Congress’s Better IDEA
by Tom Livingston
Adding an array of reforms, Congress has reauthorized the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the landmark law that guarantees kids with special needs “a free and appropriate education based on the specific needs of the child.”
The new bill, called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, is based on 2003 legislation authored by Rep. Mike Castle (R-DE), chairman of the House Education Reform Subcommittee. Most of its new provisions go into effect in July 2005.
Benchmarks Eliminated
Here are some key changes:
• In an attempt to reduce paperwork and bureaucracy, it will be easier for parents and schools to change a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) without holding a formal IEP meeting. Benchmarks and short-term objectives are eliminated from most IEPs, as long as all student rights and safeguards are maintained. Fifteen states may propose pilot programs to create three-year IEPs with annual reviews.
• The bill lets parents keep children in the same program from birth until kindergarten, easing the transition to the public school system.
• Students will be entitled to supplemental services such as tutoring if they aren’t making adequate yearly progress as defined in the No Child Left Behind Act. States can support these services using IDEA funds.
• School officials cannot force parents to medicate children as a condition for attending school. Teachers are allowed to share observations and information about their students with parents. Students in private schools are ensured the right to services.
More Freedom to Discipline
Other changes include:
• Schools have more freedom in exercising discipline. Students covered under IDEA will receive the same punishment for infractions as other students unless the problem is the direct result of the child’s disability. Instead of just “weapons and drugs,” cause for removal also will include inflicting “serious bodily injury upon another person.”
• Schools that fail to comply with IDEA for more than two years could lose federal funding. The law creates new ways for parents and schools to resolve problems before they escalate, and holds attorneys responsible for frivolous lawsuits.
• Special education teachers must be fully trained in their subject matter, as required by the No Child Left Behind Act, and will be held to the same standards as other teachers.
• Schools must consider more than just IQ or test scores in determining special education needs, including a student’s academic, developmental and functional needs. The bill redefines “learning disability,” which should result in more support for “twice-exceptional” children, who are both gifted and have disabilities.
For more information online, see www.nectac.org/idea/Idea2004.asp, www.wrightslaw.com/statute.htm or www.google.com (enter, with quote marks, “Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act”).
Special Notes
Arts Connected to Healing, an exhibit by artists with special needs, opens Jan. 6 at the Hopkins House Gallery, 230 S. Park Dr., Haddon Township, NJ and runs through Feb. 5.
Sponsored by the Camden County Cultural & Heritage Commission, the exhibit spotlights artists from the Matheny School, the National Rehabilitation & Rediscovery Foundation and the Hometown Opportunities for the Mentally Handicapped Pegasus Project.
Gallery hours are Tues.-Fri., 10am-1pm and 2-4pm, and Sat., 12noon-4pm. You can arrange a free tour by calling 856-858-0040.
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The Camelback Ski Area in Tannersville, PA offers adaptive skiing, lessons and an Adaptive Skiing Camp for people with blindness and other mobility limitations.
570-629-1661, www.skicamelback.com
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A new two-volume book, Kids on Wheels (No Limits Communications, $24.95 plus $3 shipping/handling), addresses young wheelchair users in one volume and parents, teachers and professionals in the other. The kids’ volume includes chapters on adaptive sports, participation in the arts and making friends, as well as profiles on other kids. The second volume includes tips on insurance, assistance, education, transportation, technology and travel, plus tips from other families. 888-850-0344, ext. 309 or www.newmobility.com
Tom Livingston is executive editor of MetroKids.