I.D.E.A. :INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT

Educational Rights of Children with Disabilities.

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Federal Legislation and Regulations

On this page are listed Public Laws which have developed through federal legislation since the early legislative roots of the IDEA in the 1960s, as well as Codes and Regulations issued by the Federal Government which pertain to it. There are also a few Bills listed. Please go to the Legislative History page for more detail.

Public Laws

"The CIS Congressional Universe found fifteen Public Law citations dating from 1965 to 1990. Westlaw produced 17 (most were duplicates of the CIS list). The USCA 2000 General Index/Popular Names table produced 27 Public Law citations from 1968 to 1999 under the IDEA heading. Examples of Public Laws from all of these sources have been listed below:

• P.L. 89-10 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA)
• P.L. 89-313 Elementary and Secondary Education Act Amendments of 1965
• P.L. 89-750 Elementary and Secondary Education Act Amendments of 1966.
  • This law helped establish three important programs:
    • Title VI: the first federal grant program for the education of children with disabilities at the local school level.
    • The Bureau of Education for the Handicapped (BEH).
    • The National Advisory Council (NAC), now called the National Council on Disability.

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• P.L. 90-247 The Elementary and Secondary Education Act Amendments of 1968
• P.L. 91-230 The Elementary and Secondary Education Amendments of 1970.
  • This law consolidated a number of previously separate federal grand programs related to the education of children with disabilites into a new authorization which became known as Part B, and was titled the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA) and was the precursor to the 1975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act.
• P.L. 93-112 The Rehabilitation Act of 1975
• P.L. 93-380, action 438 Family Privacy Act
• P.L. 94-103 Developmental Disabilities Bill of Rights Act of 1975
• P.L. 94-142 The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975
• P.L. 98-524 The Vocational Education Act of 1984
• P.L. 93-380 The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
• P.L. 99-372 The Handicapped Children's Protection Act of 1986
• P.L. 99-401 The Temporary Child Care for Handicapped Chidlren and Crisis Nurseries Act of 1986
• P.L. 100-146 The Developmental Disabilities and Bill of Rights Act Amendments of 1987
• P.L. 100-407 The Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988
• P.L. 101-336 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

Federal Codes

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Public Health & Welfare Law : Public Education
Public Health & Welfare Law : Healthcare : Services for the Disabled & the Elderly
Constitutional Law : Substantive Due Process : Equal Protection : Disability
Pensions & Benefits Law : Americans With Disabilities Act : Qualified Individuals With a Disability
Workers' Compensation & SSDI : Social Security Disability Insurance : Disability Evaluation : Medical Vocational Guidelines
Insurance Law : Disability Insurance : Insurability

Pensions & Benefits Law : Americans With Disabilities Act : Employment Discrimination by Public Entities
Constitutional Law : Civil Rights Enforcement : Americans With Disabilities Act
Pensions & Benefits Law : Americans With Disabilities Act : Reasonable Accommodation Requirement
Workers' Compensation & SSDI : Social Security Disability Insurance : Disability Evaluation : Residual Functional Capacity

Searching Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis databases produced some useful code references. Those of primary significance:

• 42 U.S.C. �� 12101 et seq., Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Title 42. The Public Health and Welfare, Chapter 126, Equal Opportunity for Individuals with Disabilities. This legislation enacted 26 July 1990 provides comprehensive civil rights protection to individuals with disabilities in the areas of employment, public accommodations, State and local government services and telecommunications.
• 20 U.S.C. �� 1400 et. seq., Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997. This Act strengthens academic expectations and accountability for the nation's 5.8 million children with disabilities and bridges the gap that has too often existed between what children with disabilities learn and what is required in regular curriculum.

Also of importance:

• 20 USCS � 1415, Assistance for education of all Children with Disabilities (2001)
• 29 USCS � 794, Vocational Rehabilitation and other Rehabilitation Services, Rights and Advocacy
• 20 USCS � 8801, Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
• 20 USCS �� 1401 et seq., Education for All Handicapped Children Act
• 20 USCS � 1415, (2001), Title 20. Education, Ch. 33. Education of Individuals with Disabilities, assistance for education of all children with disabilities, �1415. Procedural safeguards.
• 20 USCS � 1400, (2001), Title 20. Education, Ch. 33. Education of Individuals with Disabilities, general provisions, � 1400.
• 20 USCS � 1412, (2001), Title 20. Education, Ch. 33. Education of Individuals with Disabilities Assistance for education of all children with disabilities, � 1412. State eligibility.
• 29 USCS � 794, (2001), Title 29. Labor, Ch. 16. Vocational rehabilitation and other rehabilitation services, rights and advocacy, � 794. Nondiscrimination under Federal grants and programs.
• 42 USCS � 2000d, (2001), Title 42. The Public Health and Welfare, Ch. 21. Civil Rights, Federally assisted programs, � 2000d. Prohibition against exclusion from participation in, denial of benefits of, and discrimination under federally assisted programs on ground of race, color, disability, or national origin.

Code of Federal Regulations

When searching the CFR indexes the Keyword Index provides some useful topics. Searching through the list of keywords for "education" , "special education", there are a number of references that may provide some pertinent information. The Topic Index includes some headings worth browsing through, such as " special education" and " The Title Index provides source lists for each volume, but it may be more productive to use the Keyword Index. A search in FINDLAW: Cases and codes: Federal and State Codes: US Code by keyword search produced a number of codes. Lexis-Nexis and Westlaw searches produced several U.S.C. references, of which the most significant are:

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Some Regulations include:

• 34 CFR �300.550 : "Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)". Title 34 - Education; subtitle B - regulations of the offices of the Dept. of Education; Ch. 3 - Office of special educaiton and rehabilitative services, Dept. of Education; part 300 - assistantance to states for the education of children with disabilities; subpart E - procedural safeguards LRE.
• 45 CFR �84.33 : "Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)". Title 45 Public Welfare - subtitle A Dept. of Health and Human Services - subchapter A general administration - part 84 Nondiscrimination on the basis of handicap in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance - subpart D Preschool, elementary, and secondary education.
• 34 CFR �300.128 : "Individualized Education Programs (IEP)".
• 34 C.F.R. �300.551(a), 300.552: Disciplining Special Education Students
• 34 C.F.R. �300.347(a)(2) An IEP must include measurable annual goals that relate to meeting the child's needs that result from the child's disability to enable the child to be involved in and progress in the general curriculum, and to meeting each of the child's other educational needs that result from the child's disability.
• 25 CFR �39.33, subpart C: Provision under the Bureau of Indian Affairs for an unduplicated count provision pertaining to special education. "Special education unduplicated count provision. In counting special education ADM with the exception of speech therapy, no child shall be counted or funded twice for participation in more than one special education program. "
• 32 CFR �57: Provision of Early Intervention and Special Education Services to Eligible DOD Dependendants in Overseas Areas.
• 32 CFR �80: Provision of Early Intervention Services to Eligible Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities and their Families, and Special Education Children with Disabilities within section 6 school (DOD) arrangements.
• 34 CFR �345.10 : State grants program for technology-related assistance for individuals with disabilities
• 34 CFR �300.137: Assistance to states for the education of children with disabilities; state and local eligibility; specific conditions; Performance goals and indicators.
  

Bills

Bills for the current legislature can be found in several locations, including online sources such as ALIS, Thomas - U.S. Congress on the internet (website supported by the Library of Congress), and GPO Access, supported by the U.S. Government Printing Office. In order to search ALIS for Session Laws (two most recent sessions) it is necessary to have the Chaptered Bills. Original Bills in print are available at the UA Main Library (House KFA 2406 H68, and Senate KFA 2406 S46, from 1988 to present). It is necessary to know the Legislature and # for the bill in question as there is no index to these materials. The Legslature and # can be found in House and Senate Journals, listed in the "History of House and Senate Bills". It is also helpful to know which Committee debated the Bill. The # may also be found in the Session Laws (Main KFA 2425 A214, also in the Law Library dating from 1917), and these are referenced in A.R.S. at the end of the statute note. The Session Laws state the law as it was passed by the legislature.

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• HB 1614 - Education Reform Act, to amend the Secondary and Elementary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.). 107th Congress, 1st Session, U. S. House of Representatives, April 26, 2001, Introduced in the House, 04/26/01, A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, to reauthorize and make improvements to that Act, and for other purposes. Sec. 111. Parental involvement changes.; Sec. 120. Targeted grants; Sec. 108. School choice.; Sec. 141. Comprehensive needs assessment and service-delivery plan; authorized activities.
• HB 1527 - Flexibility to Increase IDEA Funding Act. 107th Congress, 1st Session, U. S. House of Representatives, April 04, 2001, Introduced in the House, 04/04/01, A bill to provide funding flexibility to States and local educational agencies with respect to programs to provide special education and related services to children with disabilities.
• HB 1912 - Keeping Our Promise to Special Education Act of 2001. 107th Congress, 1st Session, U. S. House of Representatives, May 17, 2001, Introduced in the House, 05/17/01, A bill to amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to provide full funding for assistance for education of all children with disabilities.
• SB 377 - Early Literacy Intervention Initiative Act. 107th Congress, 1st Session, U. S. Senate, February 15, 2001, Introduced in the Senate, 02/15/01, A bill to strengthen the role of the Federal Government in helping to identify children with reading deficiencies and to provide grants to State and local governments to implement early reading intervention programs.
• HB 345 - `Public Education Reinvestment, Reinvention, and Responsibility Act (Three R's). 107th Congress, 1st Session, U. S. House of Representatives, January 31, 2001, Introduced in the House, 01/31/01, A bill to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, to reauthorize and make improvements to that Act, and for other purposes.

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Searching in CIS Congressional Universe, Westlaw and Lexis-Nexis resulted in finding some bills concerning special education and IDEA brought before the House and Senate. Legislative history of an act is also available through search. Print versions of hearings of the House and Senate are published by legislative session. It is therefore important to know the year of introduction and the bill number.

• HR 1 - No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. 107th Congress, 1st Session, U. S. House of Representatives, March 22, 2001, passed in the House 5/23/01, passed in the Senate 6/14/01. This bill is intended to close the achievement gap using accountability, choice, and flexibility.
• HR 651 - Safe Classrooms Act of 2001. 107th Congress, 1st Session, U. S. House of Representatives: Introduced in the House, 02/14/01, this bill to amend the IDEA is intended to increase the scope of authority of school officials to discipline disabled children who engage in specific dangerous activities on school grounds.
• HR 737, Mandatory IDEA Full Funding Act of 2001, 107th Congress, 1st Session, U. S. House of Representatives, February 27, 2001, Introduced in the
  House, 02/27/01, This bill would amend the IDEA to provide full funding for assistance for education of all children with disabilities.

Other Federal Legislation relating to the IDEA:

• U.S.C. Title 20 - Education, ch. 38 - Discrimination based on sex or blindness. Sec. 1684. Blindness or visual impairment; prohibition against discrimination: No person in the United States shall, on the ground of blindness or severely impaired vision, be denied admission in any course of study by a recipient of Federal financial assistance for any education program or activity, but nothing herein shall be construed to require any such institution to provide any special services to such person because of his blindness or visual impairment.
• U.S.C. Title 20 - Education, ch. 39 - Equal education opportunities and transportation of students �� 1701 et. seq.
• U.S.C. Title 20 - Education, ch. 55 - Education of the Deaf �� 4301 et. seq.