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Congress Approves IDEA
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Summary of Provisions
CAPE's Analysis (PDF)
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Congress Approves IDEA 2004
November 19, 2004--The House and Senate today passed the long-awaited
reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA
2004), which includes some important improvements relating to services
for children with special needs in private schools. The House approved
the bipartisan bill 397 to 3, and the Senate did so by voice vote. President
Bush is expected to sign the bill soon. The bill number is HR 1350, and
the final version of the legislation is contained in the conference report
on HR 1350 (H. Rept. 108-779). Click here
to download, as a PDF file, CAPE's analysis of the new law, including
the legislative language relating to students placed by their parents
in private schools and a side-by-side comparison of the new law with its
predecessor.
Overview
How will the latest overhaul of the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA 2004) affect students in private schools? In some respects the
new law’s effect will be negligible, but in others, noteworthy.
Overall, IDEA 2004 treats services to children placed by their parents
in private schools essentially the same way the old law did. School districts
are obliged to provide private school children who have special needs
with services equal to a proportionate share of a school district’s
IDEA funds. Thus, if private schools located in a district enroll 10 percent
of all the students in a district with special needs, the district is
obliged to spend 10 percent of its IDEA allocation on services for those
children. (In the old law the target private school population was students
residing in the district; in the new law it is students attending private
schools in the district.) Because no individual child in a private school
is entitled to any particular services, the determination of what students
are served, what services they receive, and how, when, where, and by whom
such services are provided are all matters of consultation between public
school officials, private school officials, and parents of the students
involved.
But while essentially retaining the existing approach, the new IDEA includes
important improvements in provisions relating to children in private schools.
A list of the principal improvements is provided below.
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Principal Improvements in IDEA 2004 for Students
in Private Schools
Recording and Reporting
- Requires school districts to record and report to the state education
agency the number of private school children evaluated, the number determined
to be children with disabilities, and the number served. (Sec. 612(a)(10)(A)(i)(V))
Child Find
- Changes the target child find and service population from children
residing in the district to children attending private schools within
the district. ((Sec. 612(a)(10)(A)(i))
- Incorporates within the statute the current regulatory requirement
that a school district’s child find activities for private school
children be comparable to those for public school children. (Sec. 612(a)(10)(A)(ii))
- Incorporates within the statute the current regulatory requirement
that expenditures for child find activities not be considered in determining
whether a school district has met its "proportionate share"
obligation to private school children. (Sec. 612(a)(10)(A)(ii)(IV))
- Upgrades the regulatory requirement for consultation on child find
to "timely and meaningful" consultation. (Sec. 612(a)(10)(A)(iii)(I))
Consultation
- Incorporates within the statute current regulatory requirements that
school districts consult with representatives of private school children
in carrying out various activities relating to identifying and serving
children in private schools, and substantially strengthens those requirements.
(Sec. 612(a)(10)(A)(iii))
- Provides an expanded list of items around which there is to be consultation.
(Sec. 612(a)(10)(A)(iii))
- Requires school districts that disagree with the views of private
school officials, on the provision of services or the types of services,
to provide private school officials a written explanation of the reasons
why the district chose not to provide services directly or through a
contract. (Sec. 612(a)(10)(A)(iii)(V))
- Requires school districts to obtain a written affirmation from private
school officials that timely and meaningful consultation has occurred.
(Sec. 612(a)(10)(A)(iv))
Third-Party Contracts
- Clarifies that school districts may provide services to private school
children directly or through contracts with public and private agencies,
organizations, and institutions. (Sec. 612(a)(10)(A)(vi)(I))
Supplement/Supplant
- Specifies that state and local funds for special education services
to children in private schools may supplement but not supplant the federal
funds required to be spent under IDEA. (Sec. 612(a)(10)(A)(i)(IV))
Complaint Procedure
- Incorporates, clarifies, and strengthens regulatory procedures relating
to filing complaints. (Sec. 612(a)(10)(A)(v))
Bypass
- Requires the U.S. Department of Education to arrange for services
to private school children if a state or district is unwilling, or substantially
fails, to provide for the equitable participation of private school
children. (Sec. 612(f)(1))
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Quick Links to More Information
- Click here to download the U.S. Department of Education's Q's and A's on Serving Children With Disabilities Placed by Their Parents at Private Schools (March 2006)
- Click here to download, as a PDF
file, CAPE's analysis of the new law, including the legislative language
relating to students placed by their parents in private schools and
a side-by-side comparison of the new law with its predecessor.
- Click here to get
CAPE's free IDEA Toolkit, published in 2003.
- View the Conference Report on HR 1350 (H. Rept. 108-779) on the Thomas
Web site.
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