The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) is a program of the United States Department of Education. OSERS' official mission is "to provide leadership to achieve full integration and participation in society of people with disabilities by ensuring equal opportunity and access to, and excellence in, education, employment and community living."
OSERS was established by 20 U.S.C. § 3417, and is composed of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services and three program components:
- Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
- National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)
- Rehabilitation Services Administration.
Alexa E. Posny, Ph.D., is the current Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Primary laws and statutes authorizing OSERS' programs and activities include:
- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act amendments of 1997. (IDEA)
- Rehabilitation Act of 1973. (Rehab Act)
- The Education of the Deaf Act. (EDA)
- Act to Promote Education of the Blind of March 3, 1879.
- The Helen Keller National Center Act. (HKNC)
- The Assistive Technology Act of 2004. (AT Act)
- The Randolph–Sheppard Act. (Vending Facilities For The Blind)
Famous quotes containing the words office, special, education and/or services:
“The office ... make[s] its incumbent a repair man behind a dyke. No sooner is one leak plugged than it is necessary to dash over and stop another that has broken out. There is no end to it.”
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)
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—Don Delillo (b. 1926)
“Whether in the field of health, education or welfare, I have put my emphasis on preventive rather than curative programs and tried to influence our elaborate, costly and ill- co-ordinated welfare organizations in that direction. Unfortunately the momentum of social work is still directed toward compensating the victims of our society for its injustices rather than eliminating those injustices.”
—Agnes E. Meyer (1887–1970)
“O, the difference of man and man!
To thee a woman’s services are due.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)