) Established for the TAH Program in the notice of final selection criteria and other application requirements, published in the Federal Register on April 15, 2005 (70 FR 19939) (2005 Notice); (ii) from the menu of general selection criteria in the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR 75.210; (iii) based on statutory provisions in accordance with 34 CFR 75.209; or (iv) from any combination of (i) through (iii) for competitions in fiscal year (FY) 2009 and in subsequent years. We intend that this choice of selection criteria will provide greater flexibility to evaluate TAH Program applications.

The Department of Education (Department) gives notice that on August 20, 2008, an arbitration panel rendered a decision in the matter of Dwayne Zuppardo v. Louisiana Department of Social Services, Rehabilitation Services, Case no. R-S/06-5. This panel was convened by the Department under 20 U.S.C. 107d-1(a), after the Department received a complaint filed by the petitioner, Dwayne Zuppardo.

This notice sets forth the schedule and proposed agenda of an upcoming open meeting of the National Board for Education Sciences. The notice also describes the functions of the Committee. Notice of this meeting is required by Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act and is intended to notify the public of their opportunity to attend.