I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1373

To provide options to States to innovate and improve the education of children 

with disabilities by expanding the choices for students and parents under 

the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 20, 2003

Mr. DEMINT (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, 

and Mr. FEENEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To provide options to States to innovate and improve the 

education of children with disabilities by expanding the 

choices for students and parents under the Individuals 

with Disabilities Education Act.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘IDEA Parental Choice 

5 Act of 2003’’. 
2

•HR 1373 IH 

1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABIL2 ITIES EDUCATION ACT. 

3 (a) RESEARCH AND INNOVATION TO IMPROVE SERV4 ICES AND RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABIL5 ITIES.—Section 672(b)(2) of the Individuals with Disabil6 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1472(b)(2)) is amended 

7 by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(I) Supporting the post-award planning 

9 and design, and the initial implementation 

10 (which may include costs for informing the 

11 community, acquiring necessary equipment and 

12 supplies, and other initial operational costs), 

13 during a period of not more than 3 years, of 

14 State programs that allow the parent of a child 

15 with a disability to make a genuine independent 

16 choice of the appropriate public or private 

17 school for their child, if the program—

18 ‘‘(i) requires that the child—

19 ‘‘(I) have been determined to be 

20 a child with a disability in accordance 

21 with section 614; 

22 ‘‘(II) have spent the prior school 

23 year in attendance at a public elemen24 tary or secondary school unless the 

25 child was served under section 619 or 

26 part C during such year; and 
3

•HR 1373 IH 

1 ‘‘(III) have in effect an individ2 ualized education program (as defined 

3 in section 614(d)(1)(A)); 

4 ‘‘(ii) permits the parent to receive 

5 from the eligible entity funds to be used to 

6 pay some or all of the costs of attendance 

7 at the selected school (which may include 

8 tuition, fees, and transportation costs); 

9 ‘‘(iii) prohibits the selected school 

10 from discriminating against eligible stu11 dents on the basis of race, color, or na12 tional origin; and 

13 ‘‘(iv) requires the selected school to be 

14 academically accountable to the parent for 

15 meeting the educational needs of the stu16 dent.’’. 

17 (b) CHILDREN ENROLLED IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS BY

18 THEIR PARENTS.—Section 612(a)(10)(A) of the Individ19 uals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

20 1412(a)(10)(A)) is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(iii) PARENT OPTION PROGRAM.—If 

23 a State has established a program de24 scribed in section 672(b)(2)(I) (whether 

25 statewide or in limited areas of the State) 
4

•HR 1373 IH 

1 that allows a parent of a child with a dis2 ability to use public funds to pay some or 

3 all of the costs of attendance at a public or 

4 private school—

5 ‘‘(I) funds allocated to the State 

6 under section 611 may be used to 

7 supplement those public funds, if the 

8 Federal funds are distributed to par9 ents who make a genuine independent 

10 choice as to the appropriate school for 

11 their child; 

12 ‘‘(II) the authorization of a par13 ent to exercise this option fulfills the 

14 State’s obligation under paragraph (1) 

15 with respect to the child during the 

16 period in which the child is enrolled in 

17 the selected school; and 

18 ‘‘(III) a private school accepting 

19 those funds shall be deemed, for both 

20 the programs and services delivered to 

21 the child, to be providing a free ap22 propriate public education and to be 

23 in compliance with section 504 of the 

24 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

25 794).’’. 
5

•HR 1373 IH 

1 (c) PERMISSIVE USE OF FUNDS.—Section 613(a)(4) 

2 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 

3 U.S.C. 1413(a)(4)) is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(C) SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL SERV6 ICES FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN

7 SCHOOLS DESIGNATED FOR IMPROVEMENT.—

8 For the reasonable additional expenses (as de9 termined by the local educational agency) of 

10 any necessary accommodations to allow children 

11 with disabilities who are being educated in a 

12 school identified for school improvement under 

13 section 1116(b) of the Elementary and Sec14 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

15 6316(b)) to be provided supplemental edu16 cational services under section 1116(e) of such 

17 Act on an equitable basis, if such children with 

18 disabilities are eligible children (as defined in 

19 section 1116(e)(12)(A) of such Act).’’. 

20 (d) ALLOWING CHILDREN TO RECEIVE EARLY

21 INTERVENTION SERVICES UNTIL AGE 6.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 632(5) of the Indi23 viduals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

24 1432(5)) is amended—
6

•HR 1373 IH 

1 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

2 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

3 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

4 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(C) may also include, at a State’s discre7 tion, a child aged 3 through 5, who previously 

8 received services under this part and who is eli9 gible for services under section 619, if services 

10 provided to this age group under this part in11 clude an educational component that promotes 

12 school readiness and incorporates scientifically 

13 based pre-literacy, language, and numeracy 

14 skills.’’. 

15 (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR STATEWIDE SYS16 TEM.—Section 635 of the Individuals with Disabil17 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1435) is amended by 

18 adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF CHILDREN AGED 3 THROUGH

20 5.—If a State includes children described in section 

21 632(5)(C) in the system described in section 633, the 

22 State shall be considered to have fulfilled any obligation 

23 under part B with respect to the provision of a free appro-
7

•HR 1373 IH 

1 priate public education to those children during the period 

2 in which they are receiving services under this part.’’.

Æ