COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 29, 2003

As you know, the House is scheduled to consider H.R. 1350, the Improving Education Results for Children with Disabilities Act, on Wednesday, April 30. The bill, which will make dramatic improvements to the nation’s special education law, has the strong support of teachers, local school officials, and those on the front lines of ensuring that children with disabilities receive the quality education they deserve.

While the Improving Education Results for Children with Disabilities Act has been heralded as the "best special education policy revisions we’ve seen in decades," by the American Association of School Administrators (a group representing more than 14,000 education leaders across the nation) -- and has received unprecedented support from groups such as the National Education Association, the National School Boards Association, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the National Conference of State Legislators, and numerous others -- some lobbying organizations are spreading false and misleading information about the bill.

Please be advised that a national call-in day has been organized for TODAY, Tuesday, April 29, 2003 by opponents of improving the nation's special education law. Your office can expect to receive calls with incorrect or incomplete information regarding the legislation, as well as requests to further delay this legislation that is overdue for reauthorization. Attached to this letter, please find a fact sheet that addresses inaccurate information being circulated about H.R. 1350. Please join us as we seek to set the record straight on special education reform, and move forward in the drive to improve education results for children with disabilities.

Sincerely,

/s/ /s/

Mike Castle (R-DE) John A. Boehner (R-OH)
Chairman Chairman

Education Reform Subcommittee Education & the Workforce Committee

Despite widespread support from parents, teachers and school organizations, some myths and distortions have been perpetuated about this landmark special education reform bill. The following document provides an overview of the major myths, and provides the facts about the Improving Education Results for Children with Disabilities Act to set the record straight.

Fiction: "This bill is being rushed. Congress needs to slow down and not put this legislation on the fast track. People need time to examine what is in the bill."

Over the past 18 months, the House Education & the Workforce Committee has held no fewer than seven different hearings on issues directly relating to the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). On June 6, 2002, as this hearing process was underway, Rep. Castle and committee Republicans also launched an innovative web-based project, dubbed "Great IDEAs," designed to solicit input from stakeholders in special education from across the nation. Since that time, the committee has received more than 3,000 responses from teachers, school administrators, parents of children with special needs and others familiar with the unique needs of children with disabilities, and incorporated many of these suggestions into H.R. 1350.

Improving educational results for children with disabilities is too important a task to allow further delay. Children, parents, and students have waited long enough for special education reform. Further stalling will only result in more children with disabilities being denied the chance they deserve for a quality education.

Fiction: "Paperwork reduction provisions such as the 3-year Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and elimination of short-term objectives will remove accountability for children and parents."

FACT: Proposals such as the 3-year IEP are options for states, and options for parents - options caring parents and paperwork-weary teachers alike believe the law should allow for students with disabilities. If a parent would prefer to have an annual IEP, the law continues to guarantee that right. The 3-year IEP, if agreed to by the parent and the school, would maintain critical individualized education to children with special needs while reducing complex and duplicative paperwork. Further, if a parent decides the 3-year IEP is not working, the parent can simply ask to return to the annual IEP - and they don’t have to wait until the 3-year IEP is completed.

The elimination of benchmarks and short-term objectives will not take place until the 2005-2006 school year - because beginning in 2005 all parents will receive report cards from schools showing academic progress indicators. Until that time, IEPs will continue to contain short-term objectives and benchmarks to ensure academic progress is being made. After that time, those students who are being assessed using alternate assessment may continue to have benchmarks and short-term objectives.

The crushing paperwork burden associated with the IDEA is taking teachers out of the classroom and away from the children who need to be taught. Proposed reductions in unnecessary paperwork are designed to increase academic results by allowing the teachers to spend more time teaching rather than filling out complicated and often-unnecessary paperwork.

Fiction: "Making IDEA a mandatory entitlement program is the only way to assure that states will receive full funding."

On July 18, 2001, a total of 99 House Democrats (led by House Appropriations Committee ranking member David Obey, D-WI) joined 167 House Republicans in voting to reject a motion calling for making IDEA a new entitlement spending program through "mandatory" spending. And in March 2003, the Senate rejected not one, but two attempts to pass "mandatory" spending amendments. One amendment, offered by Sen. Kent Conrad (D-SD), failed 47-52, with two Democrat Senators, Max Baucus (D-MT) and John Breaux (D-LA), joining Senate Republicans to defeat mandatory funding. An second amendment, offered by Sen. Tom Harkin, was drawn up but ultimately not offered because of bipartisan support for an amendment by Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) that would increase IDEA funding through the traditional discretionary process.

The Republican Congress has put IDEA funding among the highest of priorities, increasing funding by more than $6.5 billion since 1996 - an increase of almost 300% in just seven years. However, making IDEA an entitlement program, with mandatory funding, will significantly impair the ability of Congress to examine and reform the law to meet the changing needs of children with disabilities.

H.R. 1350 maps a glide path toward full funding in seven years, a course that will continue the significant increases in IDEA funding that states have been given over the past seven years while maintaining critical oversight capabilities so that Congress can ensure the law is reaching its goal of improving academic results for children with disabilities.

Fiction: "The discipline provisions contained in the bill will result in many children being left behind and losing [free appropriate public education] FAPE."

FACT: The discipline provisions contained in the bill ensure that no child is left behind - in fact, the bill explicitly guarantees that children with disabilities will continue to receive educational services regardless of any disciplinary action taken. Under current law, discipline procedures for children with disabilities and non-disabled children can be significantly different, even for serious offenses such as bringing a weapon to school. This is unfair to teachers, students, and even children with disabilities. The proposal in H.R. 1350 would allow schools, at their discretion and with the ability to consider all circumstances including a disability, to assign the same punishment for disabled and non-disabled children. However, even in the case of suspension, a child with a disability would continue to receive educational services to ensure progress is made on an IEP. This improves safety for schools while ensuring protections for children with special needs.

Fiction: "The proposed procedural safeguard provisions may jeopardize the civil rights of children and their families, and they may not eliminate paperwork; in fact, they may result in more paperwork and litigation. The statute of limitations and redefined complaint process will deny the rights of parents."

FACT: The changes in the complaint process proposed in H.R. 1350 are designed to improve communication, restore trust, and strengthen cooperation between parents and school personnel. By providing options such as binding arbitration, parents and schools will have new opportunities to address problems without fear of costly litigation. In fact, changes to the procedural safeguard provisions maintain EVERY civil rights protection for children and families while going a step further to provide optional, alternative means of dispute resolution that will only improve effective communication and cooperation among parents, teachers, and schools.

The one-year statute of limitations proposed in H.R. 1350 is a protection for both parents and schools that will help ensure the timely resolution of complaints. Reforms to the complaint process will help restore trust and allow teachers to feel confident that they can teach without fear of frivolous litigation that could jeopardize educational opportunities for other children with disabilities. The rights of parents are preserved under H.R. 1350, but innovative solutions are proposed to resolve problems in a timely fashion, reduce costly litigation, and refocus IDEA on teaching children rather than compliance with regulations.

Fiction: "The restructuring of Part D of IDEA contained in the bill does not protect the critical investments in research, technical assistance, and other supports and resources which are fundamental to ensuring the quality and accountability of IDEA."