Fw: President Bush Signs IDEA

[Guest guest]

President Bush Signs IDEA

RE: IDEA

DATE: Dec. 3, 2004

President Bush held a small ceremony at the Old Executives Office Building

next to the White House this morning (see press release below) where he signed

the bill to reauthorize IDEA into law (the Public Law number is not yet

available). The next step is for the Dept. of Education to write the

regulations that will help implement the new law.

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COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:

a Marrero

December 3, 2004

or Schnittger

President Bush Signs Special Education Reform Bill; House Republicans Hail

Bipartisan Achievement

WASHINGTON, D.C. - President W. Bush today signed into law a bipartisan

bill revamping the nation's special education law, the Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), setting in motion important changes that will

help teachers, parents, and schools ensure every student with a disability

receives a quality education. The new law is the second major bipartisan

overhaul of American education policy to be completed during President Bush's

first term in office, building on the No Child Left Behind Act signed by the

President in January 2002.

The new law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (H.R.

1350), is based on legislation authored by House Education Reform Subcommittee

Chairman Mike Castle (R-DE) that passed the House in 2003 with bipartisan

support. The culmination of more than two years of work in Congress on IDEA

reauthorization, it includes reforms recommended in 2002 by President Bush's

special education commission, as well as key elements of the IDEA

reauthorization bill passed by the Senate in 2004.

" This new law is a bright light that demonstrates both parties can work

together and achieve real change to improve the lives of Americans, " said

Castle. " Today we are making sure children with disabilities are given access

to an education that maximizes their unique abilities and provides them with the

tools to be successful, productive members of our communities. But we cannot

stop here; we must continue to work to improve education for all children, so we

ensure each child has access to a quality education. "

" Democrats and Republicans were able to work together during President Bush's

first term to deliver not one, but two major revisions to federal education

law, " said Rep. Boehner (R-OH), who chaired the House-Senate negotiations

that produced the final bill. " There's a lot more left to do, particularly in

terms of ensuring low-income parents have the same choices other parents have in

choosing schools for their children. But this new law is a major bipartisan

step forward that will make a positive difference for teachers, parents, and

children with special needs. "

The new special education law will:

a.. Ensure school safety and reasonable discipline;

b.. Give local schools more flexibility and greater control;

c.. Move away from compliance with burdensome regulations and costly

litigation, and reduce the paperwork burden on teachers; and

d.. Expand choices and give parents more control over their children's

education.

" [This] law's passage offers a refreshing example of adults pushing across

party lines and back at interest group pressures, and working together to change

the status quo and improve educational opportunities for our most vulnerable

children, " wrote Sara Mead, a policy analyst with the Progressive Policy

Institute's 21st Century Schools Project, in the December 2, 2004 edition of the

" Education Gadfly, " the weekly education reform bulletin published by the

B. Fordham Foundation. The bulletin can be found online at

http://www.edexcellence.net/foundation/gadfly/index.cfm.

A full summary of the new special education law and other related information

can be found online at the House Education and the Workforce Committee majority

website at http://edworkforce.house.gov/issues/108th/education/idea/idea.htm.

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" If you think education is expensive, try ignorance "

lin

Lynne Dougherty

Family Advocacy Coordinator

Temple University

Insititute on Disabilities

Ritter Annex, Rm 423

1301 Cecil B Ave

Phila., PA 19122