WASHINGTON, D.C. - Signaling another important step for education reform in America, the U.S. House of Representatives today approved the Improving Education Results for Children with Disabilities Act (H.R. 1350), a bill making landmark reforms to the nation’s special education law that will improve academic results for children with disabilities and reduce the overwhelming and unnecessary paperwork burden plaguing special education teachers. The bill, which reauthorizes the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), was approved by a bipartisan vote of 251-171, with 34 Democrats joining Republicans in pledging unprecedented resources and reforms for America’s children with special needs.

H.R. 1350 -- hailed by school administrators as “the best special education policy revisions we’ve seen in decades” -- would significantly reduce paperwork for special education teachers, give new options to parents, reduce the number of children wrongly identified for special education, discourage lawsuits, and align the IDEA law with the bipartisan No Child Left Behind law signed by President Bush in January 2002.

“Over the past eighteen months, we have worked with parents, teachers, and advocates across the nation to improve special education for students in all public schools,” said Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE), chairman of the Education & the Workforce Subcommittee on Education Reform, and author of the bill. “My legislation demonstrates a commitment to ensuring that students with disabilities receive a quality education, and the tools they need to successfully accomplish their goals.”

“Today we took a major step forward in the drive to reform education in America by passing this critical legislation that will strengthen our nation’s education law for children with special needs,” said Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), chairman of the Education & the Workforce Committee. “The measure approved today provides powerful reforms requested for years by teachers, principals, and local educators - reforms that will help ensure that children with disabilities will not be left behind.”

The reform bill was introduced March 19 after an exhaustive 18-month reauthorization process led by Chairman Castle. During the past 18 months, Education & the Workforce Committee members have held no less than seven hearings seeking comment from those involved with special education, and instituted an innovative web-based project, dubbed “Great IDEAs” that provided parents, teachers, and stakeholders in special education with unprecedented ability to have direct input in the crafting of the legislation.

The bill makes several significant reforms designed to ensure that special education is focused on educating children with special needs and not on simply complying with a system composed of intricate and complex regulations and bound by mountainous paperwork and red tape. The bill seeks to address this problem head on by refocusing the IDEA on improving education results and reducing unnecessary paperwork and bureaucracy. Many of the reforms included in the bill are summarized below.

Reducing Paperwork for Teachers. H.R. 1350 includes a proposal originally authored by Rep. Ric Keller (R-FL) that would reduce paperwork for special education teachers by allowing school districts to offer parents the option of choosing a 3-year “Individualized Education Plan” (IEP) for their children with special needs, rather than having a new IEP crafted every year, as is required under current law.

Provisions such as the paperwork reduction options that are designed to improve support for teachers have prompted education leaders across the nation to express support for the bill and the positive effects it will have on special education. The National School Boards Association, representing the nation’s 95,000 school board members, stated that, “H.R. 1350 will go a long way to attract and retain teachers in special education and improve services through an increased focus on results.”

The National Association of Elementary School Principals joined in support of provisions to reduce the paperwork burden, noting that their members “identified paperwork reduction as their number one goal for the reauthorization of the IDEA.”

New Choices for Parents. The measure expands choices for parents through language co-authored by Rep. Jim DeMint (R-SC) by allowing IDEA funds to be used to help parents with children in high priority schools obtain supplemental educational services, including services offered by private educational providers. It would also allow parents to choose to keep children with the same educational provider from the beginning of service until the child reaches school age, allowing children to avoid an often-difficult transition at age three.

Reducing Misidentification of Children. H.R. 1350 will reduce the number of students that are misidentified or over-represented in special education - a problem that particularly affects minority children. The bill gives local school districts new flexibility and resources to improve early intervention and reduce misidentification of children for special education.

Reducing Litigation. H.R. 1350 will reduce destructive lawsuits and litigation in special education. It encourages the use of mediation in disputes as early as possible and create opportunities for voluntary binding arbitration.

Unprecedented Federal Funding for States. The bill includes legislative language written by Rep. Jon Porter (R-NV) that would authorize a dramatic increase in special education aid to states and would result in the federal government paying an unprecedented 21 percent of the total cost of special education in America next year and 25 percent the following year. The Porter provision would authorize an increase of $2.2 billion in IDEA spending in FY 2004 over the current (FY 2003) level, and another $2.5 billion increase on top of that for FY 2005 - a total increase of $4.7 billion in federal IDEA grants to states over the next two years.

H.R. 1350 has received overwhelming support from states, schools, teachers, education officials, and thousands involved in providing children with disabilities the education they deserve. The Council of the Great City Schools, a coalition of 60 of the nation’s largest urban public school systems, noted that, “H.R. 1350 allows school districts to better focus staff attention and financial resources on critical educational and support services for children with disabilities by reforming many of the antiquated and unproductive special education requirements and procedures that have developed over the years.”

In an April 1, 2003 joint letter, the National Conference on State Legislators (NCSL), Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), and the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) said the reforms in H.R. 1350 "would significantly reform many aspects of special education by improving service delivery, providing vital pre-referral services, and eliminating unnecessary administrative burdens.”

The American Association of School Administrators (AASA), the professional organization for more than 14,000 educational leaders across America and in other countries issued a statement this week calling for “swift passage” of the Castle legislation. "H.R. 1350 offers the best special education policy revisions we've seen in decades,” said AASA Executive Director Paul Houston. “AASA is urging full House support for this bill. Delays could derail the delivery of important legislative gains for children with special needs and the school districts that provide their educational opportunities.”

IDEA Reauthorization News & Resources

If you are the parent of a child with a disability, you need to know about proposed changes to the IDEA that may affect your child. If you are a teacher or special education service provider, the reauthorized law is likely to affect you and your job.

For news, progress reports, and other important information about the reauthorization of IDEA, visit the IDEA Reauthorization page.

Many reports and studies have identified the strengths and weaknesses of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and our system of educating children with disabilities.

To learn more about the issues, including reports, surveys and recommendations about how the law may be changed, please visit the IDEA Resources page.
 

Read these reports. Familiarize yourself with the issues.

Your Senators and Representatives should read these reports before they undertake the job of revising this law. When you write to your members of Congress, refer to these reports.