I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3268

To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, to reauthorize

and make improvements to that Act, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 18, 1996

Mr. CUNNINGHAM introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities

A BILL

To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,

to reauthorize and make improvements to that Act, and

for other purposes.

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 Improvement

5 Act of 1996’’.
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1 TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO THE

2 INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABIL3 ITIES EDUCATION ACT

4 SEC. 101. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS5 ABILITIES EDUCATION ACT.

6 Parts A through D of the Individuals with Disabil7 ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) are amended

8 to read as follows:

9 ‘‘PART A—GENERAL PROVISIONS

10 ‘‘SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; FINDINGS;

11 PURPOSES.

12 ‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This title may be cited as the

13 ‘Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’.

14 ‘‘(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents

15 for this title is as follows:

‘‘PART A—GENERAL PROVISIONS

‘‘Sec. 601. Short title; table of contents; findings; purposes.

‘‘Sec. 602. Definitions.

‘‘Sec. 603. Office of Special Education Programs.

‘‘Sec. 604. Abrogation of State sovereign immunity.

‘‘Sec. 605. Requirements for prescribing regulations.

‘‘PART B—ASSISTANCE FOR EDUCATION OF ALL CHILDREN WITH

DISABILITIES

‘‘Sec. 611. Authorization; allotment; use of funds; authorization of appropriations.

‘‘Sec. 612. State requirements.

‘‘Sec. 613. Local educational agency requirements.

‘‘Sec. 614. Evaluations, reevaluations, individualized education programs,

and educational placements.

‘‘Sec. 615. Procedural safeguards.

‘‘Sec. 616. Withholding and judicial review.

‘‘Sec. 617. Administration.

‘‘Sec. 618. Program information.

‘‘Sec. 619. Preschool grants.
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‘‘PART C—INFANTS AND TODDLERS WITH DISABILITIES

‘‘Sec. 631. Findings and policy.

‘‘Sec. 632. Definitions.

‘‘Sec. 633. General authority.

‘‘Sec. 634. Eligibility.

‘‘Sec. 635. Requirements for statewide system.

‘‘Sec. 636. Individualized family service plan.

‘‘Sec. 637. State application and assurances.

‘‘Sec. 638. Uses of funds.

‘‘Sec. 639. Procedural safeguards.

‘‘Sec. 640. Payor of last resort.

‘‘Sec. 641. State interagency coordinating council.

‘‘Sec. 642. Federal administration.

‘‘Sec. 643. Allocation of funds.

‘‘Sec. 644. Authorization of appropriations.

‘‘PART D—NATIONAL ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN

WITH DISABILITIES

‘‘Sec. 651. Purpose of part.

‘‘SUBPART 1—GENERAL PROVISIONS AND NATIONAL RESEARCH AND

IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES

‘‘Sec. 661. Comprehensive plan.

‘‘Sec. 662. Priorities.

‘‘Sec. 663. Peer review.

‘‘Sec. 664. Eligible applicants.

‘‘Sec. 665. Applicant and recipient responsibilities.

‘‘Sec. 666. Indirect costs.

‘‘Sec. 667. Program evaluation.

‘‘Sec. 668. National assessment.

‘‘Sec. 669. Authorization of appropriations.

‘‘SUBPART 2—STATE PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT GRANTS FOR CHILDREN WITH

DISABILITIES

‘‘Sec. 671. Purpose.

‘‘Sec. 672. Eligibility and collaborative process.

‘‘Sec. 673. State improvement plans.

‘‘Sec. 674. Use of funds.

‘‘Sec. 675. Minimum State allotments.

‘‘Sec. 676. Authorization of appropriations.

‘‘SUBPART 3—PARENT TRAINING

‘‘Sec. 681. Grants for parent training and information centers.

‘‘Sec. 682. Technical assistance for parent training and information centers.

‘‘Sec. 683. Authorization of appropriations.

1 ‘‘(c) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

2 ‘‘(1) Disability is a natural part of the human

3 experience and in no way diminishes the right of in-
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1 dividuals to participate in or contribute to society.

2 Improving educational results for children with dis3 abilities is an essential element of our national policy

4 of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participa5 tion, independent living, and economic self-suffi6 ciency for individuals with disabilities.

7 ‘‘(2) Before the date of the enactment of the

8 Education for All Handicapped Children Act of

9 1975 (Public Law 94–142)—

10 ‘‘(A) the special educational needs of chil11 dren with disabilities were not being fully met;

12 ‘‘(B) more than one-half of the children

13 with disabilities in the United States did not re14 ceive appropriate educational services that

15 would enable such children to have full equality

16 of opportunity;

17 ‘‘(C) 1,000,000 of the children with dis18 abilities in the United States were excluded en19 tirely from the public school system and did not

20 go through the educational process with their

21 peers;

22 ‘‘(D) there were many children with dis23 abilities throughout the United States partici24 pating in regular school programs whose dis25 abilities prevented such children from having a
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1 successful educational experience because their

2 disabilities were undetected; and

3 ‘‘(E) because of the lack of adequate serv4 ices within the public school system, families

5 were often forced to find services outside the

6 public school system, often at great distance

7 from their residence and at their own expense.

8 ‘‘(3) Since the enactment and implementation

9 of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act

10 of 1975, this Act has been successful in ensuring

11 children with disabilities and the families of such

12 children access to a free appropriate public edu13 cation and in improving educational results for chil14 dren with disabilities.

15 ‘‘(4) However, the implementation of this Act

16 has been impeded by low expectations, and an insuf17 ficient focus on applying replicable research on prov18 en methods of teaching and learning for children

19 with disabilities.

20 ‘‘(5) 20 years of research and experience has

21 demonstrated that the education of children with

22 disabilities can be made more effective by—

23 ‘‘(A) having high expectations for such

24 children and ensuring their access in the gen-
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1 eral curriculum to the maximum extent pos2 sible;

3 ‘‘(B) ensuring that families of such chil4 dren have meaningful opportunities to partici5 pate in the education of their children at school

6 and at home;

7 ‘‘(C) coordinating this Act with other local,

8 State, and Federal school improvement efforts

9 in order to ensure that such children benefit

10 from such efforts and that special education

11 can become a service for such children rather

12 than a place where they are sent;

13 ‘‘(D) providing appropriate special edu14 cation and related services and aids and sup15 ports in the regular classroom to such children,

16 whenever appropriate;

17 ‘‘(E) supporting high-quality, intensive

18 professional development for all personnel who

19 work with such children in order to ensure that

20 they have the skills and knowledge necessary to

21 enable them—

22 ‘‘(i) to meet developmental goals and,

23 to the maximum extent possible, those

24 challenging expectations that have been es25 tablished for all children; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) to be prepared to lead produc2 tive, independent, adult lives, to the maxi3 mum extent possible;

4 ‘‘(F) providing incentives for whole-school

5 approaches and early intervention to reduce the

6 need to label children as disabled in order to

7 address their learning needs; and

8 ‘‘(G) focusing resources on teaching and

9 learning while reducing paperwork and require10 ments that do not assist in improving edu11 cational results.

12 ‘‘(6) While States and local educational agen13 cies are responsible for providing an education for

14 all children with disabilities, it is in the national in15 terest that the Federal Government have a role in

16 assisting State and local efforts to educate children

17 with disabilities in order to improve results for such

18 children and to ensure equal protection of the law.

19 ‘‘(d) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are—

20 ‘‘(1) to ensure that all children with disabilities

21 have available to them a free appropriate public edu22 cation that emphasizes special education and related

23 services designed to meet their unique needs and

24 prepare them for employment and independent liv25 ing;
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1 ‘‘(2) to ensure that the rights of children with

2 disabilities and parents of such children are pro3 tected;

4 ‘‘(3) to assist States, localities, and Federal

5 agencies to provide for the education of all children

6 with disabilities; and

7 ‘‘(4) to assess, and ensure the effectiveness of,

8 efforts to educate children with disabilities.

9 ‘‘SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS.

10 ‘‘As used in this title:

11 ‘‘(1) ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY DEVICE.—The

12 term ‘assistive technology device’ means any item,

13 piece of equipment, or product system, whether ac14 quired commercially off the shelf, modified, or cus15 tomized, that is used to increase, maintain, or im16 prove functional capabilities of a child with a disabil17 ity.

18 ‘‘(2) ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY SERVICE.—The

19 term ‘assistive technology service’ means any service

20 that directly assists a child with a disability in the

21 selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive tech22 nology device. Such term includes—

23 ‘‘(A) the evaluation of the needs of such

24 child, including a functional evaluation of the

25 child in the child’s customary environment;
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1 ‘‘(B) purchasing, leasing, or otherwise pro2 viding for the acquisition of assistive technology

3 devices by such child;

4 ‘‘(C) selecting, designing, fitting, customiz5 ing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing,

6 or replacing of assistive technology devices;

7 ‘‘(D) coordinating and using other thera8 pies, interventions, or services with assistive

9 technology devices, such as those associated

10 with existing education and rehabilitation plans

11 and programs;

12 ‘‘(E) training or technical assistance for

13 such child, or, where appropriate, the family of

14 such child; and

15 ‘‘(F) training or technical assistance for

16 professionals (including individuals providing

17 education and rehabilitation services), employ18 ers, or other individuals who provide services to,

19 employ, or are otherwise substantially involved

20 in the major life functions of such child.

21 ‘‘(3) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘child with a

23 disability’ means a child—

24 ‘‘(i) with mental retardation, hearing

25 impairments (including deafness), speech
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1 or language impairments, visual impair2 ments (including blindness), serious emo3 tional disturbance, orthopedic impairments,

4 autism, traumatic brain injury, other

5 health impairments, or specific learning

6 disabilities; and

7 ‘‘(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs

8 special education and related services.

9 ‘‘(B) CHILD AGED 3 TO 9.—The term

10 ‘child with a disability’ for a child aged 3 to 9,

11 inclusive, may, at the discretion of the State,

12 include a child—

13 ‘‘(i) experiencing developmental

14 delays, as defined by the State and as

15 measured by appropriate diagnostic instru16 ments and procedures, in one or more of

17 the following areas: physical development,

18 cognitive development, communication de19 velopment, social or emotional develop20 ment, or adaptive development; and

21 ‘‘(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs

22 special education and related services.

23 ‘‘(4) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGENCY.—The

24 term ‘educational service agency’—
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1 ‘‘(A) means a regional public multiservice

2 agency—

3 ‘‘(i) authorized by State law to de4 velop, manage, and provide services or pro5 grams to local educational agencies; and

6 ‘‘(ii) recognized as an administrative

7 agency for purposes of the provision of

8 special education and related services pro9 vided within public elementary and second10 ary schools of the State; and

11 ‘‘(B) includes any other public institution

12 or agency having administrative control and di13 rection over a public elementary or secondary

14 school.

15 ‘‘(5) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘ele16 mentary school’ means a day or residential school

17 which provides elementary education, as determined

18 under State law, policy, or procedure.

19 ‘‘(6) EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘equipment’ in20 cludes—

21 ‘‘(A) machinery, utilities, and built-in

22 equipment and any necessary enclosures or

23 structures to house such machinery, utilities, or

24 equipment; and
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1 ‘‘(B) all other items necessary for the

2 functioning of a particular facility as a facility

3 for the provision of educational services, includ4 ing items such as instructional equipment and

5 necessary furniture, printed, published, and

6 audio-visual instructional materials, tele7 communications, sensory, and other techno8 logical aids and devices, and books, periodicals,

9 documents, and other related materials.

10 ‘‘(7) EXCESS COSTS.—The term ‘excess costs’

11 means those costs which are in excess of the average

12 annual per student expenditure in a local edu13 cational agency during the preceding school year for

14 an elementary or secondary school student, as may

15 be appropriate, and which shall be computed after

16 deducting—

17 ‘‘(A) amounts received—

18 ‘‘(i) under part B of this title;

19 ‘‘(ii) under part A of title I of the El20 ementary and Secondary Education Act of

21 1965; or

22 ‘‘(iii) under part A of title VII of such

23 Act; and
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1 ‘‘(B) any State or local funds expended for

2 programs that would qualify for assistance

3 under any such part.

4 ‘‘(8) FREE APPROPRIATE PUBLIC EDU5 CATION.—The term ‘free appropriate public edu6 cation’ means special education and related services

7 that—

8 ‘‘(A) have been provided at public expense,

9 under public supervision and direction, and

10 without charge;

11 ‘‘(B) meet the standards of the State edu12 cational agency;

13 ‘‘(C) include an appropriate preschool, ele14 mentary, or secondary school education in the

15 State involved; and

16 ‘‘(D) are provided in conformity with the

17 individualized education program required

18 under section 614(d).

19 ‘‘(9) INDIAN.—The term ‘Indian’ means an in20 dividual who is a member of an Indian tribe.

21 ‘‘(10) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’

22 means any Federal or State Indian tribe, band,

23 rancheria, pueblo, colony, or community, including

24 any Alaskan native village or regional village cor-
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1 poration (as defined in or established under the

2 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act).

3 ‘‘(11) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PRO4 GRAM.—The term ‘individualized education program’

5 or ‘IEP’ means a written statement for each child

6 with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and re7 vised in accordance with section 614(d) and that in8 cludes—

9 ‘‘(A) a statement of the child’s present lev10 els of educational performance, including—

11 ‘‘(i) how the child’s impairment af12 fects the child’s participation and progress

13 in the general curriculum; or

14 ‘‘(ii) for preschool children, as appro15 priate, how the impairment affects the

16 child’s participation in developmentally ap17 propriate activities;

18 ‘‘(B) a statement of measurable annual ob19 jectives related to—

20 ‘‘(i) meeting the child’s needs that re21 sult from the child’s impairment to enable

22 the child to participate in the general cur23 riculum; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) meeting each of the child’s other

2 educational needs, if any, that result from

3 the child’s impairment;

4 ‘‘(C) a statement of how the classroom was

5 adapted before the student was referred for

6 identification as a child with a disability;

7 ‘‘(D) a justification of the extent, if any, to

8 which the child will not be educated with non9 disabled children;

10 ‘‘(E) a statement of the special education

11 and related services and supplementary aids

12 and services to be provided to the child, or on

13 behalf of the child, which shall include, when

14 appropriate, behavior management and behavior

15 modification techniques to be employed by

16 qualified staff to help the child behave in an ap17 propriate and responsible manner conducive to

18 learning, and any program modifications or

19 support for school personnel necessary for the

20 child—

21 ‘‘(i) to attain the annual objectives de22 scribed in subparagraph (B); and

23 ‘‘(ii) to participate in the general cur24 riculum and in extracurricular and other

25 nonacademic activities;
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1 ‘‘(F)(i) a statement of any individual modi2 fications in the administration of State or dis3 trictwide assessments of student achievement

4 that are needed in order for the child to partici5 pate in such assessment; and

6 ‘‘(ii) if the individualized education pro7 gram team determines that the child will not

8 participate in a particular State or districtwide

9 assessment of student achievement (or part of

10 such an assessment), a statement of—

11 ‘‘(I) why that assessment is not ap12 propriate for the child; and

13 ‘‘(II) how the child will be assessed;

14 ‘‘(G) the projected date for the beginning

15 of the services and modifications described in

16 subparagraph (E), and the anticipated fre17 quency, location, and duration of those services

18 and modifications;

19 ‘‘(H) in order to ensure that each child

20 completes secondary school prepared for em21 ployment or postsecondary education and inde22 pendent living, and understands his or her

23 rights under this title on attaining the age or

24 majority (if the State provides for the transfer

25 of those rights from the parents)—
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1 ‘‘(i) beginning at age 14 (or younger,

2 if determined appropriate by the IEP

3 Team) and updated annually, a plan for

4 the child’s transition from secondary school

5 that focuses on the child’s courses of study

6 (such as participation in advanced-place7 ment courses or a vocational education or

8 school-to-work program) including, when

9 appropriate, a statement of the interagency

10 responsibilities or any needed linkages (or

11 both) before the child leaves the school set12 ting;

13 ‘‘(ii) beginning at age 16 (or younger,

14 if determined appropriate by the IEP

15 Team), a statement of needed transition

16 services for the child; and

17 ‘‘(iii) beginning at least one year be18 fore the child reaches the age of majority

19 under State law, a statement concerning

20 the rights under this title, if any, that will

21 transfer to the child on reaching the age of

22 majority under section 615(m); and

23 ‘‘(I) a statement of—
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1 ‘‘(i) how the child’s progress toward

2 the annual objectives described in subpara3 graph (B) will be measured; and

4 ‘‘(ii) how the child’s parents will be

5 regularly informed (by such means as peri6 odic report cards), at least as often as par7 ents are informed of their nondisabled chil8 dren’s progress, of—

9 ‘‘(I) their child’s progress toward

10 such annual objectives; and

11 ‘‘(II) the extent to which that

12 progress is sufficient to enable the

13 child to achieve the objectives by the

14 end of the year.

15 ‘‘(12) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM

16 TEAM.—The term ‘individualized education program

17 team’ or ‘IEP Team’ means a group of individuals

18 composed of—

19 ‘‘(A) the parents of a child with a disabil20 ity;

21 ‘‘(B) at least one regular education teacher

22 of such child (if the child is, or may be, partici23 pating in the regular education environment);
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1 ‘‘(C) at least one special education teacher,

2 or where appropriate, at least one special edu3 cation provider of such child;

4 ‘‘(D) a representative of the local edu5 cational agency who—

6 ‘‘(i) is qualified to provide, or super7 vise the provision of, specially designed in8 struction to meet the unique needs of chil9 dren with disabilities;

10 ‘‘(ii) is knowledgeable about the gen11 eral curriculum; and

12 ‘‘(iii) has the authority to commit re13 sources of the local educational agency;

14 ‘‘(E) whenever appropriate, the child with

15 a disability; and

16 ‘‘(F) other individuals, at the discretion of

17 the parent or the agency.

18 ‘‘(13) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—

19 The term ‘institution of higher education’—

20 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given that term in

21 section 1201(a) of the Higher Education Act of

22 1965; and

23 ‘‘(B) also includes any community college

24 receiving funding from the Secretary of the In-
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1 terior under the Tribally Controlled Community

2 College Assistance Act of 1978.

3 ‘‘(14) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The

4 term ‘local educational agency’ means—

5 ‘‘(A) a public board of education or other

6 public authority legally constituted within a

7 State for either administrative control or direc8 tion of, or to perform a service function for,

9 public elementary or secondary schools in a

10 city, county, township, school district, or other

11 political subdivision of a State, or for a com12 bination of school districts or counties as are

13 recognized in a State as an administrative

14 agency for its public elementary or secondary

15 schools;

16 ‘‘(B) any other public institution or agency

17 having administrative control and direction of a

18 public elementary or secondary school; or

19 ‘‘(C) an educational service agency.

20 ‘‘(15) NATIVE LANGUAGE.—The term ‘native

21 language’, when used with reference to an individual

22 of limited English proficiency, means the language

23 normally used by the individual, or in the case of a

24 child, the language normally used by the parents of

25 the child, and includes American Sign Language.
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1 ‘‘(16) NONPROFIT.—The term ‘nonprofit’ as

2 applied to a school, agency, organization, or institu3 tion means a school, agency, organization, or institu4 tion owned and operated by one or more nonprofit

5 corporations or associations no part of the net earn6 ings of which inures, or may lawfully inure, to the

7 benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

8 ‘‘(17) PARENT.—The term ‘parent’ includes a

9 legal guardian or surrogate parent.

10 ‘‘(18) PARENT ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘par11 ent organization’ means a private nonprofit organi12 zation (but not including an institution of higher

13 education) that—

14 ‘‘(A) has a board of directors—

15 ‘‘(i) the majority of whom are parents

16 of children with disabilities;

17 ‘‘(ii) that includes—

18 ‘‘(I) individuals working in the

19 fields of special education, related

20 services, and early intervention; and

21 ‘‘(II) individuals with disabilities;

22 and

23 ‘‘(iii) the parent and professional

24 members of which are broadly representa25 tive of the population to be served; or
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1 ‘‘(B)(i) represents the interests of individ2 uals with disabilities and has established a spe3 cial governing committee which meets the re4 quirements of subparagraph (A); and

5 ‘‘(ii) has a memorandum of understanding

6 between the special governing committee and

7 the board of directors of the organization which

8 clearly outlines the relationship between the

9 board and the committee and the decisionmak10 ing responsibilities and authority of each.

11 ‘‘(19) PARENT TRAINING AND INFORMATION

12 CENTER.—The term ‘parent training and informa13 tion center’ means a center that—

14 ‘‘(A) provides training and information

15 that meets the training and information needs

16 of parents of children with disabilities living in

17 the area served by the center; and

18 ‘‘(B) assists parents—

19 ‘‘(i) to better understand the nature

20 of their children’s disabilities and their

21 educational and developmental needs;

22 ‘‘(ii) to communicate effectively with

23 personnel responsible for providing special

24 education, early intervention, and related

25 services;
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1 ‘‘(iii) to participate in decisionmaking

2 processes and the development of the IEP;

3 ‘‘(iv) to obtain appropriate informa4 tion about the range of options, programs,

5 services, and resources available to assist

6 children with disabilities and their families;

7 ‘‘(v) to understand the programs

8 under this title for the education of, and

9 the provision of early intervention services

10 to, children with disabilities; and

11 ‘‘(vi) to participate in school reform

12 activities.

13 ‘‘(20) RELATED SERVICES.—The term ‘related

14 services’ means transportation, and such devel15 opmental, corrective, and other supportive services

16 (including curriculum content specialists’ services,

17 such as services provided by reading and math spe18 cialists, speech-language pathology and audiology

19 services, psychological services, physical and occupa20 tional therapy, recreation, including therapeutic

21 recreation, social work services, counseling services,

22 including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and

23 mobility services, and medical services, except that

24 such medical services shall be for diagnostic and

25 evaluation purposes only) as may be required to as-
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1 sist a child with a disability to benefit from special

2 education, and includes the early identification and

3 assessment of disabling conditions in children.

4 ‘‘(21) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘second5 ary school’ means a day or residential school which

6 provides secondary education, as determined under

7 State law, policy, or procedure, except that it does

8 not include any education provided beyond grade 12.

9 ‘‘(22) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’

10 means the Secretary of Education.

11 ‘‘(23) SPECIAL EDUCATION.—The term ‘special

12 education’ means specially designed instruction, at

13 no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a

14 child with a disability, including—

15 ‘‘(A) instruction and related services con16 ducted in the classroom, in the home, in hos17 pitals and institutions, and in other settings;

18 and

19 ‘‘(B) instruction in physical education.

20 ‘‘(24) SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITY.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘specific

22 learning disability’ means a disorder in one or

23 more of the basic psychological processes in24 volved in understanding or in using language,

25 spoken or written, which disorder may manifest
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1 itself in imperfect ability to listen, think, speak,

2 read, write, spell, or do mathematical calcula3 tions.

4 ‘‘(B) DISORDERS INCLUDED.—Such term

5 includes such conditions as perceptual disabil6 ities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction,

7 dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

8 ‘‘(C) DISORDERS NOT INCLUDED.—Such

9 term does not include a learning problem that

10 is primarily the result of visual, hearing, or

11 motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of

12 emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cul13 tural, or economic disadvantage.

14 ‘‘(25) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of

15 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com16 monwealth of Puerto Rico, and each of the terri17 tories.

18 ‘‘(26) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The

19 term ‘State educational agency’ means the State

20 board of education or other agency or officer pri21 marily responsible for the State supervision of public

22 elementary and secondary schools, or, if there is no

23 such officer or agency, an officer or agency des24 ignated by the Governor or by State law.
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1 ‘‘(27) TERRITORY.—The term ‘territory’ means

2 American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the North3 ern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.

4 ‘‘(28) TRANSITION SERVICES.—The term ‘tran5 sition services’ means a coordinated set of activities

6 for a child with a disability that—

7 ‘‘(A) are designed within an outcome-ori8 ented process, which promotes movement from

9 school to post-school activities, including post10 secondary education, vocational training, inte11 grated employment (including supported em12 ployment), continuing and adult education,

13 adult services, independent living, or community

14 participation;

15 ‘‘(B) are based upon the individual child’s

16 needs, taking into account the child’s pref17 erences and interests; and

18 ‘‘(C) include instruction, related services,

19 community experiences, the development of em20 ployment and other post-school adult living ob21 jectives, and, when appropriate, acquisition of

22 daily living skills and functional vocational eval23 uation.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 603. OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be, within the

3 Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in

4 the Department of Education, an Office of Special Edu5 cation Programs which shall be the principal agency in

6 such Department for administering and carrying out this

7 title and other programs and activities concerning the edu8 cation and training of children with disabilities.

9 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—The Office established under sub10 section (a) shall be headed by a Director who shall be se11 lected by the Secretary and shall report directly to the As12 sistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative

13 Services.

14 ‘‘(c) VOLUNTARY AND UNCOMPENSATED SERV15 ICES.—Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United

16 States Code, the Secretary is authorized to accept vol17 untary and uncompensated services in furtherance of the

18 purposes of this title.

19 ‘‘SEC. 604. ABROGATION OF STATE SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State shall not be immune

21 under the eleventh amendment to the Constitution of the

22 United States from suit in Federal court for a violation

23 of this title.

24 ‘‘(b) REMEDIES.—In a suit against a State for a vio25 lation of this title, remedies (including remedies both at

26 law and in equity) are available for such a violation to
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1 the same extent as such remedies are available for such

2 a violation in the suit against any public entity other than

3 a State.

4 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The provisions of sub5 sections (a) and (b) apply with respect to violations that

6 occur in whole or part after the date of the enactment

7 of the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of

8 1990.

9 ‘‘SEC. 605. REQUIREMENTS FOR PRESCRIBING REGULA10 TIONS.

11 ‘‘(a) PUBLIC-COMMENT PERIOD.—The Secretary

12 shall provide a public-comment period of at least 90 days

13 on any regulation proposed under part B or part C of this

14 title on which an opportunity for public comment is other15 wise required by law.

16 ‘‘(b) PROTECTIONS PROVIDED TO CHILDREN.—The

17 Secretary may not implement, or publish in final form,

18 any regulation prescribed pursuant to this title which

19 would procedurally or substantively lessen the protections

20 provided to children with disabilities under this title, as

21 embodied in regulations in effect on July 20, 1983 (par22 ticularly as such protections relate to parental consent to

23 initial evaluation or initial placement in special education,

24 least restrictive environment, related services, timeliness,

25 attendance of evaluation personnel at individualized edu-
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1 cation program meetings, or qualifications of personnel),

2 except to the extent that such regulation reflects the clear

3 and unequivocal intent of the Congress in legislation.

4 ‘‘(c) CORRESPONDENCE FROM DEPARTMENT OF

5 EDUCATION DESCRIBING INTERPRETATIONS OF THIS

6 PART.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, on a

8 quarterly basis, publish in the Federal Register, and

9 widely disseminate to interested entities through var10 ious additional forms of communication, a list of

11 correspondence from the Department of Education

12 received by individuals during the previous quarter

13 that describes the interpretations of the Department

14 of Education of this part or the regulations imple15 mented pursuant to this part.

16 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—For each

17 item of correspondence published in a list under

18 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall identify the topic

19 addressed by the correspondence and shall include

20 such other summary information as the Secretary

21 determines to be appropriate.

22 ‘‘(3) RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF CORRESPOND23 ENCE.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

25 subparagraph (B), an item of correspondence
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1 published and disseminated under paragraph

2 (1) may not be used in the following:

3 ‘‘(i) An administrative or due process

4 action commenced under section 615.

5 ‘‘(ii) A compliance review or other ac6 tion relating to a State educational agency

7 conducted by the Department of Edu8 cation.

9 ‘‘(iii) A compliance review or other ac10 tion relating to a local educational agency

11 or other agency conducted by a State edu12 cational agency.

13 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—A restriction on the

14 use of an item of correspondence under sub15 paragraph (A) shall not apply if the item of

16 correspondence—

17 ‘‘(i) is directly related to the particu18 lar fact situation, practice, or policy at

19 issue under clause (i) or (iii) of subpara20 graph (A); and

21 ‘‘(ii)(I) was originally directed to one

22 of the parties to the action under subpara23 graph (A)(i); or
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1 ‘‘(II) was originally directed to the

2 particular local educational agency or other

3 agency under subparagraph (A)(iii); or

4 ‘‘(ii) was originally directed to the

5 particular State educational agency under

6 subparagraph (A)(ii).

7 ‘‘PART B—ASSISTANCE FOR EDUCATION OF ALL

8 CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

9 ‘‘SEC. 611. AUTHORIZATION; ALLOTMENT; USE OF FUNDS;

10 AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

11 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of Education

12 shall provide grants to States and provide amounts to the

13 Secretary of the Interior for the purpose of providing spe14 cial education and related services to children with disabil15 ities in accordance with this part.

16 ‘‘(b) ALLOTMENT AMONG STATES.—

17 ‘‘(1) RESERVATION FOR THE TERRITORIES.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount appro19 priated pursuant to subsection (e) to carry out

20 this part for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall

21 allot not more than one percent among the ter22 ritories in accordance with this paragraph.

23 ‘‘(B) BASIS FOR ALLOTMENT.—The Sec24 retary shall allot to each territory an amount

25 that bears the same proportion to the amount
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1 appropriated pursuant to subsection (e) for a

2 fiscal year as the number of individuals aged 3

3 to 21, inclusive, residing in such territory bears

4 to the aggregate number of such individuals re5 siding in all such territories.

6 ‘‘(C) PROHIBITION ON CONSOLIDATION OF

7 GRANTS.—The provisions of section 501 of

8 Public Law 95–134 (48 U.S.C. 1469a; relating

9 to the consolidation of one or more grants pro10 vided to certain territories) shall not apply with

11 respect to amounts provided to a territory

12 under a grant under this part.

13 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.—Of the

14 amount appropriated pursuant to subsection (e) to

15 carry out this part for a fiscal year, the Secretary

16 shall provide to the Secretary of the Interior an

17 amount equal to not more than one percent to carry

18 out subsection (d) (relating to special education and

19 related services for Indian children with disabilities).

20 ‘‘(3) STATES.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—After determining the

22 amount to be allotted to the territories under

23 paragraph (1) and the amount to be provided

24 to the Secretary of the Interior under para25 graph (2) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall
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1 allot the remaining amount to the remaining

2 States in accordance with this paragraph.

3 ‘‘(B) BASIS FOR ALLOTMENT.—Except as

4 provided in subparagraph (D), the Secretary

5 shall allot to each State an amount equal to the

6 sum of the following amounts:

7 ‘‘(i) The amount equal to—

8 ‘‘(I) 85 percent of the remaining

9 amount described in subparagraph

10 (A); multiplied by

11 ‘‘(II) the child population per12 centage of the State (as determined

13 under subparagraph (C)(i)).

14 ‘‘(ii) The amount equal to—

15 ‘‘(I) 15 percent of the remaining

16 amount described in subparagraph

17 (A); multiplied by

18 ‘‘(II) the child poverty percentage

19 of the State (as determined under

20 subparagraph (C)(ii)).

21 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF CHILD POPU22 LATION PERCENTAGE AND CHILD POVERTY

23 PERCENTAGE.—
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1 ‘‘(i) CHILD POPULATION PERCENT2 AGE.—The child population percentage

3 shall be determined by comparing—

4 ‘‘(I) the number of children aged

5 3 to 21, inclusive, in the State who

6 are of the same age as children with

7 disabilities for whom the State en8 sures the availability of a free appro9 priate public education; to

10 ‘‘(II) the number of such children

11 in all States.

12 ‘‘(ii) CHILD POVERTY PERCENTAGE.—

13 The child poverty percentage shall be de14 termined by comparing—

15 ‘‘(I) the number of children aged

16 3 to 21, inclusive, in the State living

17 in poverty who are of the same age as

18 children with disabilities for whom the

19 State ensures the availability of a free

20 appropriate public education; to

21 ‘‘(II) the number of such children

22 in all States.

23 ‘‘(D) TRANSITION FORMULA.—For each of

24 the fiscal years 1997 through 2005, the Sec25 retary shall allot the remaining amount to the
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1 remaining States in accordance with the follow2 ing:

3 ‘‘(i) FISCAL YEAR 1997.—For fiscal

4 year 1997, the Secretary shall allot to each

5 remaining State the sum of—

6 ‘‘(I) 10 percent multiplied by the

7 amount determined for such State

8 under subparagraph (B); and

9 ‘‘(II) 90 percent multiplied by

10 the amount determined for such State

11 under subparagraph (E).

12 ‘‘(ii) FISCAL YEAR 1998.—For fiscal

13 year 1998, the Secretary shall allot to each

14 remaining State the sum of—

15 ‘‘(I) 20 percent multiplied by the

16 amount determined for such State

17 under subparagraph (B); and

18 ‘‘(II) 80 percent multiplied by

19 the amount determined for such State

20 under subparagraph (E).

21 ‘‘(iii) FISCAL YEAR 1999.—For fiscal

22 year 1999, the Secretary shall allot to each

23 remaining State the sum of—
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1 ‘‘(I) 30 percent multiplied by the

2 amount determined for such State

3 under subparagraph (B); and

4 ‘‘(II) 70 percent multiplied by

5 the amount determined for such State

6 under subparagraph (E).

7 ‘‘(iv) FISCAL YEAR 2000.—For fiscal

8 year 2000, the Secretary shall allot to each

9 remaining State the sum of—

10 ‘‘(I) 40 percent multiplied by the

11 amount determined for such State

12 under subparagraph (B); and

13 ‘‘(II) 60 percent multiplied by

14 the amount determined for such State

15 under subparagraph (E).

16 ‘‘(v) FISCAL YEAR 2001.—For fiscal

17 year 2001, the Secretary shall allot to each

18 remaining State the sum of—

19 ‘‘(I) 50 percent multiplied by the

20 amount determined for such State

21 under subparagraph (B); and

22 ‘‘(II) 50 percent multiplied by

23 the amount determined for such State

24 under subparagraph (E).
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1 ‘‘(vi) FISCAL YEAR 2002.—For fiscal

2 year 2002, the Secretary shall allot to each

3 remaining State the sum of—

4 ‘‘(I) 60 percent multiplied by the

5 amount determined for such State

6 under subparagraph (B); and

7 ‘‘(II) 40 percent multiplied by

8 the amount determined for such State

9 under subparagraph (E).

10 ‘‘(vii) FISCAL YEAR 2003.—For fiscal

11 year 2003, the Secretary shall allot to each

12 remaining State the sum of—

13 ‘‘(I) 70 percent multiplied by the

14 amount determined for such State

15 under subparagraph (B); and

16 ‘‘(II) 30 percent multiplied by

17 the amount determined for such State

18 under subparagraph (E).

19 ‘‘(viii) FISCAL YEAR 2004.—For fiscal

20 year 2004, the Secretary shall allot to each

21 remaining State the sum of—

22 ‘‘(I) 80 percent multiplied by the

23 amount determined for such State

24 under subparagraph (B); and
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1 ‘‘(II) 20 percent multiplied by

2 the amount determined for such State

3 under subparagraph (E).

4 ‘‘(ix) FISCAL YEAR 2005.—For fiscal

5 year 2005, the Secretary shall allot to each

6 remaining State the sum of—

7 ‘‘(I) 90 percent multiplied by the

8 amount determined for such State

9 under subparagraph (B); and

10 ‘‘(II) 10 percent multiplied by

11 the amount determined for such State

12 under subparagraph (E).

13 ‘‘(E) BASE AMOUNT FOR 1996.—

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause

15 (ii), the amount determined under this

16 subparagraph for a State is the amount

17 that bears the same proportion to the re18 maining amount (described in subpara19 graph (A)) for the fiscal year under sub20 paragraph (D) as the amount received by

21 the State under this section for fiscal year

22 1996 bears to the aggregate of the

23 amounts received by the remaining States

24 (described in subparagraph (A)) under this

25 section for fiscal year 1996.
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1 ‘‘(ii) REDUCTION IN AMOUNT.—If the

2 State received an amount under this sec3 tion for fiscal year 1996 on the basis of

4 children aged 3 to 5, inclusive, in such

5 State, but the State does not make a free

6 appropriate public education available to

7 all children with disabilities aged 3 to 5,

8 inclusive, in the State at the time a deter9 mination is made under subparagraph (C),

10 the Secretary shall reduce, on a propor11 tional basis, the amount under clause (i)

12 for purposes of allotting amounts under

13 such subparagraph.

14 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE WITH RESPECT TO PUERTO

15 RICO.—

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any

17 other provision of this subsection, the amount

18 allotted to Puerto Rico for a fiscal year shall

19 bear the same or lower proportion to the re20 maining amount (described in paragraph

21 (3)(A)) as the amount received by Puerto Rico

22 under this section for fiscal year 1996 bears to

23 the aggregate of the amounts received by the

24 remaining States (as described in paragraph

25 (3)(A)) under this section for fiscal year 1996.
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1 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT IN AMOUNTS TO RE2 MAINING STATES.—If the amount allotted to

3 Puerto Rico for a fiscal year is determined

4 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall

5 reallot to the remaining States (as described in

6 paragraph (3)(A)), on a proportional basis, any

7 amount not otherwise allotted to Puerto Rico.

8 ‘‘(5) USE OF MOST RECENT POPULATION

9 DATA.—For the purpose of providing grants under

10 this part, the Secretary shall use the most recent

11 population data and data on children aged 3 to 21,

12 inclusive, living in poverty that are available and sat13 isfactory to the Secretary.

14 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS BY STATE.—

15 ‘‘(1) RESERVATION FOR STATE ACTIVITIES.—

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara17 graph (D), a State may reserve not more than

18 10 percent of the amount allotted to the State

19 under paragraph (1) or (3) of subsection (b) for

20 a fiscal year for administration and other State21 level activities in accordance with subpara22 graphs (B) and (C).

23 ‘‘(B) STATE ADMINISTRATION.—

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose

25 of administering programs under this part,
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1 including the coordination of activities

2 under this part with, and providing tech3 nical assistance to, other programs that

4 provide services to children with disabil5 ities—

6 ‘‘(I) each territory may use up to

7 3 percent of the amount allotted to

8 the territory for a fiscal year, or

9 $35,000, whichever is greater; and

10 ‘‘(II) each remaining State may

11 use up to 3 percent of the amount al12 lotted to the State for a fiscal year, or

13 $450,000, whichever is greater.

14 ‘‘(ii) USE OF AMOUNTS FOR ADMINIS15 TRATION OF PART C.—If the State edu16 cational agency is the lead agency for the

17 State under part C, amounts described in

18 clause (i) may also be used for the admin19 istration of part C.

20 ‘‘(C) OTHER STATE-LEVEL ACTIVITIES.—A

21 State shall use any amounts reserved under

22 subparagraph (A) for a fiscal year that are not

23 used for administration under subparagraph

24 (B) for such fiscal year—
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1 ‘‘(i) for support and direct services,

2 including technical assistance and person3 nel development and training;

4 ‘‘(ii) for administrative costs of mon5 itoring and complaint investigation, but

6 only to the extent that such costs exceed

7 the costs incurred for those activities dur8 ing fiscal year 1985;

9 ‘‘(iii) to establish and implement the

10 mediation process required by section

11 615(d);

12 ‘‘(iv) to assist local educational agen13 cies in meeting personnel shortages;

14 ‘‘(v) to develop a State improvement

15 plan under part D;

16 ‘‘(vi) for activities at the State and

17 local levels to meet the performance goals

18 established by the State under section

19 612(a)(14) and to support implementation

20 of the State improvement plan under part

21 D if the State receives funds under that

22 part; or

23 ‘‘(vii) to supplement other amounts

24 used to develop and implement a Statewide

25 coordinated services system designed to im-
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1 prove results for children and families, in2 cluding children with disabilities and their

3 families, but not to exceed one percent of

4 the amount received by the State under

5 this section (such system shall be coordi6 nated with and, to the extent appropriate,

7 build on the system of coordinated services

8 developed by the State under part C).

9 ‘‘(D) ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS.—Subject to

10 the approval of the Secretary, a State may re11 serve up to an additional 15 percent of the

12 amount allotted to the State under paragraph

13 (1) or (3) of subsection (b) for a fiscal year for

14 the purpose of carrying out clause (i), (ii), (iii),

15 or (iv) of subparagraph (C).

16 ‘‘(2) SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

17 AGENCIES AND CERTAIN STATE AGENCIES.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The State shall pro19 vide at least 90 percent of the amount received

20 under a grant for a fiscal year to local edu21 cational agencies in the State that have estab22 lished their eligibility under section 613, and to

23 State agencies that received funds under section

24 614A(a) (as such section was in effect on the

25 day before the date of the enactment of the
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1 IDEA Improvement Act of 1996) for fiscal year

2 1996 and have established their eligibility under

3 section 613, for use in accordance with this

4 part.

5 ‘‘(B) METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION.—A

6 State may provide amounts under subpara7 graph (A) to local educational agencies and

8 State agencies described under such subpara9 graph on the basis of—

10 ‘‘(i) school-age population;

11 ‘‘(ii) school enrollment;

12 ‘‘(iii) numbers of children with disabil13 ities receiving a free appropriate public

14 education;

15 ‘‘(iv) allocations for previous fiscal

16 years;

17 ‘‘(v) any two or more of the factors

18 described in clauses (i) through (iv); or

19 ‘‘(vi) poverty, in combination with one

20 or more of the factors described in clauses

21 (i) through (iv).

22 ‘‘(C) FORMER CHAPTER 1 STATE AGEN23 CIES.—

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—To the extent nec25 essary for each of the fiscal years 1997,
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1 1998, and 1999, the State shall use

2 amounts that are available under para3 graph (1)(A) to ensure that each State

4 agency that received amounts in fiscal year

5 1994 under subpart 2 of part D of chapter

6 1 of title I of the Elementary and Second7 ary Education Act of 1965 (as such sub8 part was in effect on the day before the

9 date of the enactment of the Improving

10 America’s Schools Act of 1994) receives,

11 from the combination of funds under para12 graph (1)(A) and funds provided under

13 subparagraph (A), an amount equal to—

14 ‘‘(I) the number of children with

15 disabilities, aged 6 to 21, inclusive, to

16 whom the agency was providing spe17 cial education and related services on

18 December 1 of the fiscal year for

19 which the funds were appropriated,

20 subject to the methods of distribution

21 under subparagraph (B); multiplied

22 by

23 ‘‘(II) the per-child amount pro24 vided under such subpart for fiscal

25 year 1994.
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1 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL USE OF

2 AMOUNTS.—The State may use amounts

3 described in clause (i) to ensure that each

4 local educational agency that received fis5 cal year 1994 funds under that subpart for

6 children who had transferred from a State7 operated or State-supported school or pro8 gram assisted under that subpart receives,

9 from the combination of funds available

10 under paragraph (1)(A) and funds pro11 vided under subparagraph (A), an amount

12 for each such child, aged 3 to 21, inclusive,

13 to whom the agency was providing special

14 education and related services on Decem15 ber 1 of the fiscal year for which the funds

16 were appropriated, equal to the per-child

17 amount the agency received under that

18 subpart for fiscal year 1994.

19 ‘‘(iii) DETERMINATION OF NUMBER

20 OF CHILDREN.—The number of children

21 counted under clause (i)(I) shall not exceed

22 the number of children aged 3 to 21, inclu23 sive, for whom the agency received

24 amounts in fiscal year 1994 under subpart

25 2 of part D of chapter 1 of title I of the
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1 Elementary and Secondary Education Act

2 of 1965 (as such subpart was in effect on

3 the day before the date of the enactment

4 of the Improving America’s Schools Act of

5 1994).

6 ‘‘(D) REALLOCATION OF AMOUNTS.—If a

7 State educational agency determines that a

8 local educational agency is adequately providing

9 a free appropriate public education to all chil10 dren with disabilities residing in the area served

11 by that agency with State and local funds, the

12 State educational agency may reallocate any

13 portion of amounts received under a grant

14 under this part that are not needed by that

15 local agency to other local educational agencies

16 in the State that are not adequately providing

17 special education and related services to all chil18 dren with disabilities residing in the areas they

19 serve.

20 ‘‘(d) USE OF AMOUNTS BY SECRETARY OF THE IN21 TERIOR.—

22 ‘‘(1) PROVISION OF AMOUNTS FOR ASSIST23 ANCE.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Edu25 cation shall provide amounts to the Secretary of
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1 the Interior to meet the need for assistance for

2 the education of children with disabilities on

3 reservations aged 5 to 21, inclusive, enrolled in

4 elementary and secondary schools for Indian

5 children operated or funded by the Secretary of

6 the Interior.

7 ‘‘(B) CALCULATION OF NUMBER OF CHIL8 DREN.—In the case of Indian students ages 3

9 to 5, inclusive, who are enrolled in programs af10 filiated with Bureau of Indian Affairs (here11 after in this subsection referred to as ‘BIA’)

12 schools and that are required by the States in

13 which such schools are located to attain or

14 maintain State accreditation, and which schools

15 have such accreditation prior to the date of en16 actment of the Individuals with Disabilities

17 Education Act Amendments of 1991, the school

18 shall be allowed to count those children for the

19 purpose of distribution of the funds provided

20 under this paragraph to the Secretary of the

21 Interior. The Secretary of the Interior shall be

22 responsible for meeting all of the requirements

23 of this part for these children, in accordance

24 with paragraph (2). The amount of such pay25 ment for any fiscal year shall be equal to 80
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1 percent of the amount allotted under subsection

2 (b)(2) for that fiscal year.

3 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—With

4 respect to all other children aged 3 to 21, inclu5 sive, on reservations, the State educational

6 agency shall be responsible for ensuring that all

7 of the requirements of this part are imple8 mented.

9 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—The Sec10 retary of Education may provide the Secretary of

11 the Interior amounts under paragraph (1) for a fis12 cal year only if the Secretary of the Interior submits

13 to the Secretary of Education information that—

14 ‘‘(A) demonstrates that the Department of

15 the Interior meets the appropriate require16 ments, as determined by the Secretary of Edu17 cation, of sections 612 (including monitoring

18 and evaluation activities) and 613;

19 ‘‘(B) includes a description of how the Sec20 retary of the Interior will coordinate the provi21 sion of services under this part with local edu22 cational agencies, tribes and tribal organiza23 tions, and other private and Federal service

24 providers;
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1 ‘‘(C) includes an assurance that there are

2 public hearings, adequate notice of such hear3 ings, and an opportunity for comment afforded

4 to members of tribes, tribal governing bodies,

5 and affected local school boards before the

6 adoption of the policies, programs, and proce7 dures described in subparagraph (A);

8 ‘‘(D) includes an assurance that the Sec9 retary of the Interior will provide such informa10 tion as the Secretary of Education may require

11 to comply with section 618;

12 ‘‘(E) includes an assurance that the Sec13 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of

14 Health and Human Services have entered into

15 a memorandum of agreement, to be provided to

16 the Secretary of Education, for the coordination

17 of services, resources, and personnel between

18 their respective Federal, State, and local offices

19 and with State and local educational agencies

20 and other entities to facilitate the provision of

21 services to Indian children with disabilities re22 siding on or near reservations (such agreement

23 shall provide for the apportionment of respon24 sibilities and costs including, but not limited to,

25 child find, evaluation, diagnosis, remediation or
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1 therapeutic measures, and (where appropriate)

2 equipment and medical or personal supplies as

3 needed for a child to remain in school or a pro4 gram); and

5 ‘‘(F) includes an assurance that the De6 partment of the Interior will cooperate with the

7 Department of Education in its exercise of

8 monitoring and oversight of this application,

9 and any agreements entered into between the

10 Secretary of the Interior and other entities

11 under this part, and will fulfill its duties under

12 this part.

13 Section 616(a) shall apply to the information de14 scribed in this paragraph.

15 ‘‘(3) PAYMENTS FOR EDUCATION AND SERVICES

16 FOR INDIAN CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES AGED 3

17 TO 5.—

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With funds appro19 priated under subsection (e), the Secretary shall

20 make payments to the Secretary of the Interior

21 to be distributed to tribes or tribal organiza22 tions (as defined under section 4 of the Indian

23 Self-Determination and Education Assistance

24 Act) or consortia of the above to provide for the

25 coordination of assistance for special education
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1 and related services for children with disabilities

2 aged 3 to 5, inclusive, on reservations served by

3 elementary and secondary schools for Indian

4 children operated or funded by the Department

5 of the Interior. The amount of such payments

6 under subparagraph (B) for any fiscal year

7 shall be equal to 20 percent of the amount al8 lotted under subsection (b)(2).

9 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—The Sec10 retary of the Interior shall distribute the total

11 amount of the payment under subparagraph

12 (A) by allocating to each tribe or tribal organi13 zation an amount based on the number of chil14 dren with disabilities, ages 3 to 5, inclusive, re15 siding on reservations as reported annually di16 vided by the total of such children served by all

17 tribes or tribal organizations.

18 ‘‘(C) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—To

19 receive a payment under this paragraph, the

20 tribe or tribal organization shall submit such

21 figures to the Secretary of the Interior as re22 quired to determine the amounts to be allocated

23 under subparagraph (B). This information shall

24 be compiled and submitted to the Secretary of

25 Education.
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1 ‘‘(D) USE OF FUNDS.—The funds received

2 by a tribe or tribal organization shall be used

3 to assist in child find, screening, and other pro4 cedures for the early identification of children

5 aged 3 to 5, inclusive, parent training, and the

6 provision of direct services. These activities may

7 be carried out directly or through contracts or

8 cooperative agreements with the BIA, local edu9 cational agencies, and other public or private

10 nonprofit organizations. The tribe or tribal or11 ganization is encouraged to involve Indian par12 ents in the development and implementation of

13 these activities. The above entities shall, as ap14 propriate, make referrals to local, State, or

15 Federal entities for the provision of services or

16 further diagnosis.

17 ‘‘(E) BIENNIAL REPORT.—To be eligible to

18 receive a grant pursuant to subparagraph (A),

19 the tribe or tribal organization shall provide to

20 the Secretary of the Interior a biennial report

21 of activities undertaken under this paragraph,

22 including the number of contracts and coopera23 tive agreements entered into, the number of

24 children contacted and receiving services for

25 each year and the estimated number of children
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1 needing services during the 2 years following

2 the one in which the report is made. The Sec3 retary of the Interior shall include a summary

4 of this information on a biennial basis in the

5 report to the Secretary of Education required

6 under this subsection. The Secretary of Edu7 cation may require any additional information

8 from the Secretary of the Interior.

9 ‘‘(F) PROHIBITIONS.—None of the funds

10 allocated under this paragraph may be used by

11 the Secretary of the Interior for administrative

12 purposes, including child count and the provi13 sion of technical assistance.

14 ‘‘(4) PLAN FOR COORDINATION OF SERVICES.—

15 The Secretary of the Interior shall develop and im16 plement a plan for the coordination of services for

17 all Indian children with disabilities residing on res18 ervations covered under this Act. Such plan shall

19 provide for the coordination of services benefiting

20 these children from whatever source, including

21 tribes, the Indian Health Service, other BIA divi22 sions, and other Federal agencies. In developing

23 such a plan, the Secretary of the Interior shall con24 sult with all interested and involved parties. It shall

25 be based upon the needs of the children and the sys-
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1 tem best suited for meeting those needs, and may in2 volve the establishment of cooperative agreements

3 between the BIA, other Federal agencies, and other

4 entities. Such plan shall also be distributed upon re5 quest to States, State and local educational agencies,

6 and other agencies providing services to infants, tod7 dlers, children, and youth with disabilities, to tribes,

8 and to other interested parties.

9 ‘‘(5) ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVISORY BOARD.—

10 To meet the requirements of section 612(a)(18), the

11 Secretary of the Interior shall establish, not later

12 than 6 months after the date of the enactment of

13 the IDEA Improvement Act of 1996, under the Bu14 reau of Indian Affairs (BIA), an advisory board

15 composed of individuals involved in or concerned

16 with the education and provision of services to In17 dian infants, toddlers, children, and youth with dis18 abilities, including Indians with disabilities, Indian

19 parents or guardians of such children, teachers,

20 service providers, State and local educational offi21 cials, representatives of tribes or tribal organiza22 tions, representatives from State Interagency Co23 ordinating Councils in States having reservations,

24 and other members representing the various divi25 sions and entities of the BIA. The chairperson shall
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•HR 3268 IH

1 be selected by the Secretary of the Interior. The ad2 visory board shall—

3 ‘‘(A) assist in the coordination of services

4 within BIA and with other local, State, and

5 Federal agencies in the provision of education

6 for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with

7 disabilities;

8 ‘‘(B) advise and assist the Secretary of the

9 Interior in the performance of the Secretary’s

10 responsibilities described in this subsection;

11 ‘‘(C) develop and recommend policies con12 cerning effective inter- and intra-agency collabo13 ration, including modifications to regulations,

14 and the elimination of barriers to inter- and

15 intra-agency programs and activities;

16 ‘‘(D) provide assistance and disseminate

17 information on best practices, effective program

18 coordination strategies, and recommendations

19 for improved educational programming for In20 dian infants, toddlers, children, and youth with

21 disabilities; and

22 ‘‘(E) provide assistance in the preparation

23 of information required under paragraph

24 (2)(D).

25 ‘‘(6) ANNUAL REPORTS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The advisory board

2 established under paragraph (5) shall prepare

3 and submit to the Secretary of the Interior an

4 annual report containing a description of the

5 activities of the advisory board for the preced6 ing year.

7 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall

8 make available to the Secretary of Education

9 the report described in subparagraph (A).

10 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the

11 purpose of carrying out this part (except for section 619;

12 relating to preschool grants), there are authorized to be

13 appropriated to the Secretary such sums as may be nec14 essary.

15 ‘‘SEC. 612. STATE REQUIREMENTS.

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State shall be eligible to re17 ceive a grant under this part for a fiscal year if, except

18 as provided in subsection (c), the State submits to the Sec19 retary information that demonstrates to the satisfaction

20 of the Secretary that the State has in effect policies and

21 procedures to ensure that it meets each of the following

22 requirements:

23 ‘‘(1) FREE APPROPRIATE PUBLIC EDU24 CATION.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A free appropriate

2 public education is available to all children with

3 disabilities residing in the State between the

4 ages of 3 and 21, inclusive.

5 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Subparagraph (A)

6 shall not apply with respect to children with

7 disabilities aged 3 to 5 and children with dis8 abilities aged 18 to 21 to the extent that such

9 application to those children would be inconsist10 ent with State law or practice, or the order of

11 any court, relating to the provision of public

12 education to children in such age ranges.

13 ‘‘(2) CHILD FIND.—All children with disabilities

14 residing in the State are identified, located, and

15 evaluated, including children in private schools, re16 gardless of the severity of such disabilities.

17 ‘‘(3) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM.—

18 An individualized education program, or an individ19 ualized family service plan that meets the require20 ments of section 636(d), is developed, reviewed, and

21 revised for each child with a disability in accordance

22 with section 614(d).

23 ‘‘(4) LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum ex25 tent appropriate—
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1 ‘‘(i) children with disabilities, includ2 ing children in public or private institu3 tions or other care facilities, are educated

4 with children who are not disabled; and

5 ‘‘(ii) special classes, separate school6 ing, or other removal of children with dis7 abilities from the regular educational envi8 ronment occurs only when the nature or

9 severity of the disability of a child means

10 that education in regular classes with the

11 use of supplementary aids and services

12 cannot be achieved satisfactorily.

13 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The State’s meth15 od of distributing funds shall not result in

16 placements that violate the requirements of

17 subparagraph (A).

18 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—If the State does

19 not have policies and procedures to ensure

20 compliance with clause (i), the State shall

21 provide the Secretary an assurance that it

22 will revise the funding mechanism as soon

23 as feasible to ensure that such mechanism

24 does not result in such placements.
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1 ‘‘(5) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.—Children

2 with disabilities and their parents are afforded the

3 procedural safeguards required by section 615.

4 ‘‘(6) EVALUATION.—Children with disabilities

5 are evaluated in accordance with subsections (a)

6 through (c) of section 614.

7 ‘‘(7) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Agencies in the State

8 comply with section 617(c) (relating to the confiden9 tiality of records and information).

10 ‘‘(8) TRANSITION FROM PART C TO PRESCHOOL

11 PROGRAMS.—Children participating in early-inter12 vention programs assisted under part C, and who

13 will participate in preschool programs assisted under

14 this part, experience a smooth transition to those

15 preschool programs. By the third birthday of such a

16 child, an individualized education program or, if con17 sistent with sections 614(d)(1)(B) and 636(d), an

18 individualized family service plan, has been devel19 oped and is being implemented for the child.

20 ‘‘(9) CHILDREN IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS.—

21 ‘‘(A) CHILDREN PLACED IN PRIVATE

22 SCHOOLS BY THEIR PARENTS.—To the extent

23 consistent with the number and location of chil24 dren with disabilities in the State who are en25 rolled by their parents in private elementary
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1 and secondary schools, States and local edu2 cational agencies provide for the participation

3 of such children in the program assisted or car4 ried out under this part by providing for such

5 children special education and related services,

6 except if the Secretary has arranged for serv7 ices to such children under subsection (f).

8 ‘‘(B) CHILDREN PLACED IN, OR REFERRED

9 TO, PRIVATE SCHOOLS BY PUBLIC AGENCIES.—

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Children with dis11 abilities in private schools and facilities are

12 provided special education and related

13 services, in accordance with an individual14 ized education program, at no cost to their

15 parents, if they are placed in, or referred

16 to, such schools or facilities by the State or

17 a local educational agency in order to com18 ply with this part or with any other provi19 sion of law requiring the provision of spe20 cial education and related services to all

21 children with disabilities in the State.

22 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—

23 In all cases described in clause (i)—

24 ‘‘(I) children with disabilities are

25 placed in, or referred to, only those
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1 private schools and facilities that the

2 State educational agency determines

3 meet standards that apply to State

4 and local educational agencies; and

5 ‘‘(II) children served in such pri6 vate schools or facilities retain access

7 to a free appropriate public education

8 in accordance with this part.

9 ‘‘(C) PAYMENT FOR EDUCATION OF CHIL10 DREN PLACED IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS WITHOUT

11 CONSENT OF OR REFERRAL BY THE PUBLIC

12 AGENCY.—

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the parents of a

14 child with a disability that had previously

15 received special education and related serv16 ices under the authority of a public agency

17 have enrolled their child in a private ele18 mentary or secondary school without the

19 consent of or referral by the public agency,

20 as a result of mediation described in sec21 tion 615(d), or as a result of a decision

22 rendered under the procedural safeguards

23 of section 615, the public agency may be

24 required to reimburse the parents for the

25 cost of the enrollment, except that the cost
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1 of the reimbursement may be reduced or

2 denied—

3 ‘‘(I) if, at least 10 school days

4 prior to the removal of the child from

5 the public school, the parents did not

6 give a written statement of their con7 cerns to the public agency and notice

8 that they intend to place their child in

9 a private school at public expense;

10 ‘‘(II) if, prior to the removal of

11 the child from the public school, the

12 parents did not make the child avail13 able for an initial assessment and

14 evaluation by the local educational

15 agency prior to enrollment in the pri16 vate school; or

17 ‘‘(III) at the discretion of the

18 judge.

19 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding

20 the notice requirement in clause (i)(I), the

21 cost of the reimbursement may not be re22 duced or denied for failure to provide such

23 notice if—

24 ‘‘(I) the parent is illiterate or

25 cannot write in English;
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•HR 3268 IH

1 ‘‘(II) compliance with clause

2 (i)(I) would likely result in physical or

3 serious emotional harm to the child;

4 ‘‘(III) the school prevented the

5 parent from providing such notice; or

6 ‘‘(IV) the parent had not received

7 notice, pursuant to section 615(d), of

8 the notice requirement in clause (i)(I).

9 ‘‘(10) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY RESPON10 SIBLE FOR GENERAL SUPERVISION.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The State educational

12 agency is responsible for ensuring that—

13 ‘‘(i) the requirements of this part are

14 met; and

15 ‘‘(ii) all educational programs for chil16 dren with disabilities in the State, includ17 ing all such programs administered by any

18 other State or local agency—

19 ‘‘(I) are under the general super20 vision of individuals in the State who

21 are responsible for educational pro22 grams for children with disabilities;

23 and

24 ‘‘(II) meet the educational stand25 ards of the State educational agency.
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1 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Subparagraph (A)

2 shall not limit the responsibility of agencies in

3 the State other than the State educational

4 agency to provide, or pay for some or all of the

5 costs of, a free appropriate public education for

6 any child with a disability in the State.

7 ‘‘(11) METHODS OF ENSURING SERVICES.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If any public agency

9 other than an educational agency is responsible

10 for providing, or paying for, any of the services

11 that are necessary for the provision of a free

12 appropriate public education to children with

13 disabilities within the State (such as mental

14 health services, transition services, and health

15 services for children with special needs), there

16 is a mechanism that has been developed and is

17 being implemented for interagency coordination,

18 in order to ensure that all required services are

19 provided, which shall include—

20 ‘‘(i) an identification of, and a method

21 for defining, the financial responsibility of

22 each agency for providing a free appro23 priate public education to children with

24 disabilities; and
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•HR 3268 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) procedures for resolving inter2 agency disputes, including procedures

3 under which local educational agencies may

4 obtain reimbursement from other agencies.

5 ‘‘(B) COMPLIANCE.—The requirements of

6 subparagraph (A) may be met through—

7 ‘‘(i) State law or regulation;

8 ‘‘(ii) signed agreements between re9 spective agency officials; or

10 ‘‘(iii) other appropriate methods.

11 ‘‘(12) PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS RELATING

12 TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY ELIGIBILITY.—

13 The State educational agency will not make a final

14 determination that a local educational agency is not

15 eligible for assistance under this part without first

16 affording that agency reasonable notice and an op17 portunity for a hearing.

18 ‘‘(13) PERSONNEL STANDARDS.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The State educational

20 agency has established and maintains standards

21 to ensure that personnel necessary to carry out

22 this part are appropriately and adequately pre23 pared and trained.

24 ‘‘(B) STANDARDS DESCRIBED.—Such

25 standards shall—
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•HR 3268 IH

1 ‘‘(i) be consistent with any State-ap2 proved or State-recognized certification, li3 censing, registration, or other comparable

4 requirements that apply to the professional

5 discipline in which those personnel are pro6 viding special education or related services;

7 ‘‘(ii) to the extent the standards de8 scribed in subparagraph (A) are not based

9 on the highest requirements in the State

10 applicable to a specific profession or dis11 cipline, the State is taking steps to require

12 retraining or hiring of personnel that meet

13 appropriate professional requirements in

14 the State; and

15 ‘‘(iii) allow paraprofessionals and as16 sistants who are appropriately trained and

17 supervised, in accordance with State law,

18 regulations, or written policy, in meeting

19 the requirements of this part to be used to

20 assist in the provision of special education

21 and related services to children with dis22 abilities under this part.

23 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTION.—If the State determines

24 that, within a geographic area of the State

25 there is a shortage of an appropriate number
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1 and type of personnel to provide the special

2 education and related services to children with

3 disabilities within such area, and the appro4 priate public agency has taken steps to recruit

5 and hire such personnel, the State may, subject

6 to public comment and review, temporarily

7 modify the standards of subparagraph (B) for

8 any public agencies affected.

9 ‘‘(14) PERFORMANCE GOALS AND INDICA10 TORS.—The State—

11 ‘‘(A) has established goals for the perform12 ance of children with disabilities in the State

13 that—

14 ‘‘(i) will promote the purposes of this

15 title, as stated in section 601(d); and

16 ‘‘(ii) are consistent, to the maximum

17 extent appropriate, with other goals and

18 standards established by the State;

19 ‘‘(B) has established performance indica20 tors the State will use to assess progress toward

21 achieving those goals that, at a minimum, ad22 dress the performance of children with disabil23 ities on assessments, drop-out rates, and grad24 uation rates;
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•HR 3268 IH

1 ‘‘(C) will, every two years, report to the

2 Secretary and the public on the progress of the

3 State, and of children with disabilities in the

4 State, toward meeting the goals established

5 under subparagraph (A); and

6 ‘‘(D) based on its assessment of that

7 progress, will revise its State improvement plan

8 under part D as may be needed to improve its

9 performance, if the State receives assistance

10 under such part.

11 ‘‘(15) PARTICIPATION IN ASSESSMENTS.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Children with disabil13 ities are included in general State and district14 wide assessment programs, with appropriate ac15 commodations, where necessary. As appro16 priate, the State or local educational agency—

17 ‘‘(i) develops guidelines for the par18 ticipation of children with disabilities in al19 ternate assessments for those children who

20 cannot participate in State and district21 wide assessment programs; and

22 ‘‘(ii) develops and, beginning not later

23 than July 1, 1999, conducts those alter24 nate assessments.
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1 ‘‘(B) REPORTS.—The State educational

2 agency makes available to the public, and re3 ports to the public with the same frequency and

4 in the same detail as it reports on the assess5 ment of nondisabled children, the following:

6 ‘‘(i) The number of children with dis7 abilities participating in regular assess8 ments.

9 ‘‘(ii) The number of those children

10 participating in alternate assessments.

11 ‘‘(iii) The performance of those chil12 dren on regular assessments (beginning

13 not later than July 1, 1997) and on alter14 nate assessments (not later than July 1,

15 1999), if doing so would be statistically

16 sound and would not result in the disclo17 sure of performance results identifiable to

18 individual children.

19 ‘‘(16) SUPPLEMENTATION OF STATE, LOCAL,

20 AND OTHER FEDERAL FUNDS.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The State ensures

22 that amounts provided under a grant to the

23 State under this part, except as provided in

24 subparagraph (B), will be used to supplement

25 State, local, and other Federal funds (including
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1 funds not under the direct control of State or

2 local educational agencies) expended for special

3 education and related services, and not to sup4 plant those funds.

5 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive,

6 in whole or in part, the requirements of sub7 paragraph (A) if the Secretary determines that

8 the State has provided clear evidence that all

9 children with disabilities in the State have avail10 able a free appropriate public education or that,

11 such a waiver would allow the State to improve

12 the delivery of special education and related

13 services to children with disabilities in the

14 State.

15 ‘‘(17) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Prior to the

16 adoption of any policies and procedures needed to

17 comply with this section (including any amendments

18 to such policies and procedures), the State ensures

19 that there are public hearings, adequate notice of

20 the hearings, and an opportunity for comment avail21 able to the general public, including individuals with

22 disabilities and parents of children with disabilities.

23 ‘‘(18) STATE ADVISORY PANEL.—

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The State has estab25 lished and maintains an advisory panel for the
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1 purpose of providing policy guidance with re2 spect to special education and related services

3 for children with disabilities in the State.

4 ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.—Such advisory panel

5 shall consist of members appointed by the Gov6 ernor, or any other official authorized under

7 State law to make such appointments, that is

8 representative of the State population and that

9 is composed of individuals involved in, or con10 cerned with, the education of children with dis11 abilities, including—

12 ‘‘(i) parents of children with disabil13 ities;

14 ‘‘(ii) individuals with disabilities;

15 ‘‘(iii) teachers;

16 ‘‘(iv) representatives of institutions of

17 higher education that prepare special edu18 cation and related services personnel;

19 ‘‘(v) State and local education offi20 cials;

21 ‘‘(vi) administrators of programs for

22 children with disabilities;

23 ‘‘(vii) representatives of other State

24 agencies involved in the financing or deliv-
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1 ery of related services to children with dis2 abilities;

3 ‘‘(viii) at least one representative of a

4 vocational, community, or business organi5 zation concerned with the provision of

6 transition services to children with disabil7 ities; and

8 ‘‘(ix) representatives from the State

9 juvenile and adult corrections agencies.

10 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE.—A majority of the

11 members of the panel shall be individuals with

12 disabilities or parents of children with disabil13 ities.

14 ‘‘(D) DUTIES.—The advisory panel shall—

15 ‘‘(i) advise the State educational agen16 cy of unmet needs within the State in the

17 education of children with disabilities;

18 ‘‘(ii) comment publicly on any rules or

19 regulations proposed by the State regard20 ing—

21 ‘‘(I) the education of children

22 with disabilities; and

23 ‘‘(II) the procedures for distribu24 tion of amounts received by the State

25 under a grant under this part;
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1 ‘‘(iii) advise the State educational

2 agency in developing evaluations and re3 porting on data to the Secretary under sec4 tion 618;

5 ‘‘(iv) advise the State educational

6 agency in developing corrective action

7 plans to address findings identified in Fed8 eral monitoring reports under this part;

9 and

10 ‘‘(v) advise the State educational

11 agency in developing and implementing

12 policies relating to the coordination of serv13 ices for children with disabilities.

14 ‘‘(b) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY AS PROVIDER OF

15 FREE APPROPRIATE PUBLIC EDUCATION OR DIRECT

16 SERVICES.—If the State educational agency provides free

17 appropriate public education to children with disabilities,

18 or provides direct services to such children, such agency—

19 ‘‘(1) shall comply with any additional require20 ments of section 613(a), as if such agency were a

21 local educational agency; and

22 ‘‘(2) may use amounts that are otherwise avail23 able to such agency under this part to serve those

24 children without regard to section 613(a)(2)(A)(i)

25 (relating to excess costs).
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1 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION FOR PRIOR STATE PLANS.—

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a State has on file with

3 the Secretary policies and procedures that dem4 onstrate that such State meets any requirement of

5 subsection (a), including any policies and procedures

6 filed under this part as in effect before the date of

7 the enactment of the IDEA Improvement Act of

8 1996, the Secretary shall consider such State to

9 have met such requirement for purposes of receiving

10 a grant under this part.

11 ‘‘(2) MODIFICATIONS MADE BY STATE.—Sub12 ject to paragraph (3), an application submitted by a

13 State in accordance with this section shall remain in

14 effect until the State submits to the Secretary such

15 modifications as the State deems necessary. This

16 section shall apply to a modification to an applica17 tion to the same extent and in the same manner as

18 this section applies to the original plan.

19 ‘‘(3) MODIFICATIONS REQUIRED BY THE SEC20 RETARY.—The Secretary may require a State to

21 amend its application at any time as a result of the

22 Secretary’s compliance reviews under parts B and C.

23 The Secretary shall reduce or shall not provide any

24 further payments to the State educational agency
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1 until the Secretary is satisfied that the State edu2 cational agency is complying with that requirement.

3 ‘‘(d) APPROVAL BY THE SECRETARY.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary determines

5 that a State is eligible to receive a grant under this

6 part, the Secretary shall notify the State of that de7 termination.

8 ‘‘(2) NOTICE AND HEARING.—The Secretary

9 shall not make a final determination that a State is

10 not eligible to receive a grant under this part until

11 after providing the State—

12 ‘‘(A) with reasonable notice; and

13 ‘‘(B) with an opportunity for a hearing.

14 ‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE UNDER OTHER FEDERAL PRO15 GRAMS.—Nothing in this title permits a State to reduce

16 medical and other assistance available, or to alter eligi17 bility, under titles V and XIX of the Social Security Act

18 with respect to the provision of a free appropriate public

19 education for children with disabilities within the State.

20 ‘‘(f) BY-PASS FOR CHILDREN IN PRIVATE

21 SCHOOLS.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, on the date of enact23 ment of the Education of the Handicapped Act

24 Amendments of 1983, a State educational agency is

25 prohibited by law from providing for the participa-
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1 tion in special programs of children with disabilities

2 enrolled in private elementary and secondary schools

3 as required by subsection (a)(9), the Secretary shall,

4 notwithstanding such provision of law, arrange for

5 the provision of services to such children through ar6 rangements which shall be subject to the require7 ments of such subsection.

8 ‘‘(2) PAYMENTS.—

9 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNTS.—If

10 the Secretary arranges for services pursuant to

11 this subsection, the Secretary, after consulta12 tion with the appropriate public and private

13 school officials, shall pay to the provider of such

14 services for a fiscal year an amount per child

15 that does not exceed the amount determined by

16 dividing—

17 ‘‘(i) the total amount received by the

18 State under this part for such fiscal year;

19 by

20 ‘‘(ii) the number of children with dis21 abilities served in the prior year, as re22 ported to the Secretary by the State under

23 section 618.

24 ‘‘(B) WITHHOLDING OF CERTAIN

25 AMOUNTS.—Pending final resolution of any in-
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1 vestigation or complaint that could result in a

2 determination under this subsection, the Sec3 retary may withhold from the allocation of the

4 affected State educational agency the amount

5 the Secretary estimates would be necessary to

6 pay the cost of services described in subpara7 graph (A).

8 ‘‘(C) PERIOD OF PAYMENTS.—The period

9 under which payments are made under sub10 paragraph (A) shall continue until the Sec11 retary determines that there will no longer be

12 any failure or inability on the part of the State

13 educational agency to meet the requirements of

14 subsection (a)(9).

15 ‘‘(3) NOTICE AND HEARING.—

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall

17 not take any final action under this subsection

18 until the State educational agency affected by

19 such action has had an opportunity, for at least

20 45 days after receiving written notice thereof,

21 to submit written objections and to appear be22 fore the Secretary or the Secretary’s designee

23 to show cause why such action should not be

24 taken.
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1 ‘‘(B) REVIEW OF ACTION.—If a State edu2 cational agency is dissatisfied with the Sec3 retary’s final action after a proceeding under

4 subparagraph (A), such agency may, not later

5 than 60 days after notice of such action, file

6 with the United States court of appeals for the

7 circuit in which such State is located a petition

8 for review of that action. A copy of the petition

9 shall be forthwith transmitted by the clerk of

10 the court to the Secretary. The Secretary there11 upon shall file in the court the record of the

12 proceedings on which the Secretary based the

13 Secretary’s action, as provided in section 2112

14 of title 28, United States Code.

15 ‘‘(C) REVIEW OF FINDINGS OF FACT.—The

16 findings of fact by the Secretary, if supported

17 by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive, but

18 the court, for good cause shown, may remand

19 the case to the Secretary to take further evi20 dence, and the Secretary may thereupon make

21 new or modified findings of fact and may mod22 ify the Secretary’s previous action, and shall file

23 in the court the record of the further proceed24 ings. Such new or modified findings of fact
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1 shall likewise be conclusive if supported by sub2 stantial evidence.

3 ‘‘(D) JURISDICTION OF COURT OF AP4 PEALS; REVIEW BY UNITED STATES SUPREME

5 COURT.—Upon the filing of a petition under

6 subparagraph (B), the United States court of

7 appeals shall have jurisdiction to affirm the ac8 tion of the Secretary or to set it aside, in whole

9 or in part. The judgment of the court shall be

10 subject to review by the Supreme Court of the

11 United States upon certiorari or certification as

12 provided in section 1254 of title 28, United

13 States Code.

14 ‘‘SEC. 613. LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY REQUIREMENTS.

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency shall

16 be eligible for assistance under this part for any fiscal year

17 if, except as provided in subsection (b), such agency sub18 mits to the State educational agency information that

19 demonstrates to the satisfaction of the State educational

20 agency the following:

21 ‘‘(1) CONSISTENCY WITH STATE POLICIES.—

22 The local educational agency, in providing for the

23 education of children with disabilities within its ju24 risdiction, has in effect policies, procedures, and pro-
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1 grams that are consistent with the State policies and

2 procedures established under section 612.

3 ‘‘(2) USE OF AMOUNTS.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Amounts provided to

5 the local educational agency under this part—

6 ‘‘(i) shall be used only to pay the ex7 cess costs of providing special education

8 and related services to children with dis9 abilities;

10 ‘‘(ii) shall be used to supplement

11 State, local, and other Federal funds and

12 not to supplant such funds;

13 ‘‘(iii) except as provided in subpara14 graph (B), may not be used to reduce the

15 level of expenditures for the education of

16 children with disabilities made by the local

17 educational agency from State or local

18 funds below the level of those expenditures

19 for the preceding fiscal year;

20 ‘‘(iv) may be used, notwithstanding

21 clause (i) or any other provision of this

22 part, for the costs of special education and

23 related services provided in a regular class

24 to a child with a disability in accordance

25 with the child’s individualized education
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1 program, even if one or more nondisabled

2 children benefit from those services; and

3 ‘‘(v) may be used, in accordance with

4 subsection (f) and notwithstanding clause

5 (i) or any other provision of this part, to

6 develop and implement a coordinated serv7 ices system.

8 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding the

9 restriction in subparagraph (A)(iii), a local edu10 cation agency may reduce the level of expendi11 tures where such reduction is attributable to—

12 ‘‘(i) the departure, by retirement or

13 otherwise, of special education personnel;

14 ‘‘(ii) a decrease in the enrollment of

15 children with disabilities;

16 ‘‘(iii) the termination of the obligation

17 of the agency, consistent with this part, to

18 provide a program of special education to

19 a particular child with a disability that is

20 an exceptionally costly program, as deter21 mined by the State educational agency, be22 cause the child—

23 ‘‘(I) has left the jurisdiction of

24 the agency;
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1 ‘‘(II) has reached the age at

2 which the obligation of the agency to

3 provide a free appropriate public edu4 cation to the child has terminated; or

5 ‘‘(III) no longer needs such pro6 gram of special education; or

7 ‘‘(iv) the termination of costly expend8 itures for long-term purchases, such as the

9 acquisition of equipment or the construc10 tion of school facilities.

11 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION FOR STATE EDUCATIONAL

12 AGENCY.—The local educational agency shall provide

13 the State educational agency with information nec14 essary to enable the State educational agency to

15 carry out its duties under this part, including, with

16 respect to paragraphs (14) and (15) of section

17 612(a), information relating to the performance of

18 children with disabilities participating in programs

19 carried out under this part.

20 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC INFORMATION.—The local edu21 cational agency shall make available to parents of

22 children with disabilities and to the general public

23 all documents relating to the eligibility of such agen24 cy under this part.

25 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION FOR PRIOR LOCAL PLANS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a local educational agen2 cy or State agency has on file with the State edu3 cational agency policies and procedures that dem4 onstrate that such local educational agency, or such

5 State agency, as the case may be, meets any require6 ment of subsection (a), including any policies and

7 procedures filed under this part as in effect before

8 the date of the enactment of IDEA Improvement

9 Act of 1996, the State educational agency shall con10 sider such local educational agency or State agency,

11 as the case may be, to have met such requirement

12 for purposes of receiving assistance under this part.

13 ‘‘(2) MODIFICATION MADE BY LOCAL EDU14 CATIONAL AGENCY.—Subject to paragraph (3), an

15 application submitted by a local educational agency

16 in accordance with this section shall remain in effect

17 until the such agency submits to the State edu18 cational agency such modifications as the local edu19 cational agency deems necessary.

20 ‘‘(3) MODIFICATIONS REQUIRED BY STATE

21 EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The State educational

22 agency may require a local educational agency to

23 amend its application at anytime as a result of the

24 compliance reviews of the State educational agency

25 under parts B and C. This paragraph shall apply to
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1 a modification to an application to the same extent

2 and in the same manner as this section applies to

3 the original plan.

4 ‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION OF LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN5 CY OR STATE AGENCY IN CASE OF INELIGIBILITY.—If the

6 State educational agency determines that a local edu7 cational agency or State agency is not eligible under this

8 section, the State educational agency shall notify such

9 local educational agency or State agency, as the case may

10 be, of that determination and shall provide such local edu11 cational agency or State agency with reasonable notice and

12 an opportunity for a hearing.

13 ‘‘(d) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY COMPLIANCE.—

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the State educational

15 agency, after reasonable notice and an opportunity

16 for a hearing, finds that a local educational agency

17 or State agency that has been determined to be eligi18 ble under this section is failing to comply with any

19 requirement described in subsection (a), the State

20 educational agency shall reduce or shall not provide

21 any further payments to the local educational agency

22 or State agency until the State educational agency

23 is satisfied that the local educational agency or State

24 agency, as the case may be, is complying with that

25 requirement.
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1 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—Any State

2 educational agency, State agency, or local edu3 cational agency in receipt of a notice pursuant to the

4 notice described in paragraph (1) shall, by means of

5 public notice, take such measures as may be nec6 essary to bring the pendency of an action pursuant

7 to this subsection to the attention of the public with8 in the jurisdiction of such agency.

9 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION.—In carrying out its re10 sponsibilities under paragraph (1), the State edu11 cational agency shall consider any decision made in

12 a hearing held under section 615 that is adverse to

13 the local educational agency or State agency involved

14 in that decision.

15 ‘‘(e) JOINT ESTABLISHMENT OF ELIGIBILITY.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency

17 may require a local educational agency to establish

18 its eligibility jointly with another local educational

19 agency if the State educational agency determines

20 that the local educational agency would be ineligible

21 under this section because the local educational

22 agency would not be able to establish and maintain

23 programs of sufficient size and scope to effectively

24 meet the needs of children with disabilities.
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1 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS.—If a State edu2 cational agency requires the joint establishment of

3 eligibility under paragraph (1), the total amount of

4 funds made available to the affected local edu5 cational agencies shall be equal to the sum of the

6 payments that each such local educational agency

7 would have received under section 611(c) if such

8 agencies were eligible for such payments.

9 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—Local educational agen10 cies that establish joint eligibility under this sub11 section shall—

12 ‘‘(A) adopt policies and procedures that

13 are consistent with the State’s policies and pro14 cedures under section 612(a); and

15 ‘‘(B) be jointly responsible for implement16 ing programs that receive assistance under this

17 part.

18 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS FOR EDUCATIONAL SERV19 ICE AGENCIES.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If an educational serv21 ice agency is required by State law to carry out

22 programs under this part, the joint responsibil23 ities given to local educational agencies under

24 this subsection shall—
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1 ‘‘(i) not apply to the administration

2 and disbursement of any payments re3 ceived by that educational service agency;

4 and

5 ‘‘(ii) be carried out only by that edu6 cational service agency.

7 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—Not8 withstanding any other provision of this sub9 section, an educational service agency shall pro10 vide for the education of children with disabil11 ities in the least restrictive environment, as re12 quired by section 612(a)(4) and subsection

13 (a)(1)(E).

14 ‘‘(f) COORDINATED SERVICES SYSTEM.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A local educational agency

16 may not use more than 5 percent of the amount

17 such agency receives under this part for any fiscal

18 year, in combination with other amounts (which

19 shall include amounts other than education funds),

20 to develop and implement a coordinated services sys21 tem designed to improve results for children and

22 families, including children with disabilities and their

23 families.

24 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—In implementing a coordi25 nated services system under this subsection, a local
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1 educational agency may carry out activities which in2 clude—

3 ‘‘(A) improving the effectiveness and effi4 ciency of service delivery, including developing

5 strategies that promote accountability for re6 sults;

7 ‘‘(B) service coordination and case man8 agement that facilitates the linkage of individ9 ualized education programs under this part and

10 individualized family service plans under part C

11 with individualized service plans under multiple

12 Federal and State programs, such as title I of

13 the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (vocational reha14 bilitation), title XIX of the Social Security Act

15 (Medicaid), and title XVI of the Social Security

16 Act (supplemental security income);

17 ‘‘(C) developing and implementing inter18 agency financing strategies for the provision of

19 education, health, mental health, and social

20 services, including transition services and relat21 ed services under this title; and

22 ‘‘(D) interagency personnel development

23 for individuals working on coordinated services.

24 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION WITH CERTAIN PROJECTS

25 UNDER ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
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1 ACT OF 1965.—If a local educational agency is carry2 ing out a coordinated services project under title XI

3 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

4 1965 and a coordinated services project under this

5 part in the same schools, such agency shall use

6 amounts under this subsection in accordance with

7 the requirements of that title.

8 ‘‘(g) MODIFICATION OF REQUIREMENTS UNDER

9 THIS PART TO ACHIEVE INNOVATIVE DELIVERY OF

10 SERVICES.—

11 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may modify

12 any requirement of this part for a local educational

13 agency, or a group of local educational agencies, des14 ignated under paragraph (2) for a period of not less

15 than two but not more than five years in order to

16 permit the Secretary to identify and evaluate sys17 temic reforms to improve educational results for

18 children with disabilities in accordance with the pur19 poses described in paragraph (3).

20 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION OF LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

21 AGENCIES.—Beginning one year after the date of

22 the enactment of the IDEA Improvement Act of

23 1996, the Secretary shall, to the extent practicable,

24 designate 10 local educational agencies or groups of
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1 local educational agencies that meet the require2 ments of paragraph (4).

3 ‘‘(3) PURPOSES.—The purposes of a modifica4 tion of any requirement of this part are to provide

5 adequate and reliable data to permit the Secretary—

6 ‘‘(A) to identify local educational agencies

7 that have implemented reforms that yield suc8 cessful results for children with disabilities;

9 ‘‘(B) to identify success in—

10 ‘‘(i) parental participation in, and pa11 rental satisfaction with, the development

12 and implementation of individualized edu13 cation programs;

14 ‘‘(ii) systems of eligibility that focus

15 on functional abilities and addressing func16 tional limitations with reduced emphasis on

17 the use of labels in the early years of a

18 child’s school career;

19 ‘‘(iii) inclusion of students with dis20 abilities in school district-wide and state21 wide assessments;

22 ‘‘(iv) improvement of academic results

23 for children with disabilities; and

24 ‘‘(v) transition programs that prepare

25 students who have attained the age 14 for
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1 postsecondary education or vocational em2 ployment;

3 ‘‘(C) to provide direct technical assistance

4 to local educational agencies that have dem5 onstrated success in one or more of the areas

6 described in subparagraph (B) to implement

7 additional reforms; and

8 ‘‘(D) to document the implementation

9 steps taken by local educational agencies receiv10 ing a modification of a requirement under this

11 subsection to create models of reform that are

12 systematically replicable by other school dis13 tricts.

14 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.—A

15 local educational agency or group of local edu16 cational agencies may be designated under para17 graph (2) to receive a modification of any require18 ment under this part if the agency or agencies—

19 ‘‘(A) develops an application for such a

20 modification—

21 ‘‘(i) with parent groups from the geo22 graphic area served by the agency or agen23 cies and with individuals with disabilities;

24 and
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1 ‘‘(ii) that describes how the modifica2 tion will assist the Secretary in achieving

3 the purposes described in paragraph (3);

4 and

5 ‘‘(B) demonstrates to the satisfaction of

6 the Secretary that the agency has or agencies

7 have achieved a significant measure of success

8 in at least one of the areas identified in para9 graph (3)(B).

10 ‘‘(5) DEVELOPMENT OF TESTING INSTRU11 MENTS.—The Secretary shall, in consultation with

12 the local educational agency or group of local edu13 cational agencies, establish, or enter into a contract

14 with an appropriate research organization for the

15 purpose of establishing (in consultation with the

16 Secretary and the local educational agency or group

17 of local educational agencies), testing instruments to

18 objectively verify and evaluate the effect of modifica19 tions of requirements of this part for the local edu20 cational agency or group of local educational agen21 cies pursuant to this subsection.

22 ‘‘(6) ASSESSMENT OF MODIFICATIONS.—

23 ‘‘(A) INTERIM ASSESSMENTS.—At regular

24 intervals during the period in which a local edu25 cational agency is or group of local educational
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1 agencies are receiving a modification of a re2 quirement of this part pursuant to this sub3 section, the Secretary or the research organiza4 tion that devised the testing instrument under

5 paragraph (5), as the case may be, shall use the

6 instrument to assess such modification.

7 ‘‘(B) FINAL ASSESSMENT.—At the conclu8 sion of the modification period under this sub9 section, a final assessment of the modification

10 shall be made by the Secretary or the research

11 organization that devised the testing instrument

12 under paragraph (5), as the case may be, and

13 the results of such assessment shall be made

14 available to the public by the Secretary.

15 ‘‘(7) MODIFICATION OF STATE REQUIRE16 MENTS.—In the case of a State or States that con17 tain a local educational agency or group of local edu18 cational agencies for which a modification of any re19 quirement under this part has been granted by the

20 Secretary, the Secretary shall, upon application by

21 the State or States, modify any requirement of this

22 part for the State or States, but only—

23 ‘‘(A) with respect to the implementation of

24 a requirement of the State or States in the geo25 graphic area served by such local educational
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1 agency or group of local educational agencies;

2 and

3 ‘‘(B) if the Secretary determines that the

4 modification is necessary and appropriate to

5 achieve the purposes of this subsection.

6 ‘‘(8) TERMINATION OF MODIFICATION.—If, dur7 ing the period in which a modification under this

8 subsection is approved with respect to a local edu9 cational agency or group of local educational agen10 cies or a State or States, the Secretary determines

11 that the modification is not serving the best inter12 ests of children with disabilities in the geographic

13 area served, the Secretary may terminate the modi14 fication.

15 ‘‘(h) DIRECT SERVICES BY THE STATE EDU16 CATIONAL AGENCY.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency

18 shall use the payments that would otherwise have

19 been available to a local educational agency or to a

20 State agency to provide special education and relat21 ed services directly to children with disabilities resid22 ing in the area served by that local agency, or for

23 whom that State agency is responsible, if the State

24 educational agency determines that the local edu25 cation agency or State agency, as the case may be—
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1 ‘‘(A) has not provided the information

2 needed to establish the eligibility of such agency

3 under this section;

4 ‘‘(B) is unable to establish and maintain

5 programs of free appropriate public education

6 that meet the requirements of subsection (a);

7 ‘‘(C) is unable or unwilling to be consoli8 dated with one or more local educational agen9 cies in order to establish and maintain such

10 programs; or

11 ‘‘(D) has one or more children with disabil12 ities who can best be served by a regional or

13 State program or service delivery system de14 signed to meet the needs of such children.

15 ‘‘(2) MANNER AND LOCATION OF EDUCATION

16 AND SERVICES.—The State educational agency may

17 provide special education and related services under

18 paragraph (1) in such manner and at such locations

19 (including regional or State centers) as the State

20 agency considers appropriate. Such education and

21 services shall be provided in accordance with this

22 part.

23 ‘‘(i) STATE AGENCY ELIGIBILITY.—Any State agency

24 that desires to receive a subgrant for any fiscal year under
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1 section 611(c) shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the

2 State educational agency that—

3 ‘‘(1) all children with disabilities who are par4 ticipating in programs and projects funded under

5 this part receive a free appropriate public education,

6 and that those children and their parents are pro7 vided all the rights and procedural safeguards de8 scribed in this part; and

9 ‘‘(2) the agency meets such other conditions of

10 this section as the Secretary determines to be appro11 priate.

12 ‘‘SEC. 614. EVALUATIONS, REEVALUATIONS, INDIVIDUAL13 IZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS, AND EDU14 CATIONAL PLACEMENTS.

15 ‘‘(a) EVALUATIONS AND REEVALUATIONS.—

16 ‘‘(1) INITIAL EVALUATIONS.—

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State educational

18 agency, other State agency, or local educational

19 agency shall conduct an initial evaluation, in ac20 cordance with this paragraph and subsection

21 (b), before the initial provision of special edu22 cation and related services to a child with a dis23 ability under this part.

24 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURES.—Such initial evalua25 tion shall consist of procedures—
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1 ‘‘(i) to determine whether a child is a

2 child with a disability (as defined in sec3 tion 602(3)); and

4 ‘‘(ii) to determine the educational

5 needs of such child.

6 ‘‘(C) PARENTAL CONSENT.—

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The agency pro8 posing to conduct an initial evaluation to

9 determine if the child qualifies as a child

10 with a disability as defined in section

11 602(3)(A) or 602(3)(B) shall obtain an in12 formed consent from the parent of such

13 child before the evaluation is conducted.

14 Parental consent for evaluation shall not

15 be construed as consent for placement for

16 receipt of special education and related

17 services.

18 ‘‘(ii) REFUSAL.—If the parents of

19 such child refuse consent for the evalua20 tion, the agency may continue to pursue an

21 evaluation by utilizing the mediation and

22 due process procedures under section

23 615(e).
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1 ‘‘(2) REEVALUATIONS.—A local educational

2 agency shall ensure that a reevaluation of each child

3 with a disability is conducted—

4 ‘‘(A) if conditions warrant a reevaluation

5 or if the child’s parent or teacher requests a re6 evaluation, but at least once every 3 years; and

7 ‘‘(B) in accordance with subsections (b)

8 and (c).

9 ‘‘(b) EVALUATION PROCEDURES.—

10 ‘‘(1) NOTICE.—The local educational agency

11 shall provide notice to the parents of a child with a

12 disability, in accordance with subsections (b)(3),

13 (b)(4), and (c) of section 615, that describes any

14 evaluation procedures such agency proposes to con15 duct.

16 ‘‘(2) CONDUCT OF EVALUATION.—In conduct17 ing the evaluation, the local educational agency

18 shall—

19 ‘‘(A) use a variety of assessment tools and

20 strategies to gather relevant functional and de21 velopmental information, including information

22 provided by the parent, that may assist in de23 termining whether the child is a child with a

24 disability and the content of the child’s individ25 ualized education program, including informa-
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1 tion related to enabling the child to participate

2 and achieve in the general curriculum or, for

3 preschool children, to participate in devel4 opmentally appropriate activities; and

5 ‘‘(B) not use any single procedure as the

6 sole criterion for determining whether a child is

7 a child with a disability or determining an ap8 propriate educational program for the child.

9 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—Each local

10 educational agency shall ensure that—

11 ‘‘(A) tests and other evaluation materials

12 used to assess a child under this section—

13 ‘‘(i) are selected and administered so

14 as not to be discriminatory on a racial or

15 cultural basis; and

16 ‘‘(ii) are provided and administered in

17 the child’s native language or other mode

18 of communication, unless it is clearly not

19 feasible to do so; and

20 ‘‘(B) any standardized tests that are given

21 to the child—

22 ‘‘(i) have been validated for the spe23 cific purpose for which they are used;

24 ‘‘(ii) are administered by trained per25 sonnel; and
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1 ‘‘(iii) are administered in accordance

2 with any instructions provided by the pro3 ducer of such tests.

4 ‘‘(4) DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—Upon

5 completion of administration of tests and other eval6 uation materials—

7 ‘‘(A) an individualized education program

8 team will be convened to make the determina9 tion if the child is a child with a disability as

10 defined in section 602(3) or section 602(3)(B);

11 and

12 ‘‘(B) a copy of the evaluation report and

13 the documentation of determination of eligibility

14 will be given to the parent.

15 ‘‘(c) REEVALUATION PROCEDURES.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As part of any reevaluation

17 to assess a child under this section, the individual18 ized education program team shall—

19 ‘‘(A) review existing evaluation data on the

20 child, including current classroom-based assess21 ments and teacher and related services provid22 ers observation; and

23 ‘‘(B) on the basis of that review, the pro24 fessional judgment of the IEP Team, and input
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1 from the child’s parents, identify what addi2 tional data, if any, are needed to determine—

3 ‘‘(i) whether the child continues to

4 have an impairment, as described in sec5 tion 602(3)(A)(i) or section 602(3)(B);

6 ‘‘(ii) the child’s present levels of per7 formance and educational needs; and

8 ‘‘(iii)(I) whether the child continues to

9 need special education and related services;

10 and

11 ‘‘(II) if so, any additions or modifica12 tions to the special education and related

13 services to enable the child to meet the ob14 jectives set out in the individualized edu15 cation program of the child and to partici16 pate, as appropriate, in the general cur17 riculum.

18 ‘‘(2) TESTS AND OTHER EVALUATION MATE19 RIALS.—The local educational agency shall admin20 ister such tests and other evaluation materials as

21 may be needed to produce the data identified by the

22 IEP Team under paragraph (1)(B).

23 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS IF ADDITIONAL DATA NOT

24 NEEDED.—If the IEP Team determines that no ad25 ditional data are needed to determine whether the
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1 child continues to be a child with a disability, the

2 local educational agency—

3 ‘‘(A) shall notify the child’s parents of—

4 ‘‘(i) that determination and the rea5 sons for it; and

6 ‘‘(ii) the right of such parents to re7 quest an assessment to determine whether

8 the child continues to be a child with a dis9 ability; and

10 ‘‘(B) shall not be required to conduct such an

11 assessment unless requested to by the child’s par12 ents.

13 ‘‘(d) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS.—

14 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT THAT PROGRAM BE IN EF15 FECT.—

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—At the beginning of

17 each school year, each local educational agency,

18 or State educational agency, as the case may

19 be, shall have in effect, for each child with a

20 disability in its jurisdiction, an individualized

21 education program, as defined in section

22 602(11).

23 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM FOR CHILD AGED 3 TO 5.—

24 In the case of a child with a disability aged 3

25 to 5, inclusive, an individualized family service
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1 plan that contains the material described in sec2 tion 636, and that is developed in accordance

3 with this section, may serve as the IEP of the

4 child if using that plan as the IEP is—

5 ‘‘(i) consistent with State policy; and

6 ‘‘(ii) agreed to by the agency and the

7 child’s parents.

8 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OF IEP.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individualized edu10 cation program team shall develop the IEP de11 scribed in paragraph (1). In developing such

12 IEP, the IEP Team, subject to subparagraph

13 (B), shall—

14 ‘‘(i) consider the child’s strengths, the

15 duration of an early intervention program,

16 and the parents’ concerns for enhancing

17 their child’s education;

18 ‘‘(ii) consider the results of the initial

19 evaluation or most recent reevaluation;

20 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a child whose be21 havior impedes his or her learning or that

22 of others, consider strategies, including be23 havioral management plans, to address

24 that behavior;
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1 ‘‘(iv) in the case of a child with lim2 ited English proficiency, consider the lan3 guage needs of the child as such needs re4 late to the child’s IEP;

5 ‘‘(v) in the case of a child who is blind

6 or visually impaired, provide for instruction

7 in braille and the use of braille unless all

8 members of the IEP Team concur that,

9 after an evaluation of the child’s reading

10 and writing skills, needs, and appropriate

11 reading and writing media (including an

12 evaluation of the child’s future needs for

13 instruction in braille or the use of braille),

14 instruction in braille or the use of braille

15 is not appropriate for the child;

16 ‘‘(vi) consider the communication

17 needs of the child; and

18 ‘‘(vii) consider whether the child re19 quires assistive technology services or de20 vices.

21 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT WITH RESPECT TO

22 REGULAR EDUCATION TEACHER.—The regular

23 education teacher of the child, as a member of

24 the IEP Team, shall, to the extent appropriate,
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1 participate in the development of the IEP of

2 the child.

3 ‘‘(3) REVIEW AND REVISION OF IEP.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The local educational

5 agency shall ensure that, subject to subpara6 graph (B), the IEP Team—

7 ‘‘(i) reviews each IEP at least once a

8 year to determine whether the annual ob9 jectives for the child are being achieved;

10 and

11 ‘‘(ii) revises the IEP to address—

12 ‘‘(I) any lack of expected

13 progress toward the annual objectives

14 and in the general curriculum, where

15 appropriate;

16 ‘‘(II) the results of any reevalua17 tion conducted under this section;

18 ‘‘(III) information about the

19 child provided to the parents, as de20 scribed in section 602(11)(F)(ii); or

21 ‘‘(IV) the child’s anticipated

22 needs as otherwise appropriate.

23 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT WITH RESPECT TO

24 REGULAR EDUCATION TEACHER.—The regular

25 education teacher of the child, as a member of
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1 the IEP Team, shall, to the extent appropriate,

2 participate in the review and revision of the

3 IEP of the child.

4 ‘‘(4) FAILURE TO MEET TRANSITION OBJEC5 TIVES.—If a participating agency, other than the

6 local educational agency, fails to provide the transi7 tion services described in the IEP in accordance with

8 section 602(11)(F)(ii), the local educational agency

9 shall reconvene the IEP Team to identify alternative

10 strategies to meet the transition objectives for the

11 child set out in that program.

12 ‘‘(e) EDUCATIONAL PLACEMENTS.—Each local edu13 cational agency or State educational agency shall ensure

14 that the parents of each child with a disability are mem15 bers of any group that makes decisions on the educational

16 placement of their child.

17 ‘‘SEC. 615. PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.

18 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROCEDURES.—Any State

19 educational agency or local educational agency that re20 ceives assistance under this part shall establish and main21 tain procedures in accordance with this section to assure

22 that children with disabilities and their parents are guar23 anteed procedural safeguards with respect to the provision

24 of free appropriate public education by such agencies.
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1 ‘‘(b) TYPES OF PROCEDURES.—The procedures re2 quired by this section shall include—

3 ‘‘(1) an opportunity for the parents of a child

4 with a disability to examine all records relating to

5 such child and to participate in meetings with re6 spect to the identification, evaluation, and edu7 cational placement of the child, and the provision of

8 a free appropriate public education to such child,

9 and to obtain an independent educational evaluation

10 of the child;

11 ‘‘(2) procedures to protect the rights of the

12 child whenever the parents of the child are not

13 known, the agency cannot, after reasonable efforts,

14 locate the parents, or the child is a ward of the

15 State, including the assignment of an individual

16 (who shall not be an employee of the State edu17 cational agency, the local educational agency, or any

18 other agency that is involved in the education or

19 care of the child) to act as a surrogate for the par20 ents;

21 ‘‘(3) written prior notice to the parents of the

22 child whenever such agency—

23 ‘‘(A) proposes to initiate or change; or

24 ‘‘(B) refuses to initiate or change;
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1 the identification, evaluation, or educational place2 ment of the child, in accordance with subsection (c),

3 or the provision of a free appropriate public edu4 cation to the child, except that a minor modification

5 of instructional strategies to carry out the individ6 ualized education program of the child shall not be

7 considered to be a change requiring a notice to the

8 parents under this section;

9 ‘‘(4) procedures designed to assure that the no10 tice required by paragraph (3) is in the native lan11 guage of the parents, unless it clearly is not feasible

12 to do so;

13 ‘‘(5) an opportunity for mediation in accordance

14 with subsection (e); and

15 ‘‘(6) an opportunity to present complaints with

16 respect to any matter relating to the identification,

17 evaluation, or educational placement of the child, or

18 the provision of a free appropriate public education

19 to such child.

20 ‘‘(c) CONTENT OF PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE.—The

21 notice required by subsection (b)(3) shall include—

22 ‘‘(1) a description of the action proposed

23 or refused by the agency;

24 ‘‘(2) an explanation of why the agency pro25 poses or refuses to take the action;
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1 ‘‘(3) a description of any other options

2 that the agency considered and the reasons why

3 those options were rejected;

4 ‘‘(4) a description of each evaluation proce5 dure, test, record, or report the agency used as

6 a basis for the proposed or refused action;

7 ‘‘(5) a description of any other factors that

8 are relevant to the agency’s proposal or refusal;

9 and

10 ‘‘(6) a statement that the parents of a

11 child with a disability have protection under the

12 procedural safeguards of this title and, if this

13 notice is not an initial referral for evaluation,

14 the means by which a copy of a description of

15 the procedural safeguards can be obtained.

16 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS NOTICE.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A copy of the procedural

18 safeguards available to the parents of a child with

19 a disability shall be given to the parents, at a mini20 mum—

21 ‘‘(A) upon initial referral for evaluation;

22 ‘‘(B) at each individualized education pro23 gram meeting; and

24 ‘‘(C) upon registration of a complaint

25 under subsection (b)(6).
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1 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The procedural safeguards

2 notice shall include a full explanation of the proce3 dural safeguards written in the native language of

4 the parents, unless not feasible to do so, and written

5 in an easily understandable manner, available under

6 this section and under regulations promulgated by

7 the Secretary relating to—

8 ‘‘(A) independent educational evaluation;

9 ‘‘(B) prior written notice;

10 ‘‘(C) parental consent;

11 ‘‘(D) access to educational records;

12 ‘‘(E) opportunity to present complaints;

13 ‘‘(F) the child’s placement during pend14 ency of due process proceedings;

15 ‘‘(G) procedures for students who are sub16 ject to placement in an interim alternative edu17 cational setting;

18 ‘‘(H) requirements for unilateral placement

19 by parents of children in private schools at pub20 lic expense;

21 ‘‘(I) mediation;

22 ‘‘(J) due process hearings, including re23 quirements for disclosure of evaluation results

24 and recommendations;
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1 ‘‘(K) State-level appeals (if applicable in

2 that State);

3 ‘‘(L) civil actions; and

4 ‘‘(M) attorney’s fees.

5 ‘‘(e) MEDIATION.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any State educational

7 agency or local educational agency that receives as8 sistance under this part shall ensure that procedures

9 are established and implemented to allow parties to

10 disputes involving the provision of free appropriate

11 public education to children with disabilities by any

12 such State educational agency or local educational

13 agency to resolve such disputes through a mediation

14 process.

15 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—Such procedures shall

16 meet the following requirements:

17 ‘‘(A) The procedures shall ensure that the

18 mediation process—

19 ‘‘(i) is voluntary on the part of the

20 parents and may be waived by the parents

21 at any time during such process; and

22 ‘‘(ii) is conducted by a qualified and

23 impartial mediator who is trained in effec24 tive mediation techniques.
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1 ‘‘(B) The State shall maintain a list of in2 dividuals who are qualified mediators and

3 knowledgeable in laws and regulations relating

4 to the provision of special education and related

5 services.

6 ‘‘(C) The State shall bear the cost of the

7 mediator in the mediation process.

8 ‘‘(D) Each session in the mediation process

9 shall be scheduled in a timely manner and shall

10 be held in a location that is convenient to the

11 parties to the dispute.

12 ‘‘(E) An agreement reached by the parties

13 to the dispute in the mediation process shall be

14 set forth in a written mediation agreement.

15 ‘‘(F) Discussions that occur during the

16 mediation process shall be confidential and may

17 not be used as evidence in any subsequent due

18 process hearings or civil proceedings, and the

19 parties to the mediation process may be re20 quired to sign a confidentiality pledge prior to

21 the commencement of such process.

22 ‘‘(G) Attorneys shall not attend or other23 wise participate in the mediation process.
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1 ‘‘(H) Proceedings of the mediation process

2 shall not be considered administrative proceed3 ings.

4 ‘‘(I) Attorney’s fees and related costs may

5 not be made to any individual in connection

6 with the mediation process.

7 ‘‘(J) Parents who are party to the medi8 ation process may be accompanied and advised

9 by a non-attorney representative.

10 ‘‘(f) IMPARTIAL DUE PROCESS HEARING.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever a complaint has

12 been received under subsection (b)(6), the parents

13 involved in such complaint shall have an opportunity

14 for an impartial due process hearing which shall be

15 conducted by the State educational agency or by the

16 local educational agency, as determined by State law

17 or by the State educational agency.

18 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE OF EVALUATIONS AND REC19 OMMENDATIONS.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—At least 15 school

21 days prior to a hearing conducted pursuant to

22 paragraph (1), each party shall disclose to all

23 other parties all evaluations and recommenda24 tions based on the offering party’s evaluations

25 which the party intends to use at the hearing.
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1 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION.—Any party which fails

2 to meet the requirement of subparagraph (A)

3 shall be barred from introducing such evalua4 tions and recommentations at such hearing.

5 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON CONDUCT OF HEARING.—

6 A hearing conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) may

7 not be conducted by an employee of the State edu8 cational agency or the local educational agency in9 volved in the education or care of the child.

10 ‘‘(g) APPEAL.—If the hearing required by subsection

11 (f) is conducted by a local educational agency, any party

12 aggrieved by the findings and decision rendered in such

13 a hearing may appeal such findings and decision to the

14 State educational agency. Such agency shall conduct an

15 impartial review of such decision. The officer conducting

16 such review shall make an independent decision upon com17 pletion of such review.

18 ‘‘(h) SAFEGUARDS.—Any party to a hearing con19 ducted pursuant to subsections (f) or an appeal conducted

20 pursuant to subsection (g) shall be accorded—

21 ‘‘(1) the right to be accompanied and advised

22 by counsel and by individuals with special knowledge

23 or training with respect to the problems of children

24 with disabilities;
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1 ‘‘(2) the right to present evidence and confront,

2 cross-examine, and compel the attendance of wit3 nesses;

4 ‘‘(3) the right to a written, or, at the option of

5 the parents, electronic verbatim record of such hear6 ing; and

7 ‘‘(4) the right to written, or, at the option of

8 the parents, electronic findings of fact and decisions

9 (which findings and decisions shall be made available

10 to the public consistent with the requirements of sec11 tion 617(c) (relating to the confidentiality of data,

12 information, and records) and shall also be transmit13 ted to the advisory panel established pursuant to

14 section 612(a)(18)).

15 ‘‘(i) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A decision made in a hear17 ing conducted pursuant to subsection (f) shall be

18 final, except that any party involved in such hearing

19 may appeal such decision under the provisions of

20 subsection (g) and paragraph (2) of this subsection.

21 ‘‘(2) RIGHT TO BRING CIVIL ACTION.—

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any party aggrieved

23 by the findings and decision made under sub24 section (f) who does not have the right to an

25 appeal under subsection (g), and any party ag-
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1 grieved by the findings and decision under this

2 subsection, shall have the right to bring a civil

3 action with respect to the complaint presented

4 pursuant to this section, which action may be

5 brought in any State court of competent juris6 diction or in a district court of the United

7 States without regard to the amount in con8 troversy.

9 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In

10 any action brought under this paragraph the

11 court—

12 ‘‘(i) shall receive the records of the

13 administrative proceedings;

14 ‘‘(ii) hear additional evidence at the

15 request of a party; and

16 ‘‘(iii) basing its decision on the pre17 ponderance of the evidence, shall grant

18 such relief as the court determines is ap19 propriate.

20 ‘‘(3) JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT COURTS; AT21 TORNEYS’ FEES.—

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The district courts of

23 the United States shall have jurisdiction of ac24 tions brought under this subsection without re25 gard to the amount in controversy.
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1 ‘‘(B) AWARD OF ATTORNEYS’ FEES.—In

2 any action or proceeding brought under this

3 subsection, the court, in its discretion, may

4 award reasonable attorneys’ fees as part of the

5 costs to the parents of a child or youth with a

6 disability who is the prevailing party.

7 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF AT8 TORNEYS’ FEES.—Fees awarded under this

9 paragraph shall be based on rates prevailing in

10 the community in which the action or proceed11 ing arose for the kind and quality of services

12 furnished. No bonus or multiplier may be used

13 in calculating the fees awarded under this sub14 section.

15 ‘‘(D) PROHIBITION OF ATTORNEYS’ FEES

16 AND RELATED COSTS FOR CERTAIN SERV17 ICES.—Attorneys’ fees may not be awarded and

18 related costs may not be reimbursed in any ac19 tion or proceeding under this subsection for

20 services performed subsequent to the time of a

21 written offer of settlement to a parent if—

22 ‘‘(i) the offer is made within the time

23 prescribed by Rule 68 of the Federal Rules

24 of Civil Procedure or, in the case of an ad-
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1 ministrative proceeding, at any time more

2 than ten days before the proceeding begins;

3 ‘‘(ii) the offer is not accepted within

4 10 days; and

5 ‘‘(iii) the court or administrative offi6 cer finds that the relief finally obtained by

7 the parents is not more favorable to the

8 parents than the offer of settlement.

9 ‘‘(E) EXCEPTION TO PROHIBITION ON AT10 TORNEYS’ FEES AND RELATED COSTS.—Not11 withstanding subparagraph (D), an award of

12 attorneys’ fees and related costs may be made

13 to a parent who is the prevailing party and who

14 was substantially justified in rejecting the set15 tlement offer.

16 ‘‘(F) REDUCTION IN AMOUNT OF ATTOR17 NEYS’ FEES.—Except as provided in subpara18 graph (G), whenever the court finds that—

19 ‘‘(i) the parent, during the course of

20 the action or proceeding, unreasonably pro21 tracted the final resolution of the con22 troversy;

23 ‘‘(ii) the amount of the attorneys’ fees

24 otherwise authorized to be awarded unrea25 sonably exceeds the hourly rate prevailing
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1 in the community for similar services by

2 attorneys of reasonably comparable skill

3 and experience;

4 ‘‘(iii) the time spent and legal services

5 furnished were excessive considering the

6 nature of the action or proceeding;

7 ‘‘(iv) the parent did not provide a

8 written statement of concerns to the school

9 district; or

10 ‘‘(v) the amount of attorneys’ fees re11 quested is not in proportion to the number

12 of hours expended on the issues involved or

13 on the issues on which the parents pre14 vailed;

15 the court shall reduce, accordingly, the amount

16 of the attorneys’ fees awarded under this sub17 section.

18 ‘‘(G) EXCEPTION TO REDUCTION IN

19 AMOUNT OF ATTORNEYS’ FEES.—The provi20 sions of subparagraph (F) shall not apply in

21 any action or proceeding if the court finds that

22 the State or local educational agency unreason23 ably protracted the final resolution of the action

24 or proceeding or there was a violation of this

25 section.
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1 ‘‘(j) MAINTENANCE OF CURRENT EDUCATIONAL

2 PLACEMENT.—Except as provided in subsection (k), dur3 ing the pendency of any proceedings conducted pursuant

4 to this section, unless the State or local educational agency

5 and the parents otherwise agree, the child shall remain

6 in the then current educational placement of such child,

7 or, if applying for initial admission to a public school,

8 shall, with the consent of the parents, be placed in the

9 public school program until all such proceedings have been

10 completed.

11 ‘‘(k) PLACEMENT IN ALTERNATIVE EDUCATIONAL

12 SETTING.—

13 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF SCHOOL PERSONNEL.—

14 School personnel under this section may, to the

15 same extent as a court, order a change in the place16 ment of a child with a disability—

17 ‘‘(A) to an appropriate interim alternative

18 educational setting, another setting for not

19 more than 10 school days, or suspension (to the

20 extent such alternatives would be applied to

21 children without disabilities); and

22 ‘‘(B) to an appropriate interim alternative

23 educational setting for not more than an addi24 tional 45 school days if—
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1 ‘‘(i) the child carries a weapon to

2 school or to a school function under the ju3 risdiction of a State or a local educational

4 agency;

5 ‘‘(ii) the child possesses or uses illegal

6 drugs or sells or solicits the sale of medica7 tions or illegal drugs while at school or a

8 school function under the jurisdiction of a

9 State or local educational agency; or

10 ‘‘(iii) the child commits an assault

11 and battery while at school or at a school

12 function under the jurisdiction of a State

13 or a local educational agency.

14 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF HEARING OFFICER.—A

15 hearing officer under this section may, to the same

16 extent as a court, order a change in the placement

17 of a child with a disability to an appropriate interim

18 alternative educational setting for not more than 45

19 school days if—

20 ‘‘(A) the maintenance of the current place21 ment of such child is substantially likely to re22 sult in injury to the child or to others; and

23 ‘‘(B) the hearing officer—

24 ‘‘(i) determines that the public agency

25 has demonstrated by substantial evidence
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1 that the requirement of subparagraph (A)

2 has been met;

3 ‘‘(ii) considers the appropriateness of

4 the child’s current placement; and

5 ‘‘(iii) considers whether the public

6 agency has made reasonable efforts to min7 imize the risk of harm through the use of

8 supplementary aids and services.

9 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF SETTING.—The alter10 native educational setting described in paragraph (1)

11 or paragraph (2) shall be determined by the individ12 ualized education program team.

13 ‘‘(4) MANIFESTATION DETERMINATION RE14 VIEW.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a change in place16 ment or disciplinary proceeding, including ex17 pulsion, is contemplated as a result of an action

18 described in paragraph (1) or paragraph (2)—

19 ‘‘(i) not later than 3 school days after

20 the date on which such action has been

21 taken the parents shall be notified of such

22 action; and

23 ‘‘(ii) not later than 15 school days

24 after the date on which such action has

25 been taken a review shall be conducted of
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1 the relationship between the child’s disabil2 ity and the behavior described in para3 graph (1).

4 ‘‘(B) INDIVIDUALS TO CARRY OUT RE5 VIEW.—A review described in subparagraph (A)

6 shall be conducted by the IEP Team.

7 ‘‘(C) CONDUCT OF REVIEW.—In carrying

8 out a review described in subparagraph (A), the

9 individuals described in subparagraph (B) shall

10 consider appropriate factors, including—

11 ‘‘(i) the appropriateness of the child’s

12 placement;

13 ‘‘(ii) the consistency of the implemen14 tation of the child’s entire IEP, including

15 the technical soundness of the behavior

16 management plan;

17 ‘‘(iii) evaluation and diagnostic re18 sults, which may include any such results

19 supplied by the parents or guardian of the

20 child; and

21 ‘‘(iv) observations of the child.

22 ‘‘(5) DETERMINATION THAT BEHAVIOR WAS

23 MANIFESTATION OF DISABILITY.—If the result of

24 the review described in paragraph (4) is a deter25 mination that the behavior of the child with a dis-
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1 ability was a manifestation of such child’s disability

2 and the parents of such child agree with such deter3 mination, the educational placement of such child

4 may be changed. If the parents do not agree with

5 such determination or with such changed educational

6 placement, an immediate appeal may be made to a

7 hearing officer to determine whether the child’s

8 placement should be changed. Any party aggrieved

9 by the determination of the hearing officer may initi10 ate a due process hearing as described in subsection

11 (f).

12 ‘‘(6) DETERMINATION THAT BEHAVIOR WAS

13 NOT MANIFESTATION OF DISABILITY.—If the result

14 of the review described in paragraph (4) is a deter15 mination that the behavior of the child with a dis16 ability was not a manifestation of such child’s dis17 ability, the relevant disciplinary procedures applica18 ble to children without disabilities shall be applied in

19 the same manner in which they would be applied to

20 children without disabilities. If the parents do not

21 agree with such application, a due process hearing,

22 as described in subsection (f), may be initiated. Dur23 ing the pendency of such due process procedures, the

24 child shall continue to receive educational services in

25 the alternative educational setting.
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1 ‘‘(7) EXPEDITED HEARING.—The State or local

2 educational agency shall arrange for an expedited

3 hearing in any case described in this subsection

4 when requested by the parent.

5 ‘‘(8) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

7 subparagraph (B), if the parent of a child de8 scribed in this section requests a hearing pursu9 ant to subsection (f), the child shall remain in

10 the alternative educational setting in which

11 such child was placed during the pendency of

12 any proceedings under this section, unless the

13 parents and the State or local educational agen14 cy agree otherwise.

15 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—The limitations on

16 the authority of a school to change the edu17 cational placement of a child with a disability

18 under this part shall not apply to a child—

19 ‘‘(i) who has requested, or on whose

20 behalf another individual has requested, an

21 initial evaluation pursuant to section 614;

22 and

23 ‘‘(ii) who has not yet been determined

24 to be a child with a disability, as defined

25 in section 602(3).
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1 ‘‘(9) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub2 section, the terms ‘illegal’, ‘drugs’, ‘weapon’, and

3 ‘assault and battery’ shall be defined in accordance

4 with State law or State policy relating to disciplinary

5 procedures regarding children who do not have dis6 abilities.

7 ‘‘(l) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this part

8 shall be construed to restrict or limit the rights, proce9 dures, and remedies available under the Americans with

10 Disabilities Act, title V of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,

11 or other Federal laws protecting the rights of children

12 with disabilities, except that before the filing of a civil ac13 tion under such laws seeking relief that is also available

14 under this part, the procedures under subsections (f) and

15 (g) shall be exhausted to the same extent as would be re16 quired had the action been brought under this part.

17 ‘‘(m) TRANSFER OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AT AGE OF

18 MAJORITY.—A State that receives amounts from a grant

19 under this part may provide that, when a child with a dis20 ability reaches the age of majority under State law (except

21 for a child with a disability who has been determined to

22 be incompetent by a court)—

23 ‘‘(1) the public agency shall provide any notice

24 required by this section to both the individual and

25 the parents;
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1 ‘‘(2) all other rights accorded to parents under

2 this part transfer to the child;

3 ‘‘(3) the agency shall notify the individual and

4 the parents of the transfer of rights; and

5 ‘‘(4) all rights accorded to parents under this

6 part transfer to children who are incarcerated in an

7 adult or juvenile Federal, State, or local correctional

8 institution.

9 ‘‘SEC. 616. WITHHOLDING AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.

10 ‘‘(a) WITHHOLDING OF PAYMENTS.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the Secretary,

12 after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing

13 to the State educational agency involved (and to any

14 local educational agency or State agency affected by

15 any failure described in subparagraph (B)), finds—

16 ‘‘(A) that there has been a failure by the

17 State to comply substantially with any provision

18 of this part; or

19 ‘‘(B) that there is a failure to comply with

20 any condition of a local educational agency’s or

21 State agency’s eligibility under this part;

22 the Secretary shall, after notifying the State edu23 cational agency, withhold any further payments to

24 the State under this part.
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1 ‘‘(2) NATURE OF WITHHOLDING.—If the Sec2 retary withholds further payments under paragraph

3 (1), the Secretary may determine that such with4 holding will be limited to programs or projects, or

5 portions thereof, affected by the failure, or that the

6 State educational agency shall not make further pay7 ments under this part to specified local educational

8 agencies or State agencies affected by the failure.

9 Until the Secretary is satisfied that there is no

10 longer any failure to comply with the provisions of

11 this part, as specified in subparagraph (A) or (B) of

12 paragraph (1), no further payments shall be made to

13 the State under this part, or payments by the State

14 educational agency under this part shall be limited

15 to local educational agencies and State agencies

16 whose actions did not cause or were not involved in

17 the failure, as the case may be. Any State edu18 cational agency, State agency, or local educational

19 agency that has received notice under paragraph (1)

20 shall, by means of a public notice, take such meas21 ures as may be necessary to bring the pendency of

22 an action pursuant to this subsection to the atten23 tion of the public within the jurisdiction of such

24 agency.

25 ‘‘(b) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If any State is dissatisfied

2 with the Secretary’s final action with respect to the

3 eligibility of the State under section 612, such State

4 may, not later than 60 days after notice of such ac5 tion, file with the United States court of appeals for

6 the circuit in which such State is located a petition

7 for review of that action. A copy of the petition shall

8 be forthwith transmitted by the clerk of the court to

9 the Secretary. The Secretary thereupon shall file in

10 the court the record of the proceedings upon which

11 the Secretary’s action was based, as provided in sec12 tion 2112 of title 28, United States Code.

13 ‘‘(2) JURISDICTION; REVIEW BY UNITED

14 STATES SUPREME COURT.—Upon the filing of such

15 petition, the court shall have jurisdiction to affirm

16 the action of the Secretary or to set it aside, in

17 whole or in part. The judgment of the court shall be

18 subject to review by the Supreme Court of the Unit19 ed States upon certiorari or certification as provided

20 in section 1254 of title 28, United States Code.

21 ‘‘(3) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—The findings of

22 fact by the Secretary, if supported by substantial

23 evidence, shall be conclusive, but the court, for good

24 cause shown, may remand the case to the Secretary

25 to take further evidence, and the Secretary may
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1 thereupon make new or modified findings of fact and

2 may modify the Secretary’s previous action, and

3 shall file in the court the record of the further pro4 ceedings. Such new or modified findings of fact shall

5 likewise be conclusive if supported by substantial evi6 dence.

7 ‘‘SEC. 617. ADMINISTRATION.

8 ‘‘(a) RESPONSIBILITIES OF SECRETARY.—In carry9 ing out this part, the Secretary shall—

10 ‘‘(1) cooperate with, and (directly or by grant

11 or contract) furnish technical assistance necessary

12 to, the State in matters relating to—

13 ‘‘(A) the education of children with disabil14 ities; and

15 ‘‘(B) carrying out this part; and

16 ‘‘(2) provide short-term training programs and

17 institutes.

18 ‘‘(b) RULES AND REGULATIONS.—In carrying out

19 the provisions of this part, the Secretary shall issue regu20 lations under this Act only to the extent that such regula21 tions are necessary to ensure that there is compliance with

22 the specific requirements of this Act.

23 ‘‘(c) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Secretary shall take

24 appropriate action, in accordance with the provisions of

25 section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (20
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1 U.S.C. 1232g), to assure the protection of the confiden2 tiality of any personally identifiable data, information, and

3 records collected or maintained by the Secretary and by

4 State and local educational agencies pursuant to the provi5 sions of this part.

6 ‘‘(d) PERSONNEL.—The Secretary is authorized to

7 hire qualified personnel necessary to conduct data collec8 tion and evaluation activities authorized by subsection (a)

9 and section 618 without regard to the provisions of title

10 5, United States Code, relating to appointments in the

11 competitive service and without regard to chapter 51 and

12 subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classi13 fication and general schedule pay rates, except that no

14 more than twenty such personnel shall be employed at any

15 time.

16 ‘‘SEC. 618. PROGRAM INFORMATION.

17 ‘‘Each State that receives assistance under this part,

18 and the Secretary of the Interior, shall provide data each

19 year to the Secretary on—

20 ‘‘(1) the number of children who are receiv21 ing—

22 ‘‘(A) a free appropriate public education;

23 or

24 ‘‘(B) early intervention services because—
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1 ‘‘(i) such children have developmental

2 delays; or

3 ‘‘(ii) such children have a diagnosed

4 physical or mental condition that has a

5 high probability of resulting in devel6 opmental delay;

7 ‘‘(2) the progress of the State, and of the chil8 dren with disabilities in the State, toward meeting

9 the goals established under section 612(14);

10 ‘‘(3) the types of early intervention services pro11 vided to such children, which may be based on a

12 sampling of data;

13 ‘‘(4) the number of children with disabilities—

14 ‘‘(A) participating in regular education

15 programs;

16 ‘‘(B) in separate classes, separate schools

17 or facilities, or public or private residential fa18 cilities;

19 ‘‘(C) who have been otherwise removed

20 from the regular education environment; and

21 ‘‘(D) in various early intervention settings;

22 ‘‘(5) for each year of age from age 14 to 21,

23 the number of children with disabilities who, because

24 of program completion or for other reasons, stopped

25 receiving special education, and the reasons why
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1 such children stopped receiving such special edu2 cation, which may be based on a sampling of data;

3 ‘‘(6)(A) the number of children with disabilities,

4 who, under section 615(k), are removed to an in5 terim alternative educational setting;

6 ‘‘(B) the acts or items precipitating such re7 movals; and

8 ‘‘(C) the number of children with disabilities

9 who are expelled from school without receiving serv10 ices; and

11 ‘‘(7) any other information required by the Sec12 retary.

13 ‘‘SEC. 619. PRESCHOOL GRANTS.

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide

15 grants under this section to assist States to provide special

16 education and related services, in accordance with this

17 part—

18 ‘‘(1) to children with disabilities aged 3 to 5, in19 clusive; and

20 ‘‘(2) at the State’s discretion, to 2-year-old chil21 dren with disabilities who will turn 3 during the

22 school year.

23 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—A State shall be eligible for a

24 grant under this section if such State—
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1 ‘‘(1) is eligible under section 612 to receive a

2 grant under this part; and

3 ‘‘(2) makes a free appropriate public education

4 available to all children with disabilities, aged 3 to

5 5, inclusive, residing in the State.

6 ‘‘(c) AMOUNT.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount appro8 priated for any fiscal year pursuant to the author9 ization of appropriations under subsection (m), the

10 Secretary shall allot to each eligible State the

11 amount it received for fiscal year 1996 under this

12 section (as this section was in effect on the day be13 fore the date of the enactment of the IDEA Im14 provement Act of 1996).

15 ‘‘(2) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the amount appro17 priated under subsection (m) for a fiscal year is

18 insufficient to make the full allotments de19 scribed in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall—

20 ‘‘(i) first, reduce the allocation to any

21 State whose number of children aged 3 to

22 5, inclusive, is less than the number of

23 such children in such State in fiscal year

24 1995 by the same percentage by which
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1 such number of children declined from the

2 number of children in fiscal year 1995; and

3 ‘‘(ii) second, if necessary, ratably re4 duce the allocations of all States, including

5 those allocations reduced under clause (i).

6 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY OF ADDITIONAL

7 FUNDS.—If additional funds become available

8 to make allocations under this section, the allo9 cations that were reduced under subparagraph

10 (A) shall be increased on the same basis as

11 such allocations were reduced.

12 ‘‘(d) ALLOTMENT OF REMAINING FUNDS.—After

13 making allotments under subsection (c), the Secretary

14 shall allot any remaining funds to eligible States on the

15 basis of their relative population of children aged 3 to 5,

16 inclusive.

17 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULE WITH RESPECT TO PUERTO

18 RICO.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this sub19 section, the amount allotted to Puerto Rico for a fiscal

20 year shall bear the same or lower proportion to the amount

21 appropriated pursuant to subsection (m) as the amount

22 received by Puerto Rico under this section for fiscal year

23 1996 bears to the aggregate of the amounts received by

24 all States under this section for fiscal year 1996.
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1 ‘‘(f) DETERMINATION OF POPULATION FIGURES.—

2 For the purpose of providing grants under this section,

3 the Secretary shall use the most recent population data

4 that are available and satisfactory to the Secretary.

5 ‘‘(g) RESERVATION FOR STATE ACTIVITIES.—A

6 State may reserve not more than 10 percent of the amount

7 allotted to the State under this section for a fiscal year

8 for administration and other State-level activities in ac9 cordance with subsections (h) and (i).

10 ‘‘(h) STATE ADMINISTRATION.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State may use up to 2

12 percent of the amount allotted to the State under

13 this section for a fiscal year for the purpose of ad14 ministering this section, including the coordination

15 of activities under this part with, and providing

16 technical assistance to, other programs that provide

17 services to children with disabilities.

18 ‘‘(2) USE OF AMOUNTS FOR ADMINISTRATION

19 OF PART C.—If the State educational agency is the

20 lead agency for the State under part C, amounts de21 scribed in paragraph (1) may also be used for the

22 administration of such part C.

23 ‘‘(i) OTHER STATE-LEVEL ACTIVITIES.—Each State

24 shall use any funds it retains under subsection (g) and

25 does not use for administration under subsection (h)—
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1 ‘‘(1) for support services (including establishing

2 and implementing the mediation process required by

3 section 615(d)), which may benefit children with dis4 abilities younger than 3 or older than 5 as long as

5 those services also benefit children with disabilities

6 aged 3 to 5, inclusive;

7 ‘‘(2) for direct services for children eligible for

8 services under this section;

9 ‘‘(3) to develop a State improvement plan under

10 part D;

11 ‘‘(4) for activities at the State and local levels

12 to meet the performance goals established by the

13 State under section 612(a)(14) and to support im14 plementation of the State improvement plan under

15 part D if the State receives funds under that part;

16 or

17 ‘‘(5) to supplement other funds used to develop

18 and implement a Statewide coordinated services sys19 tem designed to improve results for children and

20 families, including children with disabilities and their

21 families, but not to exceed one percent of the

22 amount received by the State under this section for

23 a fiscal year.

24 ‘‘(j) SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN25 CIES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT TO MAKE SUBGRANTS.—

2 Each State that receives a grant under this section

3 for any fiscal year shall distribute at least 90 per4 cent of the grant funds to local educational agencies

5 in the State, and to State agencies that received

6 funds under section 614A(a) (as such section was in

7 effect on the day before the date of the enactment

8 of the IDEA Improvement Act of 1996) for fiscal

9 year 1996, that have established their eligibility

10 under section 613.

11 ‘‘(2) METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION.—A State

12 may distribute funds under paragraph (1) on the

13 basis of—

14 ‘‘(A) total school age population;

15 ‘‘(B) school enrollment;

16 ‘‘(C) numbers of children with disabilities

17 aged 3 to 5, inclusive, receiving a free appro18 priate public education;

19 ‘‘(D) allocations for previous fiscal years;

20 ‘‘(E) any two or more of the factors de21 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (D); or

22 ‘‘(F) poverty, in combination with one or

23 more of the factors described in subparagraphs

24 (A) through (D).
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1 ‘‘(k) PART C INAPPLICABLE.—Part C of this Act

2 does not apply to any child with a disability receiving a

3 free appropriate public education, in accordance with this

4 part, with funds received under this section.

5 ‘‘(l) PROHIBITION ON CONSOLIDATION OF GRANTS

6 FOR TERRITORIES.—The provisions of section 501 of

7 Public Law 95–134 (48 U.S.C. 1469a; relating to the con8 solidation of one or more grants provided to certain terri9 tories) shall not apply with respect to amounts provided

10 to a territory under a grant under this section.

11 ‘‘(m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For

12 the purpose of carrying out this section, there are author13 ized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums as may

14 be necessary.

15 ‘‘PART C—INFANTS AND TODDLERS WITH

16 DISABILITIES

17 ‘‘SEC. 631. FINDINGS AND POLICY.

18 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that there is an

19 urgent and substantial need—

20 ‘‘(1) to enhance the development of infants and

21 toddlers with disabilities and to minimize their po22 tential for developmental delay;

23 ‘‘(2) to reduce the educational costs to our soci24 ety, including our Nation’s schools, by minimizing

25 the need for special education and related services
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1 after infants and toddlers with disabilities reach

2 school age;

3 ‘‘(3) to minimize the likelihood of institutional4 ization of individuals with disabilities and maximize

5 the potential for their independently living in society;

6 ‘‘(4) to enhance the capacity of families to meet

7 the special needs of their infants and toddlers with

8 disabilities; and

9 ‘‘(5) to enhance the capacity of State and local

10 agencies and service providers to identify, evaluate,

11 and meet the needs of historically underrepresented

12 populations, particularly minority, low-income, inner13 city, and rural populations.

14 ‘‘(b) POLICY.—It is therefore the policy of the United

15 States to provide financial assistance to States—

16 ‘‘(1) to develop and implement a statewide,

17 comprehensive, coordinated, multidisciplinary, inter18 agency system of early intervention services for in19 fants and toddlers with disabilities and their fami20 lies;

21 ‘‘(2) to facilitate the coordination of payment

22 for early intervention services from Federal, State,

23 local, and private sources (including public and pri24 vate insurance coverage); and
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1 ‘‘(3) to enhance their capacity to provide qual2 ity early intervention services and expand and im3 prove existing early intervention services being pro4 vided to infants and toddlers with disabilities and

5 their families.

6 ‘‘SEC. 632. DEFINITIONS.

7 ‘‘As used in this part:

8 ‘‘(1) AT-RISK INFANT OR TODDLER.—The term

9 ‘at-risk infant or toddler’ means an individual under

10 3 years of age who would be at risk of experiencing

11 a substantial developmental delay if early interven12 tion services were not provided to the individual.

13 ‘‘(2) COUNCIL.—The term ‘council’ means a

14 State interagency coordinating council established

15 under section 641.

16 ‘‘(3) DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY.—The term ‘de17 velopmental delay’, when used with respect to an in18 dividual residing in a State, has the meaning given

19 such term by the State under section 635(a)(1).

20 ‘‘(4) EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES.—The

21 term ‘early intervention services’ means developmen22 tal services which—

23 ‘‘(A) are provided under public supervision;

24 ‘‘(B) are provided at no cost except where

25 Federal or State law provides for a system of
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1 payments by families, including a schedule of

2 sliding fees;

3 ‘‘(C) are designed to meet the developmen4 tal needs of an infant or toddler with a disabil5 ity in any one or more of the following areas—

6 ‘‘(i) physical development;

7 ‘‘(ii) cognitive development;

8 ‘‘(iii) communication development;

9 ‘‘(iv) social or emotional development;

10 or

11 ‘‘(v) adaptive development;

12 ‘‘(D) meet the standards of the State in

13 which they are provided, including the require14 ments of this part;

15 ‘‘(E) include—

16 ‘‘(i) family training, counseling, and

17 home visits;

18 ‘‘(ii) special instruction;

19 ‘‘(iii) speech-language pathology and

20 audiology services;

21 ‘‘(iv) occupational therapy;

22 ‘‘(v) physical therapy;

23 ‘‘(vi) psychological services;

24 ‘‘(vii) service coordination services;
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1 ‘‘(viii) medical services only for diag2 nostic or evaluation purposes;

3 ‘‘(ix) early identification, screening,

4 and assessment services;

5 ‘‘(x) health services necessary to en6 able the infant or toddler to benefit from

7 the other early intervention services;

8 ‘‘(xi) social work services;

9 ‘‘(xii) vision services;

10 ‘‘(xiii) assistive technology devices and

11 assistive technology services; and

12 ‘‘(xiv) transportation and related costs

13 that are necessary to enable an infant or

14 toddler and the infant’s or toddler’s family

15 to receive another service described in this

16 paragraph;

17 ‘‘(F) are provided by qualified personnel,

18 including—

19 ‘‘(i) special educators;

20 ‘‘(ii) speech-language pathologists and

21 audiologists;

22 ‘‘(iii) occupational therapists;

23 ‘‘(iv) physical therapists;

24 ‘‘(v) psychologists;

25 ‘‘(vi) social workers;
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1 ‘‘(vii) nurses;

2 ‘‘(viii) nutritionists;

3 ‘‘(ix) family therapists;

4 ‘‘(x) orientation and mobility special5 ists; and

6 ‘‘(xi) pediatricians and other physi7 cians;

8 ‘‘(G) to the maximum extent appropriate,

9 are provided in natural environments, including

10 the home, and community settings in which

11 children without disabilities participate; and

12 ‘‘(H) are provided in conformity with an

13 individualized family service plan adopted in ac14 cordance with section 636.

15 ‘‘(5) INFANT OR TODDLER WITH A DISABIL16 ITY.—The term ‘infant or toddler with a disabil17 ity’—

18 ‘‘(A) means an individual under 3 years of

19 age who needs early intervention services be20 cause the individual—

21 ‘‘(i) is experiencing developmental

22 delays, as measured by appropriate diag23 nostic instruments and procedures in one

24 or more of the areas of cognitive develop25 ment, physical development, communica-
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1 tion development, social or emotional devel2 opment, and adaptive development; or

3 ‘‘(ii) has a diagnosed physical or men4 tal condition which has a high probability

5 of resulting in developmental delay; and

6 ‘‘(B) may also include, at a State’s discre7 tion, at-risk infants and toddlers.

8 ‘‘SEC. 633. GENERAL AUTHORITY.

9 ‘‘The Secretary shall, in accordance with this part,

10 make grants to States (from their allocations under sec11 tion 643) to assist each State to maintain and implement

12 a statewide, comprehensive, coordinated, multidisciplinary,

13 interagency system to provide early intervention services

14 for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.

15 ‘‘SEC. 634. ELIGIBILITY.

16 ‘‘In order to be eligible for a grant under section 633,

17 a State shall demonstrate to the Secretary that the

18 State—

19 ‘‘(1) has adopted a policy that appropriate early

20 intervention services are available to all infants and

21 toddlers with disabilities in the State and their fami22 lies, including Indian infants and toddlers with dis23 abilities and their families residing on a reservation

24 geographically located in the State; and
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1 ‘‘(2) has in effect a statewide system that meets

2 the requirements of section 635.

3 ‘‘SEC. 635. REQUIREMENTS FOR STATEWIDE SYSTEM.

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A statewide system described in

5 section 633 shall include, at a minimum, the following

6 components:

7 ‘‘(1) A definition of the term ‘developmental

8 delay’ that will be used by the State in carrying out

9 programs under this part.

10 ‘‘(2) A timely, comprehensive, multidisciplinary

11 evaluation of the functioning of each infant or tod12 dler with a disability in the State, and a family13 directed identification of the needs of each family of

14 such an infant or toddler, to appropriately assist in

15 the development of the infant or toddler.

16 ‘‘(3) For each infant or toddler with a disability

17 in the State, an individualized family service plan in

18 accordance with section 636, including service co19 ordination services in accordance with such service

20 plan.

21 ‘‘(4) A comprehensive child find system, con22 sistent with part B, including a system for making

23 referrals to service providers that includes timelines

24 and provides for participation by primary referral

25 sources.
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1 ‘‘(5) A public awareness program focusing on

2 early identification of infants and toddlers with dis3 abilities, including the preparation and dissemination

4 by the lead agency designated or established under

5 paragraph (8) to all primary referral sources, espe6 cially hospitals and physicians, of information for

7 parents on the availability of early intervention serv8 ices, and procedures for determining the extent to

9 which such sources disseminate such information to

10 parents of infants and toddlers.

11 ‘‘(6) A central directory which includes infor12 mation on early intervention services, resources, and

13 experts available in the State and research and dem14 onstration projects being conducted in the State.

15 ‘‘(7) Policies and procedures relating to the es16 tablishment and maintenance of standards to ensure

17 that personnel necessary to carry out this part are

18 appropriately and adequately prepared and trained,

19 including—

20 ‘‘(A) the establishment and maintenance of

21 standards which are consistent with any State

22 approved or recognized certification, licensing,

23 registration, or other comparable requirements

24 which apply to the area in which such personnel

25 are providing early intervention services; and
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1 ‘‘(B) subject to subsection (b), to the ex2 tent such standards are not based on the high3 est requirements in the State applicable to a

4 specific profession or discipline, the steps the

5 State is taking to require the retraining or hir6 ing of personnel that meet appropriate profes7 sional requirements in the State;

8 except that nothing in this part, including this para9 graph, prohibits the use of paraprofessionals and as10 sistants who are appropriately trained and super11 vised, in accordance with State law, regulations, or

12 written policy, in meeting the requirements of this

13 part.

14 ‘‘(8) A single line of responsibility in a lead

15 agency designated or established by the Governor for

16 carrying out—

17 ‘‘(A) the general administration and super18 vision of programs and activities receiving as19 sistance under section 633, and the monitoring

20 of programs and activities used by the State to

21 carry out this part, whether or not such pro22 grams or activities are receiving assistance

23 made available under section 633, to ensure

24 that the State complies with this part;
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1 ‘‘(B) the identification and coordination of

2 all available resources within the State from

3 Federal, State, local and private sources;

4 ‘‘(C) the assignment of financial respon5 sibility in accordance with section 637(a)(1) to

6 the appropriate agencies;

7 ‘‘(D) the development of procedures to en8 sure that services are provided to infants and

9 toddlers and their families under this part in a

10 timely manner pending the resolution of any

11 disputes among public agencies or service pro12 viders; and

13 ‘‘(E) the entry into formal interagency

14 agreements that define the financial responsibil15 ity of each agency for paying for early interven16 tion services (consistent with State law) and

17 procedures for resolving disputes and that in18 clude all additional components necessary to en19 sure meaningful cooperation and coordination.

20 ‘‘(9) A procedure for securing timely reimburse21 ment of funds used under this part in accordance

22 with section 640(a).

23 ‘‘(10) Procedural safeguards with respect to

24 programs under this part, as required by section

25 639.
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1 ‘‘(11) A system for compiling data requested by

2 the Secretary under section 618 that relates to this

3 part.

4 ‘‘(12) A State interagency coordinating council

5 that meets the requirements of section 641.

6 ‘‘(b) MODIFICATION OF PERSONNEL REQUIRE7 MENT.—If a State determines that the requirement of

8 subsection (a)(7)(B) would significantly inhibit the ability

9 of the State to contract with, or employ, an appropriate

10 number and types of personnel to provide early interven11 tion services to infants and toddlers with disabilities in

12 a geographic region, the State may, subject to public no13 tice and comment, temporarily modify the requirement for

14 the region.

15 ‘‘SEC. 636. INDIVIDUALIZED FAMILY SERVICE PLAN.

16 ‘‘(a) ASSESSMENT AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT.—

17 A statewide system described in section 633 shall provide,

18 at a minimum, for each infant or toddler with a disability,

19 and the infant’s or toddler’s family, to receive—

20 ‘‘(1) a multidisciplinary assessment of the

21 unique strengths and needs of the infant or toddler

22 and the identification of services appropriate to meet

23 such needs;

24 ‘‘(2) a family-directed assessment of the re25 sources, priorities, and concerns of the family and
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1 the identification of the supports and services nec2 essary to enhance the family’s capacity to meet the

3 developmental needs of the infant or toddler; and

4 ‘‘(3) a written individualized family service plan

5 developed by a multidisciplinary team, including the

6 parents, as required by subsection (e).

7 ‘‘(b) PERIODIC REVIEW.—The individualized family

8 service plan shall be evaluated once a year and the family

9 shall be provided a review of the plan at 6-month intervals

10 (or more often where appropriate based on infant or tod11 dler and family needs).

12 ‘‘(c) PROMPTNESS AFTER ASSESSMENT.—The indi13 vidualized family service plan shall be developed within a

14 reasonable time after the assessment required by sub15 section (a)(1) is completed. With the parents’ consent,

16 early intervention services may commence prior to the

17 completion of such assessment.

18 ‘‘(d) CONTENT OF PLAN.—The individualized family

19 service plan shall be in writing and contain—

20 ‘‘(1) a statement of the infant’s or toddler’s

21 present levels of physical development, cognitive de22 velopment, communication development, social or

23 emotional development, and adaptive development,

24 based on objective criteria;
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1 ‘‘(2) a statement of the family’s resources, pri2 orities, and concerns relating to enhancing the devel3 opment of the family’s infant or toddler with a dis4 ability;

5 ‘‘(3) a statement of the major outcomes ex6 pected to be achieved for the infant or toddler and

7 the family, and the criteria, procedures, and

8 timelines used to determine the degree to which

9 progress toward achieving the outcomes is being

10 made and whether modifications or revisions of the

11 outcomes or services are necessary;

12 ‘‘(4) a statement of specific early intervention

13 services necessary to meet the unique needs of the

14 infant or toddler and the family, including the fre15 quency, intensity, and method of delivering services;

16 ‘‘(5) a statement of the natural environments in

17 which early intervention services shall appropriately

18 be provided;

19 ‘‘(6) the projected dates for initiation of serv20 ices and the anticipated duration of such services;

21 ‘‘(7) the identification of the service coordinator

22 from the profession most immediately relevant to the

23 infant’s or toddler’s or family’s needs (or who is oth24 erwise qualified to carry out all applicable respon25 sibilities under this part) who will be responsible for
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1 the implementation of the plan and coordination

2 with other agencies and persons; and

3 ‘‘(8) the steps to be taken to support the transi4 tion of the toddler with a disability to preschool or

5 other appropriate services.

6 ‘‘(e) PARENTAL CONSENT.—The contents of the indi7 vidualized family service plan shall be fully explained to

8 the parents and informed written consent from such par9 ents shall be obtained prior to the provision of early inter10 vention services described in such plan. If such parents

11 do not provide such consent with respect to a particular

12 early intervention service, then the early intervention serv13 ices to which such consent is obtained shall be provided.

14 ‘‘SEC. 637. STATE APPLICATION AND ASSURANCES.

15 ‘‘(a) APPLICATION.—A State desiring to receive a

16 grant under section 633 shall submit an application to the

17 Secretary at such time and in such manner as the Sec18 retary may reasonably require. Such application shall con19 tain—

20 ‘‘(1) a designation of the lead agency in the

21 State that will be responsible for the administration

22 of funds provided under section 633;

23 ‘‘(2) information demonstrating eligibility of the

24 State under section 634, including—
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1 ‘‘(A) information demonstrating to the

2 Secretary’s satisfaction that the State has in ef3 fect the statewide system required by section

4 633; and

5 ‘‘(B) a description of services to be pro6 vided to infants and toddlers with disabilities

7 and their families through the system;

8 ‘‘(3) a description of the uses for which funds

9 will be expended in accordance with this part;

10 ‘‘(4) a description of the procedure used to en11 sure that resources are made available under this

12 part for all geographic areas within the State;

13 ‘‘(5) a description of the policies and procedures

14 to be used—

15 ‘‘(A) to ensure a smooth transition for tod16 dlers receiving early intervention services under

17 this part to preschool or other appropriate serv18 ices, including a description of how the families

19 of such toddlers will be included in the transi20 tion plans required by subparagraph (C);

21 ‘‘(B) to review the child’s program options

22 for the period from the child’s third birthday

23 through the remainder of the school year; and

24 ‘‘(C) to establish a transition plan; and
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1 ‘‘(6) such other information and assurances as

2 the Secretary may reasonably require.

3 ‘‘(b) ASSURANCES.—The application described in

4 subsection (a) shall contain the following:

5 ‘‘(1) A satisfactory assurance that the State

6 will—

7 ‘‘(A) make such reports in such form and

8 containing such information as the Secretary

9 may require to carry out the Secretary’s func10 tions under this part; and

11 ‘‘(B) keep such records and afford such ac12 cess thereto as the Secretary may find nec13 essary to assure the correctness and verification

14 of such reports and proper disbursement of

15 Federal funds under this part.

16 ‘‘(2) A satisfactory assurance that Federal

17 funds made available under section 633 will be used

18 to supplement and increase the level of State and

19 local funds expended for infants and toddlers with

20 disabilities and their families under this part and in

21 no case to supplant such State and local funds.

22 ‘‘(3) Such other information and assurances as

23 the Secretary may reasonably require by regulation.

24 ‘‘(c) STANDARD FOR DISAPPROVAL OF APPLICA25 TION.—The Secretary may not disapprove such an appli-
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1 cation unless the Secretary determines, after notice and

2 opportunity for a hearing, that the application fails to

3 comply with the requirements of this section.

4 ‘‘(d) SUBSEQUENT STATE APPLICATION.—If a State

5 has on file with the Secretary a policy, procedure, or as6 surance that demonstrates that the State meets a require7 ment of this section, including any policy or procedure

8 filed under part H (as in effect before the date of the en9 actment of the IDEA Improvement Act of 1996), the Sec10 retary shall consider the State to have met the require11 ment for purposes of receiving a grant under this part.

12 ‘‘(e) MODIFICATION OF APPLICATION.—An applica13 tion submitted by a State in accordance with this section

14 shall remain in effect until the State submits to the Sec15 retary such modifications as the State determines nec16 essary. This section shall apply to a modification of an

17 application to the same extent and in the same manner

18 as this section applies to the original application.

19 ‘‘SEC. 638. USES OF FUNDS.

20 ‘‘In addition to using funds provided under section

21 633 to maintain and implement the statewide system re22 quired by such section, a State may use such funds—

23 ‘‘(1) for direct early intervention services for in24 fants and toddlers with disabilities, and their fami-
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1 lies, under this part that are not otherwise funded

2 through other public or private sources;

3 ‘‘(2) to expand and improve on services for in4 fants and toddlers and their families under this part

5 that are otherwise available; and

6 ‘‘(3) to provide a free appropriate public edu7 cation, in accordance with part B, to children with

8 disabilities from their third birthday to the begin9 ning of the following school year.

10 ‘‘SEC. 639. PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.

11 ‘‘(a) MINIMUM PROCEDURES.—The procedural safe12 guards required to be included in a statewide system

13 under section 635(a)(10) shall provide, at a minimum, the

14 following:

15 ‘‘(1) The timely administrative resolution of

16 complaints by parents. Any party aggrieved by the

17 findings and decision regarding an administrative

18 complaint shall have the right to bring a civil action

19 with respect to the complaint in any State court of

20 competent jurisdiction or in a district court of the

21 United States without regard to the amount in con22 troversy. In any action brought under this para23 graph, the court shall receive the records of the ad24 ministrative proceedings, shall hear additional evi25 dence at the request of a party, and, basing its deci-
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1 sion on the preponderance of the evidence, shall

2 grant such relief as the court determines is appro3 priate.

4 ‘‘(2) The right to confidentiality of personally

5 identifiable information, including the right of par6 ents to written notice of and written consent to the

7 exchange of such information among agencies con8 sistent with Federal and State law.

9 ‘‘(3) The right of the parents to determine

10 whether they, their infant or toddler, or other family

11 members will accept or decline any early intervention

12 service under this part in accordance with State law

13 without jeopardizing other early intervention services

14 under this part.

15 ‘‘(4) The opportunity for parents to examine

16 records relating to assessment, screening, eligibility

17 determinations, and the development and implemen18 tation of the individualized family service plan.

19 ‘‘(5) Procedures to protect the rights of the in20 fant or toddler whenever the parents of the child are

21 not known or cannot be found or the child is a ward

22 of the State, including the assignment of an individ23 ual (who shall not be an employee of the State or

24 any person, or any employee of a person, providing

25 early intervention services to the infant or toddler or
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1 any family member of the infant or toddler) to act

2 as a surrogate for the parents.

3 ‘‘(6) Written prior notice to the parents of the

4 infant or toddler with a disability whenever the State

5 agency or service provider proposes to initiate or

6 change or refuses to initiate or change the identifica7 tion, evaluation, placement, or the provision of ap8 propriate early intervention services to the infant or

9 toddler with a disability.

10 ‘‘(7) Procedures designed to assure that the no11 tice required by paragraph (6) fully informs the par12 ents, in the parents’ native language, unless it clear13 ly is not feasible to do so, of all procedures available

14 pursuant to this section.

15 ‘‘(8) The right of parents to use mediation in

16 accordance with section 615(e), except that—

17 ‘‘(A) any reference in such section to a

18 State educational agency shall be considered to

19 be a reference to a State’s lead agency estab20 lished or designated under section 635(a)(8);

21 ‘‘(B) any reference in such section to a

22 local educational agency shall be considered to

23 be a reference to a local service provider or the

24 State’s lead agency under this part, as the case

25 may be; and
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1 ‘‘(C) any reference in such section to the

2 provision of free appropriate public education to

3 children with disabilities shall be considered to

4 be a reference to the provision of appropriate

5 early intervention services to infants and tod6 dlers with disabilities.

7 ‘‘(b) SERVICES DURING PENDENCY OF PROCEED8 INGS.—During the pendency of any proceeding or action

9 involving a complaint by the parents of an infant or tod10 dler with a disability, unless the State agency and the par11 ents otherwise agree, the infant or toddler shall continue

12 to receive the appropriate early intervention services cur13 rently being provided or, if applying for initial services,

14 shall receive the services not in dispute.

15 ‘‘SEC. 640. PAYOR OF LAST RESORT.

16 ‘‘(a) NONSUBSTITUTION.—Funds provided under

17 section 643 may not be used to satisfy a financial commit18 ment for services which would have been paid for from

19 another public or private source but for the enactment of

20 this part, except that whenever considered necessary to

21 prevent a delay in the receipt of appropriate early inter22 vention services by an infant, toddler, or family in a timely

23 fashion, funds provided under section 643 may be used

24 to pay the provider of services pending reimbursement
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1 from the agency which has ultimate responsibility for the

2 payment.

3 ‘‘(b) REDUCTION OF OTHER BENEFITS.—Nothing in

4 this part shall be construed to permit the State to reduce

5 medical or other assistance available or to alter eligibility

6 under title V of the Social Security Act (relating to mater7 nal and child health) or title XIX of the Social Security

8 Act (relating to medicaid for infants or toddlers with dis9 abilities) within the State.

10 ‘‘SEC. 641. STATE INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUNCIL.

11 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State that desires to re13 ceive financial assistance under this part shall estab14 lish a State interagency coordinating council.

15 ‘‘(2) APPOINTMENT.—The council shall be ap16 pointed by the Governor. In making appointments to

17 the council, the Governor shall ensure that the mem18 bership of the council reasonably represents the pop19 ulation of the State.

20 ‘‘(3) CHAIRPERSON.—The Governor shall des21 ignate a member of the council to serve as the chair22 person of the Council, or shall require the council to

23 so designate such a member. Any member of the

24 council who is a representative of the lead agency
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1 designated under section 635(b)(8) may not serve as

2 the chairperson of the council.

3 ‘‘(b) COMPOSITION.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The council shall be com5 posed as follows:

6 ‘‘(A) PARENTS.—At least 20 percent of

7 the members shall be parents of infants or tod8 dlers with disabilities or children with disabil9 ities aged 12 or younger, with knowledge of, or

10 experience with, programs for infants and tod11 dlers with disabilities. At least one such mem12 ber shall be a parent of an infant or toddler

13 with a disability or a child with a disability

14 aged 6 or younger.

15 ‘‘(B) SERVICE PROVIDERS.—At least 20

16 percent of the members shall be public or pri17 vate providers of early intervention services.

18 ‘‘(C) STATE LEGISLATURE.—At least one

19 member shall be from the State legislature.

20 ‘‘(D) PERSONNEL PREPARATION.—At least

21 one member shall be involved in personnel prep22 aration.

23 ‘‘(E) AGENCY FOR EARLY INTERVENTION

24 SERVICES.—At least one member shall be from

25 each of the State agencies involved in the provi-
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1 sion of, or payment for, early intervention serv2 ices to infants and toddlers with disabilities and

3 their families and shall have sufficient authority

4 to engage in policy planning and implementa5 tion on behalf of such agencies.

6 ‘‘(F) AGENCY FOR PRESCHOOL SERV7 ICES.—At least one member shall be from the

8 State educational agency responsible for pre9 school services to children with disabilities and

10 shall have sufficient authority to engage in pol11 icy planning and implementation on behalf of

12 such agency.

13 ‘‘(G) AGENCY FOR INSURANCE.—At least

14 one member shall be from the agency respon15 sible for the State governance of insurance, es16 pecially in the area of health insurance.

17 ‘‘(H) HEAD START AGENCY.—A represent18 ative from a Head Start agency or program in

19 the State.

20 ‘‘(I) A representative from a State agency

21 responsible for child care.

22 ‘‘(2) OTHER MEMBERS.—The council may in23 clude other members selected by the Governor, in24 cluding a representative from the Bureau of Indian

25 Affairs, or where there is no BIA operated or funded
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1 school, from the Indian Health Service or the tribe/

2 tribal council.

3 ‘‘(c) MEETINGS.—The council shall meet at least

4 quarterly and in such places as it deems necessary. The

5 meetings shall be publicly announced, and, to the extent

6 appropriate, open and accessible to the general public.

7 ‘‘(d) MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY.—Subject to the ap8 proval of the Governor, the council may prepare and ap9 prove a budget using funds under this part to conduct

10 hearings and forums, to reimburse members of the council

11 for reasonable and necessary expenses for attending coun12 cil meetings and performing council duties (including child

13 care for parent representatives), to pay compensation to

14 a member of the council if such member is not employed

15 or must forfeit wages from other employment when per16 forming official council business, to hire staff, and to ob17 tain the services of such professional, technical, and cleri18 cal personnel as may be necessary to carry out its func19 tions under this part.

20 ‘‘(e) FUNCTIONS OF COUNCIL.—

21 ‘‘(1) DUTIES.—The council shall—

22 ‘‘(A) advise and assist the lead agency des23 ignated or established under section 635(b)(8)

24 in the performance of the responsibilities set

25 out in such section, particularly the identifica-
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1 tion of the sources of fiscal and other support

2 for services for early intervention programs, as3 signment of financial responsibility to the ap4 propriate agency, and the promotion of the

5 interagency agreements;

6 ‘‘(B) advise and assist the lead agency in

7 the preparation of applications and amend8 ments thereto;

9 ‘‘(C) advise and assist the State edu10 cational agency regarding the transition of tod11 dlers with disabilities to services provided under

12 part B, to the extent such services are appro13 priate; and

14 ‘‘(D) prepare and submit an annual report

15 to the Governor and to the Secretary on the

16 status of early intervention programs for in17 fants and toddlers with disabilities and their

18 families operated within the State.

19 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITY.—The council may

20 advise and assist the lead agency and the State edu21 cational agency regarding the provision of appro22 priate services for children aged birth to 5, inclusive.

23 ‘‘(f) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—No member of the

24 council shall cast a vote on any matter which would pro25 vide direct financial benefit to that member or otherwise
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1 give the appearance of a conflict of interest under State

2 law.

3 ‘‘SEC. 642. FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION.

4 ‘‘Sections 616, 617, 618, and 620 shall, to the extent

5 not inconsistent with this part, apply to the program au6 thorized by this part, except that—

7 ‘‘(1) any reference in such sections to a State

8 educational agency shall be considered to be a ref9 erence to a State’s lead agency established or des10 ignated under section 635(a)(8);

11 ‘‘(2) any reference in such sections to a local

12 educational agency, educational service agency, or a

13 State agency shall be considered to be a reference to

14 an early intervention service provider under this

15 part; and

16 ‘‘(3) any reference to the education of children

17 with disabilities or the education of all children with

18 disabilities shall be considered to be a reference to

19 the provision of appropriate early intervention serv20 ices to infants and toddlers with disabilities.

21 ‘‘SEC. 643. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.

22 ‘‘(a) RESERVATION OF FUNDS FOR TERRITORIES.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the sums appro24 priated to carry out this part for any fiscal year, the

25 Secretary may reserve up to one percent for pay-
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1 ments to Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Is2 lands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mari3 ana Islands in accordance with their respective

4 needs.

5 ‘‘(2) CONSOLIDATION OF FUNDS.—The provi6 sions of Public Law 95–134, permitting the consoli7 dation of grants to the territories, shall not apply to

8 funds those areas receive under this part.

9 ‘‘(b) PAYMENTS TO INDIANS.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, sub11 ject to this subsection, make payments to the Sec12 retary of the Interior to be distributed to tribes,

13 tribal organizations (as defined under section 4 of

14 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist15 ance Act), or consortia of the above entities for the

16 coordination of assistance in the provision of early

17 intervention services by the States to infants and

18 toddlers with disabilities and their families on res19 ervations served by elementary and secondary

20 schools for Indian children operated or funded by

21 the Department of the Interior. The amount of such

22 payment for any fiscal year may not be more than

23 one percent of the aggregate of the amount available

24 to all States under this part for such fiscal year.
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1 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—For each fiscal year, the

2 Secretary of the Interior shall distribute the entire

3 payment received under paragraph (1) by providing

4 to each tribe, tribal organization, or consortium an

5 amount based on the number of infants and toddlers

6 residing on the reservation as determined annually

7 divided by the total of such children served by all

8 tribes, tribal organizations, or consortia.

9 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION.—To receive a payment

10 under this paragraph, the tribe, tribal organization,

11 or consortia shall submit such information to the

12 Secretary of the Interior as is needed to determine

13 the amounts to be allocated under paragraph (2).

14 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—The funds received by a

15 tribe, tribal organization, or consortia shall be used

16 to assist States in child find, screening, and other

17 procedures for the early identification of Indian chil18 dren under 3 years of age and for parent training.

19 Such funds may also be used to provide early inter20 vention services in accordance with this part. Such

21 activities may be carried out directly or through con22 tracts or cooperative agreements with the BIA, local

23 educational agencies, and other public or private

24 nonprofit organizations. The tribe, tribal organiza25 tion, or consortia is encouraged to involve Indian
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1 parents in the development and implementation of

2 these activities. The above entities shall, as appro3 priate, make referrals to local, State, or Federal en4 tities for the provision of services or further diag5 nosis.

6 ‘‘(5) REPORTS.—To be eligible to receive a

7 grant under paragraph (2), a tribe, tribal organiza8 tion, or consortia shall make a biennial report to the

9 Secretary of the Interior of activities undertaken

10 under this subsection, including the number of con11 tracts and cooperative agreements entered into, the

12 number of children contacted and receiving services

13 for each year, and the estimated number of children

14 needing services during the 2 years following the

15 year in which the report is made. The Secretary of

16 the Interior shall include a summary of this informa17 tion on a biennial basis to the Secretary of Edu18 cation along with such other information as required

19 under section 611(f)(3)(D). The Secretary of Edu20 cation may require any additional information from

21 the Secretary of the Interior.

22 ‘‘(6) PROHIBITED USES OF FUNDS.—None of

23 the funds under this subsection may be used by the

24 Secretary of the Interior for administrative pur-
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1 poses, including child count, and the provision of

2 technical assistance.

3 ‘‘(c) STATE ALLOTMENTS.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para5 graphs (2), (3), and (4), from the funds remaining

6 for each fiscal year after the reservation and pay7 ments under subsections (a) and (b), the Secretary

8 shall first allot to each State an amount that bears

9 the same ratio to the amount of such remainder as

10 the number of infants and toddlers in the State

11 bears to the number of infants and toddlers in all

12 States.

13 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM ALLOTMENTS.—Except as pro14 vided in paragraphs (3) and (4), no State shall re15 ceive an amount under this section for any fiscal

16 year that is less than the greatest of—

17 ‘‘(A) one-half of one percent of the remain18 ing amount described in paragraph (1); or

19 ‘‘(B) $500,000.

20 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR 1997 THROUGH 1999.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

22 paragraph (4), no State may receive an amount

23 under this section for any of the fiscal years

24 1997 through 1999 that is less than the sum of
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1 the amount such State received for fiscal year

2 1994 under—

3 ‘‘(i) part H (as in effect on the day

4 before the date of the enactment of the

5 IDEA Improvement Act of 1996); and

6 ‘‘(ii) subpart 2 of part D of chapter 1

7 of title I of the Elementary and Secondary

8 Education Act of 1965 (as in effect on the

9 day before the date of the enactment of the

10 Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994)

11 for children with disabilities under 3 years

12 of age.

13 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—If, for fiscal year 1998

14 or 1999, the number of infants and toddlers in

15 a State, as determined under paragraph (1), is

16 less than the number of infants and toddlers so

17 determined for fiscal year 1994, the amount de18 termined under subparagraph (A) for the State

19 shall be reduced by the same percentage by

20 which the number of such infants and toddlers

21 so declined.

22 ‘‘(4) RATABLE REDUCTION.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the sums made

24 available under this part for any fiscal year are

25 insufficient to pay the full amounts that all
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1 States are eligible to receive under this sub2 section for such year, the Secretary shall rat3 ably reduce the allocations to such States for

4 such year.

5 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—If additional

6 funds become available for making payments

7 under this subsection for a fiscal year, alloca8 tions that were reduced under subparagraph

9 (A) shall be increased on the same basis as

10 such allocations were reduced.

11 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this

12 subsection—

13 ‘‘(A) the terms ‘infants’ and ‘toddlers’

14 mean children under 3 years of age; and

15 ‘‘(B) the term ‘State’ means each of the 50

16 States, the District of Columbia, and the Com17 monwealth of Puerto Rico.

18 ‘‘(d) REALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.—If a State elects

19 not to receive its allotment under subsection (c), the Sec20 retary shall reallot, among the remaining States, amounts

21 from such State in accordance with such subsection.

22 ‘‘SEC. 644. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

23 ‘‘For the purpose of carrying out this part, there are

24 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec25 essary for each of the fiscal years 1997 through 2001.
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1 ‘‘PART D—NATIONAL ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE

2 EDUCATION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

3 ‘‘SEC. 651. PURPOSE OF PART.

4 ‘‘The purpose of this part is to support national,

5 State, and local activities aimed at improving educational,

6 early intervention, and transitional services for children

7 with disabilities.

8 ‘‘Subpart 1—General Provisions and National

9 Research and Improvement Activities

10 ‘‘SEC. 661. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop and

12 implement a comprehensive plan for ongoing activities

13 conducted by the Secretary under this part.

14 ‘‘(b) USE OF KNOWLEDGE IN DEVELOPING PLAN.—

15 To the maximum extent appropriate, the Secretary shall

16 ensure that the plan is based upon the knowledge gained

17 from research on practices that have been proven effective

18 in improving the achievement of children with disabilities.

19 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In developing the plan, the

20 Secretary shall consult the following persons:

21 ‘‘(1) Individuals with disabilities.

22 ‘‘(2) Parents of children with disabilities.

23 ‘‘(3) Representatives of State and local edu24 cational agencies and educational service agencies.

25 ‘‘(4) Private schools.

26 ‘‘(5) Institutions of higher education.
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1 ‘‘(6) Other Federal agencies.

2 ‘‘(7) The National Council on Disability.

3 ‘‘(8) National organizations with an interest in,

4 and expertise in, providing services to children with

5 disabilities and their families.

6 ‘‘(9) Any other professionals determined appro7 priate by the Secretary.

8 ‘‘(d) DEADLINE.—The plan shall be developed not

9 later than the date that is 12 months after the date of

10 the enactment of the IDEA Improvement Act of 1996.

11 ‘‘SEC. 662. PRIORITIES.

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In making awards under this

13 part, the Secretary may, without regard to the rule mak14 ing procedures under section 553 of title 5, United States

15 Code, limit such awards to, or otherwise give priority to—

16 ‘‘(1) projects that address the improvement of

17 the academic performance of children with disabil18 ities;

19 ‘‘(2) projects that address one or more—

20 ‘‘(A) age ranges;

21 ‘‘(B) disabilities;

22 ‘‘(C) grades in school;

23 ‘‘(D) types of educational placements or

24 early intervention environments;

25 ‘‘(E) types of services; or
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1 ‘‘(F) content areas such as reading;

2 ‘‘(3) projects that address the needs of children

3 based on the severity of their disability;

4 ‘‘(4) projects that address the needs of—

5 ‘‘(A) low-achieving students;

6 ‘‘(B) underserved populations;

7 ‘‘(C) children from low-income families;

8 ‘‘(D) children with limited English pro9 ficiency;

10 ‘‘(E) unserved and underserved areas;

11 ‘‘(F) particular types of geographic areas,

12 such as inner-city or rural areas; or

13 ‘‘(G) institutionalized children in juvenile

14 and adult correctional institutions;

15 ‘‘(5) any activity that is expressly authorized in

16 this title;

17 ‘‘(6) a large-scale longitudinal study designed to

18 provide information on the long-term impact of edu19 cation agency disciplinary procedures on children

20 with disabilities;

21 ‘‘(7) research and development projects includ22 ing—

23 ‘‘(A) projects that advance knowledge

24 about—
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1 ‘‘(i) teaching and learning practices,

2 and assessment techniques, instruments,

3 and strategies, including behavioral strate4 gies, that lead to improved results for chil5 dren with disabilities;

6 ‘‘(ii) the developmental and learning

7 characteristics of children with disabilities

8 in a manner that will improve the design

9 and effectiveness of interventions and in10 struction; or

11 ‘‘(iii) the coordination of education

12 with health and social services;

13 ‘‘(B) large-scale longitudinal studies de14 signed to produce information on the long-term

15 impact of early intervention and education on

16 results for individuals with disabilities;

17 ‘‘(C) model demonstration projects to

18 apply and test research findings in typical serv19 ice settings to determine the usability, effective20 ness, and general applicability of such research

21 findings in such areas as improving instruc22 tional methods, curricula, and tools such as

23 textbooks, media, and other materials; and
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1 ‘‘(D) projects which apply research and

2 other knowledge to improve educational results

3 for children with disabilities by—

4 ‘‘(i) synthesizing useful research and

5 educational products;

6 ‘‘(ii) ensuring that such research and

7 products are in appropriate formats for

8 distribution to administrators, teachers,

9 parents, and individuals with disabilities;

10 or

11 ‘‘(iii) making such research and prod12 ucts available through libraries, electronic

13 networks, parent training projects, and

14 other information sources, including the

15 National Information Dissemination Sys16 tem under part D of title IX of Public Law

17 103–227;

18 ‘‘(8) projects which provide technical assistance

19 to—

20 ‘‘(A) States—

21 ‘‘(i) to link States to other technical

22 assistance resources, including special and

23 general education resources; or
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1 ‘‘(ii) in gaining access to information,

2 including information on research and best

3 practices; or

4 ‘‘(B) State educational agencies, State lead

5 agencies serving infants and toddlers with dis6 abilities under part C, and other organizations

7 and agencies that play a critical role in provid8 ing for the participation of children with dis9 abilities in State and local assessments;

10 ‘‘(9) activities that—

11 ‘‘(A) have broad applicability in improving

12 professional development practices; and

13 ‘‘(B) support in-service and pre-service

14 preparation for personnel who provide, and who

15 will provide, educational, related, and early

16 intervention services to children with low-inci17 dence disabilities;

18 ‘‘(10) activities to produce, and promote the use

19 of, knowledge to address the special needs of chil20 dren who have a high likelihood of needing special

21 education and related services in order to reduce,

22 through early intervention, the need for special edu23 cation services later in life; and

24 ‘‘(11) educational media activities including—
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1 ‘‘(A) video description, open captioning, or

2 closed captioning of educational materials;

3 ‘‘(B) distribution of captioned and de4 scribed educational materials and videos; and

5 ‘‘(C) recording free educational materials,

6 including textbooks, for visually impaired and

7 print-disabled students in elementary, second8 ary, post-secondary, and graduate schools.

9 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term

10 ‘low-incidence disability’ means—

11 ‘‘(1) a visual impairment, a hearing impair12 ment, or simultaneous visual and hearing impair13 ments;

14 ‘‘(2) a significant cognitive impairment; or

15 ‘‘(3) any impairment for which a small number

16 of personnel, with highly specialized skills and

17 knowledge, are needed nationwide in order for all

18 children with disabilities who have the impairment to

19 receive early intervention services or a free appro20 priate public education.

21 ‘‘SEC. 663. PEER REVIEW.

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use a panel

23 of experts who are competent, by virtue of their training,

24 expertise, or experience, to evaluate an application under
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1 this part that requests more than $75,000 in Federal fi2 nancial assistance.

3 ‘‘(b) COMPOSITION OF PANEL.—A majority of a

4 panel described in subsection (a) shall be composed of in5 dividuals who are not employees of the Federal Govern6 ment.

7 ‘‘(c) PAYMENT OF FEES AND EXPENSES OF CERTAIN

8 MEMBERS.—The Secretary may use available funds ap9 propriated to carry out this part to pay the expenses and

10 fees of panel members who are not employees of the Fed11 eral Government.

12 ‘‘SEC. 664. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.

13 ‘‘Except as otherwise provided in this part, the per14 sons who, and the agencies that, may apply for receipt

15 of grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements under this

16 part are the following:

17 ‘‘(1) Institutions of higher education.

18 ‘‘(2) State educational agencies.

19 ‘‘(3) Local educational agencies.

20 ‘‘(4) Educational service agencies.

21 ‘‘(5) Other public agencies.

22 ‘‘(6) Private nonprofit organizations.

23 ‘‘(7) Indian tribes.

24 ‘‘(8) For-profit organizations.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 665. APPLICANT AND RECIPIENT RESPONSIBILITIES.

2 ‘‘(a) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS ON APPLICANTS AND

3 RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary may not make a grant to,

4 or enter into a contract or cooperative agreement with,

5 a person or agency under this part unless—

6 ‘‘(1) the person or agency involves individuals

7 with disabilities, and parents of children with dis8 abilities, in planning, implementing, and evaluating

9 activities conducted under the grant, contract, or

10 agreement;

11 ‘‘(2) the person or agency, where appropriate,

12 evaluates the potential for replication and wide13 spread adoption of such activities; and

14 ‘‘(3) the person or agency prepares their find15 ings and work product in a format useful for a spe16 cific audience specified by the Secretary, such as

17 parents, administrators, teachers, early intervention

18 personnel, related services personnel, or individuals

19 with disabilities.

20 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS IMPOSED AT DIS21 CRETION OF SECRETARY.—The Secretary may require

22 that a person who, or agency that, is awarded a grant,

23 contract, or cooperative agreement under this part—

24 ‘‘(1) assume a portion of the cost of carrying

25 out the grant, contract, or agreement;
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1 ‘‘(2) disseminate the findings and work product

2 of the person or agency; and

3 ‘‘(3) collaborate with other such persons and

4 agencies.

5 ‘‘SEC. 666. INDIRECT COSTS.

6 ‘‘The Secretary—

7 ‘‘(1) may not permit any recipient of Federal

8 funds under this part to use more than 25 percent

9 of such funds for indirect costs; and

10 ‘‘(2) may further limit the extent to which any

11 such recipient may use such funds for such costs.

12 ‘‘SEC. 667. PROGRAM EVALUATION.

13 ‘‘The Secretary may use funds appropriated to carry

14 out this part to evaluate any activity carried out under

15 this part.

16 ‘‘SEC. 668. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT.

17 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE OF ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary

18 shall carry out a national assessment of activities carried

19 out with Federal funds under this title in order—

20 ‘‘(1) to determine the effectiveness of the title

21 in achieving the purposes of the title;

22 ‘‘(2) to provide information to the President,

23 the Congress, the States, local educational agencies,

24 and the public on how to implement the title more

25 effectively; and
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1 ‘‘(3) to provide the President and the Congress

2 with information that will be useful in developing

3 legislation to achieve the purposes of this title more

4 effectively.

5 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall plan, re6 view, and conduct the national assessment under this sec7 tion in consultation with researchers, State practitioners,

8 local practitioners, parents of children with disabilities, in9 dividuals with disabilities, and other appropriate individ10 uals.

11 ‘‘(c) SCOPE OF ASSESSMENT.—The national assess12 ment shall examine how well schools, local educational

13 agencies, States, other recipients of assistance under this

14 title, and the Secretary are achieving the purposes of this

15 title, including—

16 ‘‘(1) the performance of children with disabil17 ities in general scholastic activities and assessments

18 as compared to nondisabled children;

19 ‘‘(2) providing for the participation of children

20 with disabilities in the general education curriculum;

21 ‘‘(3) helping children with disabilities make suc22 cessful transitions from—

23 ‘‘(A) early intervention services to pre24 school education;
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1 ‘‘(B) preschool education to elementary

2 school; and

3 ‘‘(C) secondary school to adult life;

4 ‘‘(4) placing and serving children with disabil5 ities, including children from underserved popu6 lations, in the least restrictive environment appro7 priate;

8 ‘‘(5) preventing children with disabilities, espe9 cially children with emotional disturbances and spe10 cific learning disabilities, from dropping out of

11 school;

12 ‘‘(6) assessing the use of disciplinary measures,

13 and the effect of such use, with children with dis14 abilities as compared to nondisabled children;

15 ‘‘(7) coordinating services provided under this

16 title with each other, with other educational and

17 pupil services (including preschool services), and

18 with health and social services funded from other

19 sources;

20 ‘‘(8) addressing the participation of parents of

21 children with disabilities in the education of their

22 children; and

23 ‘‘(9) resolving disagreements between education

24 personnel and parents through activities such as me25 diation.
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1 ‘‘(d) INTERIM AND FINAL REPORTS.—The Secretary

2 shall submit to the President and the Congress—

3 ‘‘(1) an interim report that summarizes the pre4 liminary findings of the assessment not later than

5 October 1, 1998; and

6 ‘‘(2) a final report of the findings of the assess7 ment not later than October 1, 2000.

8 ‘‘SEC. 669. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap10 propriated to carry out this subpart such sums as may

11 be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1997 through

12 2001.

13 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM AMOUNTS.—Subject to subsection (c),

14 the Secretary shall ensure that, for each fiscal year, at

15 least the following amounts are provided under this part

16 to address the following needs:

17 ‘‘(1) $12,832,000 to address the educational,

18 related services, transitional, and early intervention

19 needs of children with deaf-blindness.

20 ‘‘(2) $4,000,000 to address the postsecondary,

21 vocational, technical, continuing, and adult edu22 cation needs of individuals with deafness.

23 ‘‘(c) RATABLE REDUCTION.—If the total amount ap24 propriated to carry out this part for any fiscal year is less
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1 than $135,600,000, the amounts listed in subsection (b)

2 shall be ratably reduced.

3 ‘‘Subpart 2—State Program Improvement Grants for

4 Children with Disabilities

5 ‘‘SEC. 671. PURPOSE.

6 ‘‘The purpose of this subpart is to assist States in

7 reforming and improving their systems for providing edu8 cational and early intervention services, particularly their

9 systems for professional development, to improve the

10 achievement of children with disabilities.

11 ‘‘SEC. 672. ELIGIBILITY AND COLLABORATIVE PROCESS.

12 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—A State may apply for

13 a grant under this subpart for a grant period that is not

14 less than one year, but is not greater than 4 years.

15 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION THAT COLLABORATIVE PROC16 ESS HAS BEEN USED.—A State that desires to receive

17 a grant under this subpart shall certify to the Secretary

18 that a collaborative process with persons described in sub19 section (c) has been used in developing the State improve20 ment plan described in section 673.

21 ‘‘(c) COLLABORATIVE PROCESS PARTICIPANTS.—

22 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED PARTICIPANTS.—The collabo23 rative process referred to in subsection (b) is a State

24 process for making decisions which includes as par25 ticipants, at a minimum, the Governor of the State
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1 and representatives, appointed by such Governor,

2 of—

3 ‘‘(A) parents of children with disabilities;

4 ‘‘(B) parents of nondisabled children;

5 ‘‘(C) individuals with disabilities;

6 ‘‘(D) organizations representing individuals

7 with disabilities and their parents;

8 ‘‘(E) community-based and other nonprofit

9 organizations related to the education and em10 ployment of individuals with disabilities;

11 ‘‘(F) the lead State agency official or offi12 cials for part C;

13 ‘‘(G) local educational agencies;

14 ‘‘(H) general and special education teach15 ers;

16 ‘‘(I) the State educational agency;

17 ‘‘(J) the State advisory panel established

18 under part B; and

19 ‘‘(K) the State interagency coordinating

20 council established under part C.

21 ‘‘(2) OPTIONAL PARTICIPANTS.—The collabo22 rative process may include, at the Governor’s discre23 tion, representatives, appointed by the Governor,

24 of—
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1 ‘‘(A) individuals knowledgeable about voca2 tional education;

3 ‘‘(B) the State agency for higher edu4 cation;

5 ‘‘(C) institutions of higher education;

6 ‘‘(D) schools of education;

7 ‘‘(E) the State vocational rehabilitation

8 agency;

9 ‘‘(F) public agencies with jurisdiction in

10 the areas of health, mental health, social serv11 ices, and juvenile justice; and

12 ‘‘(G) any other individuals designated by

13 the Governor.

14 ‘‘SEC. 673. STATE IMPROVEMENT PLANS.

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State that desires to receive

16 a grant under this subpart shall submit to the Secretary

17 a State improvement plan that is integrated, to the maxi18 mum extent possible, with State plans under the Elemen19 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and the Reha20 bilitation Act of 1973, as appropriate.

21 ‘‘(b) DETERMINING CHILD AND PROGRAM NEEDS.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State improvement

23 plan shall identify those critical aspects of early

24 intervention, general education, and special edu25 cation programs (including professional development,
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1 based on an assessment of State and local needs)

2 that must be improved to enable children with dis3 abilities to meet the goals established by the State

4 under section 612(a)(14).

5 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED ANALYSES.—To meet the re6 quirement of paragraph (1), the State improvement

7 plan shall include at least—

8 ‘‘(A) an analysis of all information, reason9 ably available to the State, on the performance

10 of children with disabilities in the State, includ11 ing—

12 ‘‘(i) their performance on State as13 sessments and other performance indica14 tors established for all children, including

15 drop-out rates and graduation rates;

16 ‘‘(ii) their participation in postsecond17 ary education and employment; and

18 ‘‘(iii) how their performance on the

19 assessments and indicators described in

20 clause (i) compares to that of non-disabled

21 children;

22 ‘‘(B) an analysis of State and local needs

23 for professional development for personnel to

24 serve children with disabilities that includes, at

25 a minimum, relevant information on current
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1 and anticipated personnel shortages, and on the

2 extent of certification or retraining necessary to

3 eliminate such shortages, that is based, to the

4 maximum extent possible, on existing assess5 ments of personnel needs; and

6 ‘‘(C) a summary of the information and

7 analysis provided by the State to the Secretary

8 under parts B and C on the effectiveness of the

9 State’s systems of early intervention, special

10 education, and general education in meeting the

11 needs of children with disabilities.

12 ‘‘(c) IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES.—Each State im13 provement plan shall—

14 ‘‘(1) describe the strategies the State will use to

15 address the needs identified under subsection (b)(1),

16 including—

17 ‘‘(A) how it will hold school districts and

18 schools accountable for educational progress of

19 children with disabilities;

20 ‘‘(B) how it will provide technical assist21 ance to school districts and schools to improve

22 results for children with disabilities;

23 ‘‘(C) how it will address the identified

24 needs for in-service and pre-service preparation

25 to ensure that all personnel who work with chil-
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1 dren with disabilities (including both profes2 sional and paraprofessional personnel who pro3 vide early intervention services, special edu4 cation, general education, or related services)

5 have the skills and knowledge necessary to meet

6 the needs of children with disabilities, including

7 a description of how—

8 ‘‘(i) the State will prepare general

9 education and special education personnel

10 with the content knowledge and collabo11 rative skills needed to meet the needs of

12 children with disabilities, including how the

13 State will work with other States on com14 mon certification criteria;

15 ‘‘(ii) the State will prepare profes16 sionals and paraprofessionals in the area of

17 early intervention with the content knowl18 edge and collaborative skills needed to

19 meet the needs of infants and toddlers

20 with disabilities;

21 ‘‘(iii) the State will work with institu22 tions of higher education and other entities

23 that prepare (on both a pre-service and an

24 in-service basis) personnel who work with

25 children with disabilities to ensure that
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1 such institutions and entities develop the

2 capacity to support professional develop3 ment programs which reflect actual edu4 cation practices and techniques;

5 ‘‘(iv) the State’s requirements for li6 censure of teachers and administrators, in7 cluding certification and recertification,

8 will be modified to support an adequate

9 supply of personnel with the necessary

10 skills and knowledge (including, where ap11 propriate, strategies for developing recip12 rocal certification agreements and common

13 certification requirements with other

14 States); and

15 ‘‘(v) the State will work to develop

16 collaborative agreements with other States

17 for the joint support and development of

18 programs to prepare personnel for which

19 there is not sufficient demand within a sin20 gle State to justify support or development

21 of such a program of preparation;

22 ‘‘(D) how it will work in collaboration with

23 other States, particularly neighboring States, to

24 address the lack of uniformity and reciprocity
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1 in the credentialing of teachers and other per2 sonnel;

3 ‘‘(E) strategies that will address systemic

4 problems identified in Federal compliance re5 views, including shortages of qualified person6 nel; and

7 ‘‘(F) how the State will assess, on a regu8 lar basis, the extent to which the strategies im9 plemented under this subpart have been effec10 tive; and

11 ‘‘(2) describe how the improvement strategies

12 under paragraph (1) will be coordinated with public

13 and private sector resources.

14 ‘‘(d) REPORTING PROCEDURES.—Each State that re15 ceives a grant under this subpart shall submit perform16 ance reports to the Secretary pursuant to a schedule to

17 be determined by the Secretary, but not more frequently

18 that annually.

19 ‘‘(e) PLAN APPROVAL.—The Secretary shall approve

20 a State improvement plan under this section if it—

21 ‘‘(1) meets the requirements of this part;

22 ‘‘(2) has been developed in accordance with the

23 requirements of section 672; and
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1 ‘‘(3) in the opinion of the Secretary, has a rea2 sonable chance of achieving the purposes of the

3 grant.

4 ‘‘(f) PLAN AMENDMENTS.—

5 ‘‘(1) MODIFICATIONS MADE BY STATE.—Sub6 ject to paragraph (2), a plan submitted by a State

7 in accordance with this section shall remain in effect

8 until the State submits to the Secretary such modi9 fications as the State determines necessary. This

10 section shall apply to a modification to a plan to the

11 same extent and in the same manner as this section

12 applies to the original plan.

13 ‘‘(2) MODIFICATIONS REQUIRED BY SEC14 RETARY.—The Secretary may require a State to

15 amend its State improvement plan at any time as a

16 result of the Secretary’s compliance reviews under

17 parts B and C. The Secretary may not provide fur18 ther funding under this subpart to the State until

19 such amendments are made.

20 ‘‘SEC. 674. USE OF FUNDS.

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a grant

22 under this subpart may use the grant to carry out any

23 activities that are described in the State improvement plan

24 and that are consistent with the purpose of this subpart.

25 Such activities may include the awarding of subgrants, but
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1 only if the subgrants are made to local educational agen2 cies. Any such local educational agency may award sub3 grants to any person. Such activities may also include the

4 awarding of contracts to appropriate entities.

5 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOP6 MENT.—A State that receives a grant under this subpart

7 shall use not less than 75 percent of the funds it receives

8 under the grant for any fiscal year to ensure that there

9 is a sufficient supply of personnel who have the skills and

10 knowledge necessary to enable children with disabilities to

11 meet developmental goals and to meet the needs of such

12 children, including working with other States on common

13 certification criteria.

14 ‘‘(c) GRANTS TO TERRITORIES.—The provisions of

15 Public Law 95–134, permitting the consolidation of grants

16 to the territories, shall not apply to funds received under

17 this subpart.

18 ‘‘SEC. 675. MINIMUM STATE ALLOTMENTS.

19 ‘‘A State that receives a grant under this subpart

20 shall receive an amount that is—

21 ‘‘(1) not less than $200,000, in the case of the

22 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the Com23 monwealth of Puerto Rico; and

24 ‘‘(2) not less than $40,000, in the case of a ter25 ritory.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 676. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

3 this subpart such sums as may be necessary for each of

4 the fiscal years 1997 through 2001.

5 ‘‘Subpart 3—Parent Training

6 ‘‘SEC. 681. GRANTS FOR PARENT TRAINING AND INFORMA7 TION CENTERS.

8 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may

9 make grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative

10 agreements with, parent organizations to support parent

11 training and information centers to carry out activities

12 under this subpart.

13 ‘‘(b) REQUIRED ACTIVITIES.—A parent training and

14 information center that receives assistance under this sec15 tion shall—

16 ‘‘(1) assist parents to understand the availabil17 ity of, and how effectively to use, procedural safe18 guards under this title, including the use of alter19 native methods of dispute resolution, such as medi20 ation;

21 ‘‘(2) serve the parents of children with the full

22 range of disabilities; and

23 ‘‘(3) annually report to the Secretary on—

24 ‘‘(A) the number of parents to whom it

25 provided information and training in the most

26 recently concluded fiscal year; and
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1 ‘‘(B) the effectiveness of strategies used to

2 reach and serve parents of children with disabil3 ities, including underserved parents of children

4 with disabilities.

5 ‘‘(c) OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES.—A parent training and

6 information center that receives assistance under this sec7 tion may—

8 ‘‘(1) provide information to teachers and other

9 professionals who provide special education and re10 lated services to children with disabilities;

11 ‘‘(2) assist students with disabilities to under12 stand their rights and responsibilities under section

13 615(j) on reaching the age of majority; and

14 ‘‘(3) establish cooperative partnerships with

15 parent organizations, and other organizations assist16 ing families of children with disabilities, in the com17 munity.

18 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—Each applica19 tion for assistance under this section shall identify with

20 specificity the special efforts that the applicant will under21 take to—

22 ‘‘(1) ensure that the needs for training and in23 formation of parents of underserved children with

24 disabilities in the area to be served are effectively

25 met; and
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1 ‘‘(2) work with community-based organizations.

2 ‘‘(e) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—

3 ‘‘(1) NUMBER OF AWARDS.—The Secretary

4 shall make at least one award to a parent organiza5 tion in each State, unless the Secretary does not re6 ceive an application from such an organization in

7 each State of sufficient quality to warrant approval.

8 ‘‘(2) ENSURING EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE.—The

9 Secretary may select among applications submitted

10 by parent organizations in a State in a manner that

11 ensures the most effective assistance to parents, in12 cluding parents in urban and rural areas, in the

13 State.

14 ‘‘SEC. 682. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR PARENT TRAINING

15 AND INFORMATION CENTERS.

16 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may

17 provide technical assistance for developing, assisting, and

18 coordinating parent training and information programs

19 carried out by parent training and information centers re20 ceiving assistance under section 681.

21 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary may

22 provide technical assistance to a parent training and infor23 mation center under this section in areas such as—

24 ‘‘(1) effective coordination of parent training ef25 forts;
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1 ‘‘(2) dissemination of information;

2 ‘‘(3) evaluation by the center of itself;

3 ‘‘(4) promotion of the use of technology, includ4 ing assistive technology devices and assistive tech5 nology services;

6 ‘‘(5) reaching underserved populations;

7 ‘‘(6) including children with disabilities in gen8 eral education programs;

9 ‘‘(7) facilitation of transitions from—

10 ‘‘(A) early intervention services to pre11 school;

12 ‘‘(B) preschool to school; and

13 ‘‘(C) secondary school to postsecondary en14 vironments; and

15 ‘‘(8) promotion of alternative methods of dis16 pute resolution.

17 ‘‘SEC. 683. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

18 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

19 this subpart such sums as may be necessary for each of

20 the fiscal years 1997 through 2001.’’.
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1 TITLE II—MISCELLANEOUS

2 PROVISIONS

3 SEC. 201. AMENDMENT TO ESEA TO COORDINATE IDEA AND

4 SCHOOLWIDE PROGRAMS.

5 Section 1114(a)(4) of the Elementary and Secondary

6 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6314(a)(4)) is amend7 ed—

8 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘Secretary

9 (other than formula or discretionary grant programs

10 under the Individuals with Disabilities Education

11 Act),’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary,’’; and

12 (2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘special

13 education and related services under an individual14 ized education program, procedural safeguards,’’

15 after ‘‘civil rights,’’.

16 SEC. 202. EFFECTIVE DATES.

17 (a) PARTS A, B, AND C.—Parts A, B, and C of the

18 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as amended

19 by title I, shall take effect on July 1, 1997.

20 (b) PART D.—Part D of such Act, as amended by

21 title I, shall take effect on October 1, 1997.

22 SEC. 203. REPEALERS.

23 (a) PART I.—Part I of the Individuals with Disabil24 ities Education Act is hereby repealed.
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1 (b) PART H.—Effective July 1, 1997, part H of such

2 Act is hereby repealed.

3 (c) PARTS E, F, AND G.—Effective October 1, 1997,

4 parts E, F, and G of such Act are hereby repealed.

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