General
The Department supports States, local communities, institutions of higher education, and others to improve education nationwide. The Department's roles include leadership and financial support for education to agencies, institutions, and individuals in situations where there is a national interest; monitoring and enforcing of civil rights in the area of education; and supporting research, evaluation, and dissemination of findings to improve the quality of education. ED works in partnership with parents, neighborhoods, schools, colleges, educators, business leaders, communities, and States across the country.
Since the announcement of President Clinton's ``Regulatory Reinvention Initiative'' on March 4, 1995, the Department has conducted a comprehensive review of its programs, legislation, and implementing regulations to enhance partnerships, increase flexibility, and improve accountability. In response to the initiative, the Department has eliminated approximately 39 percent of the pages of its regulations published in the Code of Federal Regulations--including a full 2/3 of the regulations applicable to elementary and secondary education programs--and simplified another third. Changes in additional regulations have also been proposed as a result of recently enacted or currently pending legislation.
The Department has accomplished these results through a departmentwide effort that recognizes that students and educational partners are best served by regulations that focus on critical steps and results, allow as much flexibility as possible consistent with statutory and program goals, and impose the least possible burden.
As part of its regulatory reinvention efforts and in response to the President's memorandum of June 1, 1998, on ``Plain Language in Government Writing,'' the Department also seeks to draft all of its regulations and related documents clearly and concisely in plain language, so that potential program beneficiaries will better understand benefits and requirements.
Woven throughout the Department's reinvention is a commitment to provide quality customer service in the spirit of continuous improvement to assure that we are truly ``putting people first.'' The Department listens to our customers to identify their needs and incorporates their suggestions into program goals and strategies.
In order to provide information and support enhanced exchange, the Department instituted 1-800-USA-LEARN to connect our customers to a ``one-stop-shopping'' center for information about departmental programs and initiatives; 1-800-4FED-AID for information on student aid; and an on-line library of information on education legislation, research, statistics, and promising programs. Internet address: http://www.ed.gov. More than 10,000 people take advantage of these resources every week.
The Department has forged effective partnerships with customers and others to develop policies, regulations, guidance, technical assistance, and compliance approaches. The Department has an impressive record of successful communication and shared policy development with affected persons and groups, including parents, representatives of State and local government, institutions of higher education, school administrators, teachers, students, special education and rehabilitation service providers, professional associations, advocacy organizations, business, and labor.
In particular, the Department continues to seek greater and more useful customer participation in its rulemaking activities through the use of consensual rulemaking and new technology. When rulemaking is determined to be absolutely necessary, customer participation is essential and sought at all stages--in advance of formal rulemaking, during rulemaking, and after rulemaking is completed in anticipation of further improvements through statutory or regulatory changes. The Department has expanded its outreach efforts through the use of satellite broadcasts, electronic bulletin boards, and teleconferencing. For example, the Department invites comments on all proposed rules through the Internet.
The Department is streamlining information collections, reducing burden on information providers involved in ED programs, and making information maintained by the Department easily available to the public. Coordinating similar information collections across programs may be one approach to reduce overlapping and inconsistent paperwork requirements. To the extent permitted by statute, regulations will be revised to eliminate barriers that inhibit coordination across programs (such as by creating common definitions), to reduce the frequency of reports, and to eliminate unnecessary data requirements. ED has reduced the information collection burden imposed on the public by 14.7 percent in fiscal year (FY) 1996, by 11 percent in FY 1997, and expects to achieve its goal of another 5 percent reduction in FY 1998.
The Department's Principles for Regulating, developed in October 1994 during planning to implement the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994, determine when and how it will regulate. Through aggressive application of the following principles, the Department has eliminated outdated or unnecessary regulations and identified situations in which major programs could be implemented without any regulations or with only limited regulations.
Principles for Regulating
The Department will regulate only if regulating improves the quality and equality of services to the Department's customers, learners of all ages. The Department will regulate only when absolutely necessary and then in the most flexible, most equitable, and least burdensome way possible.
Whether to Regulate:
¤ When essential to promote quality and equality of opportunity in education.
¤ When a demonstrated problem cannot be resolved without regulation.
¤ When necessary to provide legally binding interpretation to resolve ambiguity.
¤ Not if entities or situations to be regulated are so diverse that a uniform approach does more harm than good.
How to regulate:
¤ Regulate no more than necessary.
¤ Minimize burden and promote multiple approaches to meeting statutory requirements.
¤ Encourage federally funded activities to be integrated with State and local reform activities.
¤ Ensure that benefits justify costs of regulation.
¤ Establish performance objectives rather than specify compliance behavior.
¤ Encourage flexibility so institutional forces and incentives achieve desired results.
Regulatory and Deregulatory Priorities for the Next Year
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997
On June 4, 1997, the President signed into law Public Law 105-17, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997, amending the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Enactment of these amendments provides an opportunity to consider improvements in all of the regulations implementing the IDEA, including both formula and discretionary grant programs, that would strengthen the Federal effort to give every child a world-class education based on high standards. The Department is also reviewing the impact of these regulations on small entities in accordance with section 610(c) of the Regulatory Flexibility Act. The Secretary invited public comment on the development of the regulations for educating all children with disabilities in a notice published in the Federal Register on June 27, 1997 (62 FR 35052), and published a notice of proposed rulemaking on October 22, 1997 (62 FR 55026). The comment period ended on January 20, 1998, and more than 4,500 written comments were received.
Higher Education Amendments of 1998
Legislation reauthorizing the Higher Education Act has recently been enacted (Pub. L. 105-244, enacted October 7, 1998). Development of any regulations necessary to implement the new law will be a Department priority in 1999. However, no specific regulations can be scheduled or anticipated at this time. To the extent regulations are necessary, they will be developed through regulatory negotiation with the participation of interested parties.