IDEA Watch!

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) as we know it is facing several proposed changes as part of the reauthorization process. Parents and advocates must encourage lawmakers to ensure that the final version of the IDEA continues to protect and strengthen the educational services and supports and procedural safeguards available to children with all types of disabilities.

In May, the House of Representatives passed HR 1350, an unprecedented erosion of children's and parent's rights under IDEA. Some of the problematic changes found in HR 1350 include the elimination of short-term objectives and benchmarks from Individual Educational Programs (IEPs) except for children with the most severe disabilities; a change from annual IEPs to three-year IEPs; erosion of the discipline protections for students with disabilities; and elimination of language that gives parents the option of suing states for violating the IDEA. The most positive news related to the House bill is that parents and disability advocates around the country came together and made over 14,000 contacts with members of Congress in opposition to HR 1350.

The Senate has not had a full vote on S 1248, which is much better than the House bill. In the Senate bill, the three-year IEP is limited to students over age 18 and includes language for parents to get better information about, and help with, their due process rights from Protection and Advocacy. However, the Senate bill could be amended while it is on the Senate floor and still needs to be strengthened. For a comparison of the language in the current IDEA, S 1248 and HR 1350, see our website at www.nmpanda.org.