I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 5

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

JANUARY 7, 1997

Mr. GOODLING (for himself, Mr. RIGGS, Mr. CASTLE, Mr. PETRI, Mr.

BALLENGER, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. TALENT,

Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. SOUDER, Mr.

MCINTOSH, Mr. NORWOOD, and Mr. CUNNINGHAM) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the

Workforce

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 1997’’.
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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.

‘‘Sec. 606. Employment of individuals with disabilities.

‘‘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.
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‘‘Sec. 619. Preschool grants.

‘‘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.

‘‘Sec. 652. Eligibility for financial assistance.

‘‘Sec. 653. Comprehensive plan.

‘‘Sec. 654. Peer review.

‘‘Sec. 655. Eligible applicants.

‘‘Sec. 656. Applicant and recipient responsibilities.

‘‘Sec. 657. Indirect costs.

‘‘Sec. 658. Program evaluation.

‘‘SUBPART 1—NATIONAL RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES

‘‘Sec. 661. General authority to make awards.

‘‘Sec. 662. Priorities.

‘‘Sec. 663. National assessment.

‘‘Sec. 664. Authorization of appropriations.

‘‘SUBPART 2—PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

‘‘Sec. 671. Purpose.

‘‘Sec. 672. Finding.

‘‘Sec. 673. National activities.

‘‘Sec. 674. Professional development for personnel serving low-incidence

populations.

‘‘Sec. 675. Leadership personnel.

‘‘Sec. 676. Service obligation.

‘‘Sec. 677. Outreach.

‘‘SUBPART 3—STATE PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT GRANTS FOR CHILDREN WITH

DISABILITIES

‘‘Sec. 681. Purpose.

‘‘Sec. 682. Eligibility and collaborative process.

‘‘Sec. 683. State improvement plans.

‘‘Sec. 684. Use of funds.

‘‘Sec. 685. Minimum State allotments.

‘‘Sec. 686. Authorization of appropriations.
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‘‘SUBPART 4—PARENT TRAINING

‘‘Sec. 691. Grants for parent training and information centers.

‘‘Sec. 692. Technical assistance for parent training and information

centers.

‘‘Sec. 693. 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 in4 dividuals to participate in or contribute to society.

5 Improving educational results for children with dis6 abilities is an essential element of our national policy

7 of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participa8 tion, independent living, and economic self-suffi9 ciency for individuals with disabilities.

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

11 Education for All Handicapped Children Act of

12 1975 (Public Law 94–142)—

13 ‘‘(A) the special educational needs of chil14 dren with disabilities were not being fully met;

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

16 with disabilities in the United States did not re17 ceive appropriate educational services that

18 would enable such children to have full equality

19 of opportunity;

20 ‘‘(C) 1,000,000 of the children with dis21 abilities in the United States were excluded en22 tirely from the public school system and did not
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1 go through the educational process with their

2 peers;

3 ‘‘(D) there were many children with dis4 abilities throughout the United States partici5 pating in regular school programs whose dis6 abilities prevented such children from having a

7 successful educational experience because their

8 disabilities were undetected; and

9 ‘‘(E) because of the lack of adequate serv10 ices within the public school system, families

11 were often forced to find services outside the

12 public school system, often at great distance

13 from their residence and at their own expense.

14 ‘‘(3) Since the enactment and implementation

15 of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act

16 of 1975, this Act has been successful in ensuring

17 children with disabilities and the families of such

18 children access to a free appropriate public edu19 cation and in improving educational results for chil20 dren with disabilities.

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

22 has been impeded by low expectations, and an insuf23 ficient focus on applying replicable research on prov24 en methods of teaching and learning for children

25 with disabilities.
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1 ‘‘(5) Over 20 years of research and experience

2 has demonstrated that the education of children with

3 disabilities can be made more effective by—

4 ‘‘(A) having high expectations for such

5 children and ensuring their access in the gen6 eral curriculum to the maximum extent pos7 sible;

8 ‘‘(B) ensuring that families of such chil9 dren have meaningful opportunities to partici10 pate in the education of their children at school

11 and at home;

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

13 educational service agency, State, and Federal

14 school improvement efforts in order to ensure

15 that such children benefit from such efforts and

16 that special education can become a service for

17 such children rather than a place where they

18 are sent;

19 ‘‘(D) providing appropriate special edu20 cation and related services and aids and sup21 ports in the regular classroom to such children,

22 whenever appropriate;

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

24 professional development for all personnel who

25 work with such children in order to ensure that
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1 they have the skills and knowledge necessary to

2 enable them—

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

4 to the maximum extent possible, those

5 challenging expectations that have been es6 tablished for all children; and

7 ‘‘(ii) to be prepared to lead produc8 tive, independent, adult lives, to the maxi9 mum extent possible;

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

11 approaches and early intervention to reduce the

12 need to label children as disabled in order to

13 address their learning needs; and

14 ‘‘(G) focusing resources on teaching and

15 learning while reducing paperwork and require16 ments that do not assist in improving edu17 cational results.

18 ‘‘(6) While States, local educational agencies,

19 and educational service agencies are responsible for

20 providing an education for all children with disabil21 ities, it is in the national interest that the Federal

22 Government have a role in assisting State and local

23 efforts to educate children with disabilities in order

24 to improve results for such children and to ensure

25 equal protection of the law.
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1 ‘‘(7)(A) The Federal Government must be re2 sponsive to the growing needs of an increasingly

3 more diverse society. A more equitable allocation of

4 resources is essential for the Federal Government to

5 meet its responsibility to provide an equal edu6 cational opportunity for all individuals.

7 ‘‘(B) America’s racial profile is rapidly chang8 ing. Between 1980 and 1990, the rate of increase in

9 the population for white Americans was 6 percent,

10 while the rate of increase for racial and ethnic mi11 norities was much higher: 53 percent for Hispanics,

12 13.2 percent for African-Americans, and 107.8 per13 cent for Asians.

14 ‘‘(C) By the year 2000, this Nation will have

15 275,000,000 people, nearly one of every three of

16 whom will be either African-American, Hispanic,

17 Asian-American, or American Indian.

18 ‘‘(D) Taken together as a group, minority chil19 dren are comprising an ever larger percentage of

20 public school students. Large city school populations

21 are overwhelmingly minority, for example, for fall

22 1993, the figure for Miami was 84 percent; Chicago,

23 89 percent; Philadelphia, 78 percent; Baltimore, 84

24 percent; Houston, 88 percent; and Los Angeles, 88

25 percent.
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1 ‘‘(E) Recruitment efforts within special edu2 cation at the level of preservice, continuing edu3 cation, and practice must focus on bringing larger

4 numbers of minorities into the profession in order to

5 provide appropriate practitioner knowledge, role

6 models, and sufficient manpower to address the

7 clearly changing demography of special education.

8 ‘‘(F) The limited English proficient population

9 is the fastest growing in our Nation, and the growth

10 is occurring in many parts of our Nation. In the Na11 tion’s 2 largest school districts, limited English stu12 dents make up almost half of all students initially

13 entering school at the kindergarten level. Studies

14 have documented apparent discrepancies in the levels

15 of referral and placement of limited English pro16 ficient children in special education. The Depart17 ment of Education has found that services provided

18 to limited English proficient students often do not

19 respond primarily to the pupil’s academic needs.

20 These trends pose special challenges for special edu21 cation in the referral, assessment, and services for

22 our Nation’s students from non-English language

23 backgrounds.

24 ‘‘(8)(A) Greater efforts are needed to prevent

25 the intensification of problems connected with
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1 mislabeling and high dropout rates among minority

2 children with disabilities.

3 ‘‘(B) More minority children continue to be

4 served in special education than would be expected

5 from the percentage of minority students in the gen6 eral school population.

7 ‘‘(C) Poor African-American children are 3.5

8 times more likely to be identified by their teacher as

9 mentally retarded than their white counterpart.

10 ‘‘(D) Although African-Americans represent 12

11 percent of elementary and secondary enrollments,

12 they constitute 28 percent of total enrollments in

13 special education.

14 ‘‘(E) The drop out rate is 68 percent higher for

15 minorities than for whites.

16 ‘‘(F) More than 50 percent of minority students

17 in large cities drop out of school.

18 ‘‘(9)(A) The opportunity for full participation

19 in awards for grants and contracts; boards of orga20 nizations receiving funds under this Act; and peer

21 review panels; and training of professionals in the
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1 area of special education by minority individuals, or2 ganizations, and historically black colleges and uni3 versities is essential if we are to obtain greater suc4 cess in the education of minority children with dis5 abilities.

6 ‘‘(B) In 1989, of the 661,000 college and uni7 versity professors, 4.6 percent were African-Amer8 ican and 3.1 percent were Hispanic. Of the

9 3,600,000 teachers, prekindergarten through high

10 school, 9.4 percent were African-American and 3.9

11 percent were Hispanic.

12 ‘‘(C) Students from minority groups comprise

13 more than 50 percent of K–12 public school enroll14 ment in seven States yet minority enrollment in

15 teacher training programs is less than 15 percent in

16 all but six States.

17 ‘‘(D) As the number of African-American and

18 Hispanic students in special education increases, the

19 number of minority teachers and related service per20 sonnel produced in our colleges and universities con21 tinues to decrease.

22 ‘‘(E) Ten years ago, 12.5 percent of the United

23 States teaching force in public elementary and sec24 ondary schools were members of a minority group.

25 Minorities comprised 21.3 percent of the national
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1 population at that time and were clearly underrep2 resented then among employed teachers. Today, the

3 elementary and secondary teaching force is 3 to 5

4 percent minority, while one-third of the students in

5 public schools are minority children.

6 ‘‘(F) As recently as 1991, historically black col7 leges and universities enrolled 44 percent of the Af8 rican-American teacher trainees in the Nation. How9 ever, in 1993, historically black colleges and univer10 sities received only 4 percent of the discretionary

11 funds for special education and related services per12 sonnel training under this Act.

13 ‘‘(G) While African-American students con14 stitute 28 percent of total enrollment in special edu15 cation, only 11.2 percent of individuals enrolled in

16 preservice training programs for special education

17 are African-American.

18 ‘‘(H) In 1986–87, of the degrees conferred in

19 education at the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D levels, only

20 6, 8, and 8 percent, respectively, were awarded to

21 African-American or Hispanic students.

22 ‘‘(10) Minorities and underserved persons are

23 socially disadvantaged because of the lack of oppor24 tunities in training and educational programs,

25 undergirded by the practices in the private sector
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1 that impede their full participation in the main2 stream of society.

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

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

5 have available to them a free appropriate public edu6 cation that emphasizes special education and related

7 services designed to meet their unique needs and

8 prepare them for employment and independent liv9 ing;

10 ‘‘(2) to ensure that the rights of children with

11 disabilities and parents of such children are pro12 tected;

13 ‘‘(3) to assist States, localities, education serv14 ice agencies, and Federal agencies to provide for the

15 education of all children with disabilities; and

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

17 efforts to educate children with disabilities.

18 ‘‘SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS.

19 ‘‘As used in this title:

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

21 term ‘assistive technology device’ means any item,

22 piece of equipment, or product system, whether
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1 acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or cus2 tomized, that is used to increase, maintain, or im3 prove functional capabilities of a child with a

4 disability.

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

6 term ‘assistive technology service’ means any service

7 that directly assists a child with a disability in the

8 selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive tech9 nology device. Such term includes—

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

11 child, including a functional evaluation of the

12 child in the child’s customary environment;

13 ‘‘(B) purchasing, leasing, or otherwise pro14 viding for the acquisition of assistive technology

15 devices by such child;

16 ‘‘(C) selecting, designing, fitting, customiz17 ing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing,

18 or replacing of assistive technology devices;

19 ‘‘(D) coordinating and using other thera20 pies, interventions, or services with assistive

21 technology devices, such as those associated

22 with existing education and rehabilitation plans

23 and programs;
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1 ‘‘(E) training or technical assistance for

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

3 such child; and

4 ‘‘(F) training or technical assistance for

5 professionals (including individuals providing

6 education and rehabilitation services), employ7 ers, or other individuals who provide services to,

8 employ, or are otherwise substantially involved

9 in the major life functions of such child.

10 ‘‘(3) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—

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

12 disability’ means a child—

13 ‘‘(i) with mental retardation, hearing

14 impairments (including deafness), speech

15 or language impairments, visual impair16 ments (including blindness), serious emo17 tional disturbance, orthopedic impairments,

18 autism, traumatic brain injury, other

19 health impairments, or specific learning

20 disabilities; and

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

22 special education and related services.

23 ‘‘(B) CHILD AGED 3 TO 9.—The term

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

25 inclusive, may, at the discretion of the State
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1 and the local educational agency, include a

2 child—

3 ‘‘(i) experiencing developmental

4 delays, as defined by the State and as

5 measured by appropriate diagnostic instru6 ments and procedures, in one or more of

7 the following areas: physical development,

8 cognitive development, communication de9 velopment, social or emotional develop10 ment, or adaptive development; and

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

12 special education and related services.

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

14 term ‘educational service agency’—

15 ‘‘(A) means a regional public multiservice

16 agency—

17 ‘‘(i) authorized by State law to de18 velop, manage, and provide services or pro19 grams to local educational agencies; and

20 ‘‘(ii) recognized as an administrative

21 agency for purposes of the provision of

22 special education and related services pro23 vided within public elementary and second24 ary schools of the State; and
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1 ‘‘(B) includes any other public institution

2 or agency having administrative control and di3 rection over a public elementary or secondary

4 school.

5 ‘‘(5) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘ele6 mentary school’ means a day or residential school

7 which provides elementary education, as determined

8 under State law, policy, or procedure.

9 ‘‘(6) EQUIPMENT.—The term ‘equipment’ in10 cludes—

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

12 equipment and any necessary enclosures or

13 structures to house such machinery, utilities, or

14 equipment; and

15 ‘‘(B) all other items necessary for the

16 functioning of a particular facility as a facility

17 for the provision of educational services, includ18 ing items such as instructional equipment and

19 necessary furniture, printed, published, and

20 audio-visual instructional materials, tele21 communications, sensory, and other techno22 logical aids and devices, and books, periodicals,

23 documents, and other related materials.

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

25 means those costs which are in excess of the average
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1 annual per student expenditure in a local edu2 cational agency during the preceding school year for

3 an elementary or secondary school student, as may

4 be appropriate, and which shall be computed after

5 deducting—

6 ‘‘(A) amounts received—

7 ‘‘(i) under part B of this title;

8 ‘‘(ii) under part A of title I of the El9 ementary and Secondary Education Act of

10 1965; or

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

12 Act; and

13 ‘‘(B) any State or local funds expended for

14 programs that would qualify for assistance

15 under any such part.

16 ‘‘(8) FREE APPROPRIATE PUBLIC EDU17 CATION.—The term ‘free appropriate public edu18 cation’ means special education and related services

19 that—

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

21 under public supervision and direction, and

22 without charge;

23 ‘‘(B) meet the standards of the State edu24 cational agency;
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1 ‘‘(C) include an appropriate preschool, ele2 mentary, or secondary school education in the

3 State involved; and

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

5 individualized education program required

6 under section 614(d).

7 ‘‘(9) INDIAN.—The term ‘Indian’ means an in8 dividual who is a member of an Indian tribe.

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

10 means any Federal or State Indian tribe, band,

11 rancheria, pueblo, colony, or community, including

12 any Alaskan native village or regional village cor13 poration (as defined in or established under the

14 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act).

15 ‘‘(11) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PRO16 GRAM.—The term ‘individualized education program’

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

18 with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and re19 vised in accordance with section 614(d) and that in20 cludes—

21 ‘‘(A) a statement of the child’s present lev22 els of educational performance, including—

23 ‘‘(i) how the child’s disability affects

24 the child’s involvement and progress in the

25 general curriculum; or
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1 ‘‘(ii) for preschool children, as appro2 priate, how the disability affects the child’s

3 participation in appropriate activities;

4 ‘‘(B) a statement of measurable annual

5 goals, including benchmarks or short-term ob6 jectives, related to—

7 ‘‘(i) meeting the child’s needs that re8 sult from the child’s disability to enable

9 the child to be involved in and progress in

10 the general curriculum; and

11 ‘‘(ii) meeting each of the child’s other

12 educational needs that result from the

13 child’s disability;

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

15 adapted before the student was referred for

16 identification as a child with a disability;

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

18 which the child will not be educated with non19 disabled children;

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

21 and related services and supplementary aids

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

23 behalf of the child, and any program modifica24 tions or support for school personnel necessary

25 for the child—
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1 ‘‘(i) to progress toward the attainment

2 of the annual goals described in subpara3 graph (B); and

4 ‘‘(ii) to be involved and progress in

5 the general curriculum in accordance with

6 subparagraph (A) and to participate in ex7 tracurricular and other nonacademic activi8 ties;

9 ‘‘(F)(i) a statement of any individual modi10 fications in the administration of State or dis11 trictwide assessments of student achievement

12 that are needed in order for the child to partici13 pate in such assessment; and

14 ‘‘(ii) if the individualized education pro15 gram team determines that the child will not

16 participate in a particular State or districtwide

17 assessment of student achievement (or part of

18 such an assessment), a statement of—

19 ‘‘(I) why that assessment is not ap20 propriate for the child; and

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

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

23 of the services and modifications described in
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1 subparagraph (E), and the anticipated fre2 quency, location, and duration of those services

3 and modifications;

4 ‘‘(H)(i) beginning at age 14, and updated

5 annually, a statement of the transition service

6 needs of the child under the applicable compo7 nents of the child’s IEP that focuses on the

8 child’s courses of study (such as participation

9 in advanced-placement courses or a vocational

10 education or school-to-work program);

11 ‘‘(ii) beginning at age 16 (or younger, if

12 determined appropriate by the IEP Team), a

13 statement of needed transition services for the

14 child, including, when appropriate, a statement

15 of the interagency responsibilities or any needed

16 linkages; and

17 ‘‘(iii) beginning at least one year before the

18 child reaches the age of majority under State

19 law, a statement that the child has been in20 formed of his or her rights under this title, if

21 any, that will transfer to the child on reaching

22 the age of 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 goals 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 the annual goals described in subpara11 graph (B); and

12 ‘‘(II) the extent to which that

13 progress is sufficient to enable the

14 child to achieve the objectives by the

15 end of the year.

16 ‘‘(12) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM

17 TEAM.—The term ‘individualized education program

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

19 composed of—

20 ‘‘(A) the parents of a child with a

21 disability;

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

23 of such child (if the child is, or may be, partici24 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) is knowledgeable about the avail13 ability of resources of the local educational

14 agency;

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

16 a disability; and

17 ‘‘(F) at the discretion of the parent or the

18 agency, other individuals who have special ex19 pertise or knowledge regarding the abilities and

20 disability or disabilities of the child, including,

21 as appropriate, related services personnel who

22 are or who will be working with the child.

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

24 The term ‘institution of higher education’—
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1 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given that term in

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

3 1965; and

4 ‘‘(B) also includes any community college

5 receiving funding from the Secretary of the In6 terior under the Tribally Controlled Community

7 College Assistance Act of 1978.

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

9 term ‘local educational agency’ means—

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

11 public authority legally constituted within a

12 State for either administrative control or direc13 tion of, or to perform a service function for,

14 public elementary or secondary schools in a

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

16 political subdivision of a State, or for a com17 bination of school districts or counties as are

18 recognized in a State as an administrative

19 agency for its public elementary or secondary

20 schools;

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

22 having administrative control and direction of a

23 public elementary or secondary school; or

24 ‘‘(C) an educational service agency.
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1 ‘‘(15) NATIVE LANGUAGE.—The term ‘native

2 language’, when used with reference to an individual

3 of limited English proficiency, means the language

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

5 child, the language normally used by the parents of

6 the child, and includes American Sign Language.

7 ‘‘(16) NONPROFIT.—The term ‘nonprofit’ as

8 applied to a school, agency, organization, or institu9 tion means a school, agency, organization, or institu10 tion owned and operated by one or more nonprofit

11 corporations or associations no part of the net earn12 ings of which inures, or may lawfully inure, to the

13 benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

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

15 legal guardian or surrogate parent.

16 ‘‘(18) PARENT ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘par17 ent organization’ means a private nonprofit organi18 zation (but not including an institution of higher

19 education) that—

20 ‘‘(A) has a board of directors—

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

22 of children with disabilities;

23 ‘‘(ii) that includes—
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1 ‘‘(I) individuals working in the

2 fields of special education, related

3 services, and early intervention; and

4 ‘‘(II) individuals with disabilities;

5 and

6 ‘‘(iii) the parent and professional

7 members of which are broadly representa8 tive of the population to be served; or

9 ‘‘(B)(i) represents the interests of individ10 uals with disabilities and has established a spe11 cial governing committee which meets the re12 quirements of subparagraph (A); and

13 ‘‘(ii) has a memorandum of understanding

14 between the special governing committee and

15 the board of directors of the organization which

16 clearly outlines the relationship between the

17 board and the committee and the decisionmak18 ing responsibilities and authority of each.

19 ‘‘(19) PARENT TRAINING AND INFORMATION

20 CENTER.—The term ‘parent training and informa21 tion center’ means a center that—

22 ‘‘(A) provides training and information

23 that meets the training and information needs

24 of parents of children with disabilities living in

25 the area served by the center; and
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1 ‘‘(B) assists parents—

2 ‘‘(i) to better understand the nature

3 of their children’s disabilities and their

4 educational and developmental needs;

5 ‘‘(ii) to communicate effectively with

6 personnel responsible for providing special

7 education, early intervention, and related

8 services;

9 ‘‘(iii) to participate in decisionmaking

10 processes and the development of the IEP;

11 ‘‘(iv) to obtain appropriate informa12 tion about the range of options, programs,

13 services, and resources available to assist

14 children with disabilities and their families;

15 ‘‘(v) to understand the programs

16 under this title for the education of, and

17 the provision of early intervention services

18 to, children with disabilities; and

19 ‘‘(vi) to participate in school reform

20 activities.

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

22 services’ means transportation, and such devel23 opmental, corrective, and other supportive services

24 (including speech-language pathology and audiology
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1 services, psychological services, physical and occupa2 tional therapy, recreation, including therapeutic

3 recreation, social work services, counseling services,

4 including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and

5 mobility services, and medical services, except that

6 such medical services shall be for diagnostic and

7 evaluation purposes only) as may be required to as8 sist a child with a disability to benefit from special

9 education, and includes the early identification and

10 assessment of disabling conditions in children.

11 ‘‘(21) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘second12 ary school’ means a day or residential school which

13 provides secondary education, as determined under

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

15 not include any education provided beyond grade 12.

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

17 means the Secretary of Education.

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

19 education’ means specially designed instruction, at

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

21 child with a disability, including—

22 ‘‘(A) instruction conducted in the class23 room, in the home, in hospitals and institutions,

24 and in other settings; and

25 ‘‘(B) instruction in physical education.
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1 ‘‘(24) SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITY.—

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

3 learning disability’ means a disorder in one or

4 more of the basic psychological processes in5 volved in understanding or in using language,

6 spoken or written, which disorder may manifest

7 itself in imperfect ability to listen, think, speak,

8 read, write, spell, or do mathematical calcula9 tions.

10 ‘‘(B) DISORDERS INCLUDED.—Such term

11 includes such conditions as perceptual disabil12 ities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction,

13 dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

14 ‘‘(C) DISORDERS NOT INCLUDED.—Such

15 term does not include a learning problem that

16 is primarily the result of visual, hearing, or

17 motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of

18 emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cul19 tural, or economic disadvantage.

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

21 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com22 monwealth of Puerto Rico, and each of the terri23 tories.

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

25 term ‘State educational agency’ means the State
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1 board of education or other agency or officer pri2 marily responsible for the State supervision of public

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

4 such officer or agency, an officer or agency des5 ignated by the Governor or by State law.

6 ‘‘(27) SUPPLEMENTARY AIDS AND SERVICES.—

7 The term ‘supplementary aids and services’ means,

8 aids, services, and other supports that are provided

9 in regular education classes or other education-relat10 ed settings to enable children with disabilities to be

11 educated with nondisabled children to the maximum

12 extent appropriate in accordance with section

13 612(a)(4).

14 ‘‘(28) TERRITORY.—The term ‘territory’ means

15 American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the North16 ern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.

17 ‘‘(29) TRANSITION SERVICES.—The term ‘tran18 sition services’ means a coordinated set of activities

19 for a child with a disability that—

20 ‘‘(A) are designed within an outcome-ori21 ented process, which promotes movement from

22 school to post-school activities, including post23 secondary education, vocational training, inte24 grated employment (including supported em25 ployment), continuing and adult education,
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1 adult services, independent living, or community

2 participation;

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

4 needs, taking into account the child’s pref5 erences and interests; and

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

7 community experiences, the development of em8 ployment and other post-school adult living ob9 jectives, and, when appropriate, acquisition of

10 daily living skills and functional vocational eval11 uation.

12 ‘‘SEC. 603. OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

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

14 Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in

15 the Department of Education, an Office of Special Edu16 cation Programs which shall be the principal agency in

17 such Department for administering and carrying out this

18 title and other programs and activities concerning the edu19 cation and training of children with disabilities.

20 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—The Office established under sub21 section (a) shall be headed by a Director who shall be se22 lected by the Secretary and shall report directly to the As23 sistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative

24 Services.
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1 ‘‘(c) VOLUNTARY AND UNCOMPENSATED SERV2 ICES.—Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United

3 States Code, the Secretary is authorized to accept vol4 untary and uncompensated services in furtherance of the

5 purposes of this title.

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

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

8 under the eleventh amendment to the Constitution of the

9 United States from suit in Federal court for a violation

10 of this title.

11 ‘‘(b) REMEDIES.—In a suit against a State for a vio12 lation of this title, remedies (including remedies both at

13 law and in equity) are available for such a violation to

14 the same extent as such remedies are available for such

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

16 a State.

17 ‘‘(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The provisions of sub18 sections (a) and (b) apply with respect to violations that

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

20 of the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of

21 1990.

22 ‘‘SEC. 605. REQUIREMENTS FOR PRESCRIBING REGULA23 TIONS.

24 ‘‘(a) PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD.—The Secretary

25 shall provide a public comment period of at least 90 days
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1 on any regulation proposed under part B or part C of this

2 title on which an opportunity for public comment is other3 wise required by law.

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

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

6 any regulation prescribed pursuant to this title which

7 would procedurally or substantively lessen the protections

8 provided to children with disabilities under this title, as

9 embodied in regulations in effect on July 20, 1983 (par10 ticularly as such protections relate to parental consent to

11 initial evaluation or initial placement in special education,

12 least restrictive environment, related services, timeliness,

13 attendance of evaluation personnel at individualized edu14 cation program meetings, or qualifications of personnel),

15 except to the extent that such regulation reflects the clear

16 and unequivocal intent of the Congress in legislation.

17 ‘‘(c) CORRESPONDENCE FROM DEPARTMENT OF

18 EDUCATION DESCRIBING INTERPRETATIONS OF THIS

19 PART.—

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

21 quarterly basis, publish in the Federal Register, and

22 widely disseminate to interested entities through var23 ious additional forms of communication, a list of

24 correspondence from the Department of Education

25 received by individuals during the previous quarter
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1 that describes the interpretations of the Department

2 of Education of this Act or the regulations imple3 mented pursuant to this Act.

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

5 item of correspondence published in a list under

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

7 addressed by the correspondence and shall include

8 such other summary information as the Secretary

9 determines to be appropriate.

10 ‘‘(3) RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF CORRESPOND11 ENCE.—

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

13 subparagraph (B), an item of correspondence

14 published and disseminated under paragraph

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

16 ‘‘(i) An administrative or due process

17 action commenced under section 615.

18 ‘‘(ii) A compliance review or other ac19 tion relating to a State educational agency

20 conducted by the Department of Edu21 cation.

22 ‘‘(iii) A compliance review or other ac23 tion relating to a local educational agency

24 or other agency conducted by a State edu25 cational agency.
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1 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—A restriction on the

2 use of an item of correspondence under sub3 paragraph (A) shall not apply if the item of

4 correspondence—

5 ‘‘(i) is directly related to the particu6 lar fact situation, practice, or policy at

7 issue under clause (i) or (iii) of subpara8 graph (A);

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

10 of the parties to the action under subpara11 graph (A)(i); or

12 ‘‘(II) was originally directed to the

13 particular local educational agency or other

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

15 ‘‘(iii) was originally directed to the

16 particular State educational agency under

17 subparagraph (A)(ii).

18 ‘‘SEC. 606. EMPLOYMENT OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABIL19 ITIES.

20 ‘‘The Secretary shall assure that each recipient of as21 sistance under this Act shall make positive efforts to em22 ploy and advance in employment qualified individuals with

23 disabilities in programs assisted under this Act.
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1 ‘‘PART B—ASSISTANCE FOR EDUCATION OF ALL

2 CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

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

4 AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

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

6 shall provide grants to States and provide amounts to the

7 Secretary of the Interior for the purpose of providing spe8 cial education and related services to children with disabil9 ities in accordance with this part.

10 ‘‘(b) ALLOTMENT AMONG STATES.—

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

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount appro13 priated pursuant to subsection (e) to carry out

14 this part for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall

15 allot not more than one percent among the ter16 ritories in accordance with this paragraph.

17 ‘‘(B) BASIS FOR ALLOTMENT.—The Sec18 retary shall allot to each territory an amount

19 that bears the same proportion to the amount

20 appropriated pursuant to subsection (e) for a

21 fiscal year as the number of individuals aged 3

22 to 21, inclusive, residing in such territory bears

23 to the aggregate number of such individuals re24 siding in all such territories.

25 ‘‘(C) PROHIBITION ON CONSOLIDATION OF

26 GRANTS.—Section 501 of Public Law 95–134
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1 (48 U.S.C. 1469a; relating to the consolidation

2 of one or more grants provided to certain terri3 tories) shall not apply with respect to amounts

4 provided to a territory under a grant under this

5 part.

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

7 amount appropriated pursuant to subsection (e) to

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

9 shall provide to the Secretary of the Interior an

10 amount equal to 1.226 percent to carry out sub11 section (d) (relating to special education and related

12 services for Indian children with disabilities).

13 ‘‘(3) STATES.—

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

15 amount to be allotted to the territories under

16 paragraph (1) and the amount to be provided

17 to the Secretary of the Interior under para18 graph (2) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall

19 allot the remaining amount to the remaining

20 States in accordance with this paragraph.

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

22 provided in subparagraph (D), the Secretary

23 shall allot to each State an amount equal to the

24 sum of the following amounts:

25 ‘‘(i) The amount equal to—
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1 ‘‘(I) 85 percent of the remaining

2 amount described in subparagraph

3 (A); multiplied by

4 ‘‘(II) the child population per5 centage of the State (as determined

6 under subparagraph (C)(i)).

7 ‘‘(ii) The amount equal to—

8 ‘‘(I) 15 percent of the remaining

9 amount described in subparagraph

10 (A); multiplied by

11 ‘‘(II) the child poverty percentage

12 of the State (as determined under

13 subparagraph (C)(ii)).

14 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF CHILD POPU15 LATION PERCENTAGE AND CHILD POVERTY

16 PERCENTAGE.—

17 ‘‘(i) CHILD POPULATION PERCENT18 AGE.—The child population percentage

19 shall be determined by comparing—

20 ‘‘(I) the number of children aged

21 3 to 21, inclusive, in the State who

22 are of the same age as children with

23 disabilities for whom the State en24 sures the availability of a free appro25 priate public education; to
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1 ‘‘(II) the number of such children

2 in the remaining States.

3 ‘‘(ii) CHILD POVERTY PERCENTAGE.—

4 The child poverty percentage shall be de5 termined by comparing—

6 ‘‘(I) the number of children aged

7 3 to 21, inclusive, in the State living

8 in poverty who are of the same age as

9 children with disabilities for whom the

10 State ensures the availability of a free

11 appropriate public education; to

12 ‘‘(II) the number of such children

13 in the remaining States.

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

15 the fiscal years 1998 through 2006, the Sec16 retary shall allot the remaining amount to the

17 remaining States in accordance with the follow18 ing:

19 ‘‘(i) FISCAL YEAR 1998.—For fiscal

20 year 1998, the Secretary shall allot to each

21 remaining State the sum of—

22 ‘‘(I) 10 percent multiplied by the

23 amount determined for such State

24 under subparagraph (B); and
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1 ‘‘(II) 90 percent multiplied by

2 the amount determined for such State

3 under subparagraph (E).

4 ‘‘(ii) FISCAL YEAR 1999.—For fiscal

5 year 1999, the Secretary shall allot to each

6 remaining State the sum of—

7 ‘‘(I) 20 percent multiplied by the

8 amount determined for such State

9 under subparagraph (B); and

10 ‘‘(II) 80 percent multiplied by

11 the amount determined for such State

12 under subparagraph (E).

13 ‘‘(iii) FISCAL YEAR 2000.—For fiscal

14 year 2000, the Secretary shall allot to each

15 remaining State the sum of—

16 ‘‘(I) 30 percent multiplied by the

17 amount determined for such State

18 under subparagraph (B); and

19 ‘‘(II) 70 percent multiplied by

20 the amount determined for such State

21 under subparagraph (E).

22 ‘‘(iv) FISCAL YEAR 2001.—For fiscal

23 year 2001, the Secretary shall allot to each

24 remaining State the sum of—
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1 ‘‘(I) 40 percent multiplied by the

2 amount determined for such State

3 under subparagraph (B); and

4 ‘‘(II) 60 percent multiplied by

5 the amount determined for such State

6 under subparagraph (E).

7 ‘‘(v) FISCAL YEAR 2002.—For fiscal

8 year 2002, the Secretary shall allot to each

9 remaining State the sum of—

10 ‘‘(I) 50 percent multiplied by the

11 amount determined for such State

12 under subparagraph (B); and

13 ‘‘(II) 50 percent multiplied by

14 the amount determined for such State

15 under subparagraph (E).

16 ‘‘(vi) FISCAL YEAR 2003.—For fiscal

17 year 2003, the Secretary shall allot to each

18 remaining State the sum of—

19 ‘‘(I) 60 percent multiplied by the

20 amount determined for such State

21 under subparagraph (B); and

22 ‘‘(II) 40 percent multiplied by

23 the amount determined for such State

24 under subparagraph (E).
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1 ‘‘(vii) FISCAL YEAR 2004.—For fiscal

2 year 2004, the Secretary shall allot to each

3 remaining State the sum of—

4 ‘‘(I) 70 percent multiplied by the

5 amount determined for such State

6 under subparagraph (B); and

7 ‘‘(II) 30 percent multiplied by

8 the amount determined for such State

9 under subparagraph (E).

10 ‘‘(viii) FISCAL YEAR 2005.—For fiscal

11 year 2005, the Secretary shall allot to each

12 remaining State the sum of—

13 ‘‘(I) 80 percent multiplied by the

14 amount determined for such State

15 under subparagraph (B); and

16 ‘‘(II) 20 percent multiplied by

17 the amount determined for such State

18 under subparagraph (E).

19 ‘‘(ix) FISCAL YEAR 2006.—For fiscal

20 year 2006, the Secretary shall allot to each

21 remaining State the sum of—

22 ‘‘(I) 90 percent multiplied by the

23 amount determined for such State

24 under subparagraph (B); and
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1 ‘‘(II) 10 percent multiplied by

2 the amount determined for such State

3 under subparagraph (E).

4 ‘‘(E) BASE AMOUNT FOR 1997.—

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause

6 (ii), the amount determined under this

7 subparagraph for a State is the amount

8 that bears the same proportion to the re9 maining amount (described in subpara10 graph (A)) for the fiscal year under sub11 paragraph (D) as the amount received by

12 the State under this section for fiscal year

13 1997 bears to the aggregate of the

14 amounts received by the remaining States

15 (described in subparagraph (A)) under this

16 section for fiscal year 1997.

17 ‘‘(ii) REDUCTION IN AMOUNT.—If the

18 State received an amount under this sec19 tion for fiscal year 1997 on the basis of

20 children aged 3 to 5, inclusive, in such

21 State, but the State does not make a free

22 appropriate public education available to

23 all children with disabilities aged 3 to 5,

24 inclusive, in the State at the time a deter25 mination is made under subparagraph (C),
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1 the Secretary shall reduce, on a propor2 tional basis, the amount under clause (i)

3 for purposes of allotting amounts under

4 such subparagraph.

5 ‘‘(F) INCREASE IN ALLOTMENT AMOUNT

6 DURING TRANSITION YEARS.—

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.— For each of the

8 fiscal years 1998 through 2006, if the

9 amount determined for a State under sub10 paragraph (D) is an amount that is less

11 than the amount received by the State

12 under this section for fiscal year 1997

13 and—

14 ‘‘(I) the amount of the difference

15 between such two amounts is less

16 than an amount equal to 10 percent

17 of the amount received by the State

18 for fiscal year 1997, then the amount

19 allotted to the State for the fiscal year

20 shall be equal to the amount received

21 by the State for fiscal year 1997; or

22 ‘‘(II) the amount of the dif23 ference between such two amounts is

24 equal to or greater than an amount
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1 equal to 10 percent of the amount re2 ceived by the State for fiscal year

3 1997, then the amount allotted to the

4 State for the fiscal year shall be equal

5 to the sum of (aa) the amount deter6 mined for the State under subpara7 graph (D), and (bb) the amount equal

8 to 10 percent of the amount received

9 by the State for fiscal year 1997.

10 ‘‘(ii) ADJUSTMENT.—If amounts are

11 allotted to one or more States under clause

12 (i) for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall re13 duce, on a proportional basis, the amounts

14 allotted to the remaining States for which

15 the amount determined under subpara16 graph (D) is an amount that is greater

17 than the amount received by such States

18 under this section for fiscal year 1997.

19 ‘‘(G) MINIMUM ALLOTMENT.—For each

20 fiscal year for which one of the conditions of

21 subparagraph (F) is met (or such subparagraph

22 does not apply) and subject to the availability

23 of appropriations, for fiscal year 1998 and each

24 subsequent fiscal year, the amount allotted to
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1 each remaining State (described in subpara2 graph (A)) shall not be less than an amount

3 equal to one-third of one percent of the remain4 ing amount (described in subparagraph (A)) for

5 the fiscal year.

6 ‘‘(H) MAXIMUM ALLOTMENT.—

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For fiscal year

8 1998 and each subsequent fiscal year, the

9 amount allotted to each remaining State

10 (described in subparagraph (A)) under this

11 paragraph shall not be more than an

12 amount equal to—

13 ‘‘(I) the sum of—

14 ‘‘(aa) the number of children

15 with disabilities in the State,

16 aged 6 through 21, who are re17 ceiving special education and re18 lated services, as determined

19 under clause (ii); and

20 ‘‘(bb) if the State is eligible

21 for a grant under section 619,

22 the number of such children in

23 the State, aged 3 through 5; mul24 tiplied by
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1 ‘‘(II) 40 percent of the average

2 per-pupil expenditure in public ele3 mentary and secondary schools in the

4 United States.

5 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION OF NUMBER OF

6 CHILDREN.—The number of children with

7 disabilities receiving special education and

8 related services in any fiscal year shall be

9 equal to the number of such children re10 ceiving special education and related serv11 ices on December 1 of the fiscal year pre12 ceding the fiscal year for which the deter13 mination is made.

14 ‘‘(iii) AVERAGE PER PUPIL EXPENDI15 TURE.—For purposes of clause (i)(II), the

16 term ‘average per pupil expenditure’, in

17 the United States, means the aggregate

18 current expenditures, during the second

19 fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for

20 which the computation is made (or, if sat21 isfactory data for such year are not avail22 able at the time of computation, then dur23 ing the most recent preceding fiscal year

24 for which satisfactory data are available)

25 of all local educational agencies in the
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1 United States (which, for purposes of this

2 subparagraph, means the fifty States and

3 the District of Columbia), as the case may

4 be, plus any direct expenditures by the

5 State for operation of such agencies (with6 out regard to the source of funds from

7 which either of such expenditures are

8 made), divided by the aggregate number of

9 children in average daily attendance to

10 whom such agencies provided free public

11 education during such preceding year.

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

13 RICO.—

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided

15 subparagraph (B) and notwithstanding para16 graph (3), the amount allotted to Puerto Rico

17 for a fiscal year shall bear the same or lower

18 proportion to the remaining amount (described

19 in paragraph (3)(A)) as the amount received by

20 Puerto Rico under this section for fiscal year

21 1997 bears to the aggregate of the amounts re22 ceived by the remaining States (as described in

23 paragraph (3)(A)) under this section for fiscal

24 year 1997.
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1 ‘‘(B) INCREASE IN ALLOTMENT AMOUNT

2 DURING CERTAIN FISCAL YEARS.—For each fis3 cal year for which the minimum allotment re4 quirement under paragraph (3)(G) is met, the

5 amount allotted to Puerto Rico for that fiscal

6 year shall be equal to—

7 ‘‘(i) subject to clause (ii), the sum

8 of—

9 ‘‘(I) the amount determined for

10 Puerto Rico under subparagraph (A);

11 and

12 ‘‘(II) the amount equal to 10 per13 cent of such amount determined for

14 Puerto Rico under subparagraph (A);

15 or

16 ‘‘(ii) if the amount determined for

17 Puerto Rico under clause (i) is greater

18 than the amount determined for Puerto

19 Rico under paragraph (3), the amount de20 termined for Puerto Rico under paragraph

21 (3).

22 ‘‘(C) ADJUSTMENT IN AMOUNTS TO RE23 MAINING STATES.—If the amount allotted to

24 Puerto Rico for a fiscal year is determined
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1 under subparagraph (A) or (B)(i), the Sec2 retary shall reallot to the remaining States (as

3 described in paragraph (3)(A)), on a propor4 tional basis, any amount not otherwise allotted

5 to Puerto Rico.

6 ‘‘(5) USE OF MOST RECENT POPULATION

7 DATA.—For the purpose of providing grants under

8 this part, the Secretary shall use the most recent

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

10 inclusive, living in poverty that are available and sat11 isfactory to the Secretary.

12 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS BY STATE.—

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

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara15 graph (D), a State may reserve not more than

16 25 percent of the amount allotted to the State

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

18 a fiscal year for administration and other State19 level activities in accordance with subpara20 graphs (B) and (C).

21 ‘‘(B) STATE ADMINISTRATION.—

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose

23 of administering programs under this part,

24 including the coordination of activities
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1 under this part with, and providing tech2 nical assistance to, other programs that

3 provide services to children with disabil4 ities—

5 ‘‘(I) each territory may use up to

6 3 percent of the amount allotted to

7 the territory for a fiscal year, or

8 $35,000, whichever is greater; and

9 ‘‘(II) each remaining State may

10 use up to 3 percent of the amount al11 lotted to the State for a fiscal year, or

12 $450,000, whichever is greater.

13 ‘‘(ii) USE OF AMOUNTS FOR ADMINIS14 TRATION OF PART C.—If the State edu15 cational agency is the lead agency for the

16 State under part C, amounts described in

17 clause (i) may also be used for the admin18 istration of part C.

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

20 State shall use any amounts reserved under

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

22 used for administration under subparagraph

23 (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), including providing for the costs of

12 mediators and support personnel;

13 ‘‘(iv) to assist local educational agen14 cies in meeting personnel shortages;

15 ‘‘(v) to develop a State improvement

16 plan under part D;

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

18 local levels to meet the performance goals

19 established by the State under section

20 612(a)(14) and to support implementation

21 of the State improvement plan under part

22 D if the State receives funds under that

23 part; or

24 ‘‘(vii) to supplement other amounts

25 used to develop and implement a Statewide
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1 coordinated services system designed to im2 prove results for children and families, in3 cluding children with disabilities and their

4 families, but not to exceed one percent of

5 the amount received by the State under

6 this section (such system shall be coordi7 nated with and, to the extent appropriate,

8 build on the system of coordinated services

9 developed by the State under part C).

10 ‘‘(D) REPORT ON USE OF AMOUNTS.—The

11 State shall, as part of the information required

12 to be submitted under section 612, submit a de13 scription of—

14 ‘‘(i) how amounts reserved under sub15 paragraph (A) will be used to meet the re16 quirements of this part;

17 ‘‘(ii) how such amounts will be allo18 cated among the activities described in

19 subparagraphs (B) and (C) to meet State

20 priorities based on input from local edu21 cational agencies; and

22 ‘‘(iii) what percentage of such

23 amounts, if any, will be distributed to local

24 educational agencies by formula.
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1 ‘‘(2) SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL

2 AGENCIES AND CERTAIN STATE AGENCIES.—

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The State shall pro4 vide at least 75 percent of the amount received

5 under a grant for a fiscal year to local edu6 cational agencies in the State that have estab7 lished their eligibility under section 613, and to

8 State agencies that received funds under section

9 614A(a) (as such section was in effect on the

10 day before the date of the enactment of the

11 IDEA Improvement Act of 1997) for fiscal year

12 1997 and have established their eligibility under

13 section 613, for use in accordance with this

14 part.

15 ‘‘(B) METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION.—A

16 State may provide amounts under subpara17 graph (A) to local educational agencies and

18 State agencies described under such subpara19 graph on the basis of—

20 ‘‘(i) school-age population;

21 ‘‘(ii) school enrollment;

22 ‘‘(iii) numbers of children with disabil23 ities receiving a free appropriate public

24 education;
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1 ‘‘(iv) allocations for previous fiscal

2 years;

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

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

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

6 or more of the factors described in clauses

7 (i) through (iv).

8 ‘‘(C) FORMER CHAPTER 1 STATE AGEN9 CIES.—

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—To the extent nec11 essary for each of the fiscal years 1998

12 and 1999, the State shall use amounts

13 that are available under paragraph (1)(A)

14 to ensure that each State agency that re15 ceived amounts in fiscal year 1994 under

16 subpart 2 of part D of chapter 1 of title

17 I of the Elementary and Secondary Edu18 cation Act of 1965 (as such subpart was in

19 effect on the day before the date of the en20 actment of the Improving America’s

21 Schools Act of 1994) receives, from the

22 combination of funds under paragraph

23 (1)(A) and funds provided under subpara24 graph (A), an amount equal to—
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1 ‘‘(I) the number of children with

2 disabilities, aged 6 to 21, inclusive, to

3 whom the agency was providing spe4 cial education and related services on

5 December 1 of the fiscal year for

6 which the funds were appropriated,

7 subject to the methods of distribution

8 under subparagraph (B); multiplied

9 by

10 ‘‘(II) the per-child amount pro11 vided under such subpart for fiscal

12 year 1994.

13 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL USE OF

14 AMOUNTS.—The State may use amounts

15 described in clause (i) to ensure that each

16 local educational agency that received fis17 cal year 1994 funds under that subpart for

18 children who had transferred from a State19 operated or State-supported school or pro20 gram assisted under that subpart receives,

21 from the combination of funds available

22 under paragraph (1)(A) and funds pro23 vided under subparagraph (A), an amount

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

25 to whom the agency was providing special
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1 education and related services on Decem2 ber 1 of the fiscal year for which the funds

3 were appropriated, equal to the per-child

4 amount the agency received under that

5 subpart for fiscal year 1994.

6 ‘‘(iii) DETERMINATION OF NUMBER

7 OF CHILDREN.—The number of children

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

9 the number of children aged 3 to 21, inclu10 sive, for whom the agency received

11 amounts in fiscal year 1994 under subpart

12 2 of part D of chapter 1 of title I of the

13 Elementary and Secondary Education Act

14 of 1965 (as such subpart was in effect on

15 the day before the date of the enactment

16 of the Improving America’s Schools Act of

17 1994).

18 ‘‘(D) REALLOCATION OF AMOUNTS.—If a

19 State educational agency determines that a

20 local educational agency is adequately providing

21 a free appropriate public education to all chil22 dren with disabilities residing in the area served

23 by that agency with State and local funds, the

24 State educational agency may reallocate any

25 portion of amounts received under a grant
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1 under this part that are not needed by that

2 local agency to other local educational agencies

3 in the State that are not adequately providing

4 special education and related services to all chil5 dren with disabilities residing in the areas they

6 serve.

7 ‘‘(d) USE OF AMOUNTS BY SECRETARY OF THE IN8 TERIOR.—

9 ‘‘(1) PROVISION OF AMOUNTS FOR ASSIST10 ANCE.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Edu12 cation shall provide amounts to the Secretary of

13 the Interior to meet the need for assistance for

14 the education of children with disabilities on

15 reservations aged 5 to 21, inclusive, enrolled in

16 elementary and secondary schools for Indian

17 children operated or funded by the Secretary of

18 the Interior. The amount of such payment for

19 any fiscal year shall be equal to 80 percent of

20 the amount allotted under subsection (b)(2) for

21 that fiscal year.

22 ‘‘(B) CALCULATION OF NUMBER OF CHIL23 DREN.—In the case of Indian students ages 3
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1 to 5, inclusive, who are enrolled in programs af2 filiated with Bureau of Indian Affairs (here3 after in this subsection referred to as ‘BIA’)

4 schools and that are required by the States in

5 which such schools are located to attain or

6 maintain State accreditation, and which schools

7 have such accreditation prior to the date of en8 actment of the Individuals with Disabilities

9 Education Act Amendments of 1991, the school

10 shall be allowed to count those children for the

11 purpose of distribution of the funds provided

12 under this paragraph to the Secretary of the

13 Interior. The Secretary of the Interior shall be

14 responsible for meeting all of the requirements

15 of this part for these children, in accordance

16 with paragraph (2).

17 ‘‘(C) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—With

18 respect to all other children aged 3 to 21, inclu19 sive, on reservations, the State educational

20 agency shall be responsible for ensuring that all

21 of the requirements of this part are imple22 mented.

23 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—The Sec24 retary of Education may provide the Secretary of
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1 the Interior amounts under paragraph (1) for a fis2 cal year only if the Secretary of the Interior submits

3 to the Secretary of Education information that—

4 ‘‘(A) demonstrates that the Department of

5 the Interior meets the appropriate require6 ments, as determined by the Secretary of Edu7 cation, of sections 612 (including monitoring

8 and evaluation activities) and 613;

9 ‘‘(B) includes a description of how the Sec10 retary of the Interior will coordinate the provi11 sion of services under this part with local edu12 cational agencies, tribes and tribal organiza13 tions, and other private and Federal service

14 providers;

15 ‘‘(C) includes an assurance that there are

16 public hearings, adequate notice of such hear17 ings, and an opportunity for comment afforded

18 to members of tribes, tribal governing bodies,

19 and affected local school boards before the

20 adoption of the policies, programs, and proce21 dures described in subparagraph (A);

22 ‘‘(D) includes an assurance that the Sec23 retary of the Interior will provide such informa24 tion as the Secretary of Education may require

25 to comply with section 618;
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1 ‘‘(E) includes an assurance that the Sec2 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of

3 Health and Human Services have entered into

4 a memorandum of agreement, to be provided to

5 the Secretary of Education, for the coordination

6 of services, resources, and personnel between

7 their respective Federal, State, and local offices

8 and with State and local educational agencies

9 and other entities to facilitate the provision of

10 services to Indian children with disabilities re11 siding on or near reservations (such agreement

12 shall provide for the apportionment of respon13 sibilities and costs including, but not limited to,

14 child find, evaluation, diagnosis, remediation or

15 therapeutic measures, and (where appropriate)

16 equipment and medical or personal supplies as

17 needed for a child to remain in school or a pro18 gram); and

19 ‘‘(F) includes an assurance that the De20 partment of the Interior will cooperate with the

21 Department of Education in its exercise of

22 monitoring and oversight of this application,

23 and any agreements entered into between the

24 Secretary of the Interior and other entities
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1 under this part, and will fulfill its duties under

2 this part.

3 Section 616(a) shall apply to the information de4 scribed in this paragraph.

5 ‘‘(3) PAYMENTS FOR EDUCATION AND SERVICES

6 FOR INDIAN CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES AGED 3

7 TO 5.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With funds appro9 priated under subsection (e), the Secretary of

10 Education shall make payments to the Sec11 retary of the Interior to be distributed to tribes

12 or tribal organizations (as defined under section

13 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu14 cation Assistance Act) or consortia of the above

15 to provide for the coordination of assistance for

16 special education and related services for chil17 dren with disabilities aged 3 to 5, inclusive, on

18 reservations served by elementary and second19 ary schools for Indian children operated or

20 funded by the Department of the Interior. The

21 amount of such payments under subparagraph

22 (B) for any fiscal year shall be equal to 20 per23 cent of the amount allotted under subsection

24 (b)(2).
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1 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—The Sec2 retary of the Interior shall distribute the total

3 amount of the payment under subparagraph

4 (A) by allocating to each tribe or tribal organi5 zation an amount based on the number of chil6 dren with disabilities, ages 3 to 5, inclusive, re7 siding on reservations as reported annually di8 vided by the total of such children served by all

9 tribes or tribal organizations.

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

11 receive a payment under this paragraph, the

12 tribe or tribal organization shall submit such

13 figures to the Secretary of the Interior as re14 quired to determine the amounts to be allocated

15 under subparagraph (B). This information shall

16 be compiled and submitted to the Secretary of

17 Education.

18 ‘‘(D) USE OF FUNDS.—The funds received

19 by a tribe or tribal organization shall be used

20 to assist in child find, screening, and other pro21 cedures for the early identification of children

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

23 provision of direct services. These activities may

24 be carried out directly or through contracts or
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1 cooperative agreements with the BIA, local edu2 cational agencies, and other public or private

3 nonprofit organizations. The tribe or tribal or4 ganization is encouraged to involve Indian par5 ents in the development and implementation of

6 these activities. The above entities shall, as ap7 propriate, make referrals to local, State, or

8 Federal entities for the provision of services or

9 further diagnosis.

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

11 receive a grant pursuant to subparagraph (A),

12 the tribe or tribal organization shall provide to

13 the Secretary of the Interior a biennial report

14 of activities undertaken under this paragraph,

15 including the number of contracts and coopera16 tive agreements entered into, the number of

17 children contacted and receiving services for

18 each year and the estimated number of children

19 needing services during the 2 years following

20 the one in which the report is made. The Sec21 retary of the Interior shall include a summary

22 of this information on a biennial basis in the re23 port to the Secretary of Education required
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1 under this subsection. The Secretary of Edu2 cation may require any additional information

3 from the Secretary of the Interior.

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

5 allocated under this paragraph may be used by

6 the Secretary of the Interior for administrative

7 purposes, including child count and the provi8 sion of technical assistance.

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

10 The Secretary of the Interior shall develop and im11 plement a plan for the coordination of services for

12 all Indian children with disabilities residing on res13 ervations covered under this Act. Such plan shall

14 provide for the coordination of services benefiting

15 these children from whatever source, including

16 tribes, the Indian Health Service, other BIA divi17 sions, and other Federal agencies. In developing

18 such a plan, the Secretary of the Interior shall con19 sult with all interested and involved parties. It shall

20 be based upon the needs of the children and the sys21 tem best suited for meeting those needs, and may in22 volve the establishment of cooperative agreements

23 between the BIA, other Federal agencies, and other

24 entities. Such plan shall also be distributed upon re25 quest to States, State and local educational agencies,
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1 and other agencies providing services to infants, tod2 dlers, children, and youth with disabilities, to tribes,

3 and to other interested parties.

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

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

6 Secretary of the Interior shall establish, not later

7 than 6 months after the date of the enactment of

8 the IDEA Improvement Act of 1997, under the Bu9 reau of Indian Affairs (BIA), an advisory board

10 composed of individuals involved in or concerned

11 with the education and provision of services to In12 dian infants, toddlers, children, and youth with dis13 abilities, including Indians with disabilities, Indian

14 parents or guardians of such children, teachers,

15 service providers, State and local educational offi16 cials, representatives of tribes or tribal organiza17 tions, representatives from State Interagency Co18 ordinating Councils in States having reservations,

19 and other members representing the various divi20 sions and entities of the BIA. The chairperson shall

21 be selected by the Secretary of the Interior. The ad22 visory board shall—

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

24 within BIA and with other local, State, and

25 Federal agencies in the provision of education
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1 for infants, toddlers, children, and youth with

2 disabilities;

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

4 Interior in the performance of the Secretary’s

5 responsibilities described in this subsection;

6 ‘‘(C) develop and recommend policies con7 cerning effective inter- and intra-agency collabo8 ration, including modifications to regulations,

9 and the elimination of barriers to inter- and

10 intra-agency programs and activities;

11 ‘‘(D) provide assistance and disseminate

12 information on best practices, effective program

13 coordination strategies, and recommendations

14 for improved educational programming for In15 dian infants, toddlers, children, and youth with

16 disabilities; and

17 ‘‘(E) provide assistance in the preparation

18 of information required under paragraph

19 (2)(D).

20 ‘‘(6) ANNUAL REPORTS.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The advisory board

22 established under paragraph (5) shall prepare

23 and submit to the Secretary of the Interior and

24 to the Congress an annual report containing a
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1 description of the activities of the advisory

2 board for the preceding year.

3 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of the

4 Interior shall make available to the Secretary of

5 Education the report described in subparagraph

6 (A).

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

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

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

10 appropriated to the Secretary such sums as may be nec11 essary.

12 ‘‘SEC. 612. STATE REQUIREMENTS.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State shall be eligible to re14 ceive a grant under this part for a fiscal year if, except

15 as provided in subsection (c), the State submits to the Sec16 retary information that demonstrates to the satisfaction

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

18 procedures to ensure that it meets each of the following

19 requirements:

20 ‘‘(1) FREE APPROPRIATE PUBLIC EDU21 CATION.—

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A free appropriate

23 public education is available to all children with

24 disabilities residing in the State between the

25 ages of 3 and 21, inclusive.
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1 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Subparagraph (A)

2 shall not apply with respect to children with

3 disabilities aged 3 to 5 and children with dis4 abilities aged 18 to 21 to the extent that such

5 application to those children would be inconsist6 ent with State law or practice, or the order of

7 any court, relating to the provision of public

8 education to children in such age ranges.

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

10 residing in the State, including children with disabil11 ities attending private schools, regardless of the se12 verity of such disabilities, and who are in need of

13 special education and related services, are identified,

14 located, and evaluated and that a practical method

15 is developed and implemented to determine which

16 children with disabilities are currently receiving

17 needed special education and related services.

18 ‘‘(3) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM.—

19 An individualized education program, or an individ20 ualized family service plan that meets the require21 ments of section 636(d), is developed, reviewed, and

22 revised for each child with a disability in accordance

23 with section 614(d).

24 ‘‘(4) LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum ex2 tent appropriate—

3 ‘‘(i) children with disabilities, includ4 ing children in public or private institu5 tions or other care facilities, are educated

6 with children who are not disabled; and

7 ‘‘(ii) special classes, separate school8 ing, or other removal of children with dis9 abilities from the regular educational envi10 ronment occurs only when the nature or

11 severity of the disability of a child means

12 that education in regular classes with the

13 use of supplementary aids and services

14 cannot be achieved satisfactorily.

15 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The State’s meth17 od of distributing funds shall not result in

18 placements that violate the requirements of

19 subparagraph (A).

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

21 not have policies and procedures to ensure

22 compliance with clause (i), the State shall

23 provide the Secretary an assurance that it

24 will revise the funding mechanism as soon
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1 as feasible to ensure that such mechanism

2 does not result in such placements.

3 ‘‘(5) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Children with disabil5 ities and their parents are afforded the proce6 dural safeguards required by section 615.

7 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL PROCEDURAL SAFE8 GUARDS.—Procedures to assure that testing

9 and evaluation materials and procedures uti10 lized for the purposes of evaluation and place11 ment of children with disabilities will be se12 lected and administered so as not to be racially

13 or culturally discriminatory. Such materials or

14 procedures shall be provided and administered

15 in the child’s native language or mode of com16 munication, unless it clearly is not feasible to

17 do so, and no single procedure shall be the sole

18 criterion for determining an appropriate edu19 cational program for a child.

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

21 are evaluated in accordance with subsections (a)

22 through (c) of section 614.

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

24 comply with section 617(c) (relating to the confiden25 tiality of records and information).
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1 ‘‘(8) TRANSITION FROM PART C TO PRESCHOOL

2 PROGRAMS.—Children participating in early-inter3 vention programs assisted under part C, and who

4 will participate in preschool programs assisted under

5 this part, experience a smooth transition to those

6 preschool programs in a manner consistent with sec7 tion 637(a)(7). By the third birthday of such a

8 child, an individualized education program or, if con9 sistent with sections 614(d)(1)(B) and 636(d), an

10 individualized family service plan, has been devel11 oped and is being implemented for the child. The

12 local educational agency will participate in transition

13 planning conferences by the designated lead agency

14 under section 637(a)(7).

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

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To the extent consist17 ent with the number and location of children

18 with disabilities in the State who are enrolled in

19 private elementary and secondary schools, pro20 vision is made for the participation of such chil21 dren in the program assisted or carried out

22 under this part by providing for such children

23 special education and related services, except if

24 the Secretary has arranged for services to such

25 children under subsection (f).
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1 ‘‘(B) CHILDREN PLACED IN, OR REFERRED

2 TO, PRIVATE SCHOOLS BY PUBLIC AGENCIES.—

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Children with dis4 abilities in private schools and facilities are

5 provided special education and related

6 services, in accordance with an individual7 ized education program, at no cost to their

8 parents, if they are placed in, or referred

9 to, such schools or facilities by the State or

10 a local educational agency in order to com11 ply with this part or with any other provi12 sion of law requiring the provision of spe13 cial education and related services to all

14 children with disabilities in the State.

15 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—

16 In all cases described in clause (i)—

17 ‘‘(I) children with disabilities are

18 placed in, or referred to, only those

19 private schools and facilities that the

20 State educational agency determines

21 meet standards that apply to State

22 and local educational agencies; and

23 ‘‘(II) children served in such pri24 vate schools or facilities retain access
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1 to a free appropriate public education

2 in accordance with this part.

3 ‘‘(C) PAYMENT FOR EDUCATION OF CHIL4 DREN PLACED IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS WITHOUT

5 CONSENT OF OR REFERRAL BY THE PUBLIC

6 AGENCY.—

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

8 child with a disability that had previously

9 received special education and related serv10 ices under the authority of a public agency

11 have enrolled their child in a private ele12 mentary or secondary school without the

13 consent of or referral by the public agency,

14 as a result of mediation described in sec15 tion 615(d), or as a result of a decision

16 rendered under the procedural safeguards

17 of section 615, the public agency may be

18 required to reimburse the parents for the

19 cost of the enrollment, except that the cost

20 of the reimbursement may be reduced or

21 denied—

22 ‘‘(I) if, at least 10 school days

23 prior to the removal of the child from

24 the public school, the parents did not
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1 give a written statement of their con2 cerns to the public agency and notice

3 that they intend to place their child in

4 a private school at public expense;

5 ‘‘(II) if, prior to the removal of

6 the child from the public school, the

7 parents did not make the child avail8 able for an initial assessment and

9 evaluation by the local educational

10 agency prior to enrollment in the pri11 vate school; or

12 ‘‘(III) at the discretion of the

13 judge.

14 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding

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

16 cost of the reimbursement may not be re17 duced or denied for failure to provide such

18 notice if—

19 ‘‘(I) the parent is illiterate or

20 cannot write in English;

21 ‘‘(II) compliance with clause

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

23 serious emotional harm to the child;

24 ‘‘(III) the school prevented the

25 parent from providing such notice; or
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1 ‘‘(IV) the parent had not received

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

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

4 ‘‘(10) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY RESPON5 SIBLE FOR GENERAL SUPERVISION.—

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

7 agency is responsible for ensuring that—

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

9 met; and

10 ‘‘(ii) all educational programs for chil11 dren with disabilities in the State, includ12 ing all such programs administered by any

13 other State or local agency—

14 ‘‘(I) are under the general super15 vision of individuals in the State who

16 are responsible for educational pro17 grams for children with disabilities;

18 and

19 ‘‘(II) meet the educational stand20 ards of the State educational agency.

21 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Subparagraph (A)

22 shall not limit the responsibility of agencies in

23 the State other than the State educational

24 agency to provide, or pay for some or all of the
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1 costs of, a free appropriate public education for

2 any child with a disability in the State.

3 ‘‘(11) OBLIGATIONS RELATED TO AND METH4 ODS OF ENSURING SERVICES.—

5 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHING RESPONSIBILITY FOR

6 SERVICES.—The Chief Executive Officer or des7 ignee of the officer shall ensure that an inter8 agency agreement or other mechanism for inter9 agency coordination is in effect between each

10 public agency described in subparagraph (B)

11 and the appropriate educational agency within

12 the State, in order to ensure that all services

13 described in subparagraph (B)(i) that are need14 ed to ensure a free appropriate public education

15 are provided, including the provision of such

16 services during the pendency of any dispute

17 under clause (iii). Such agreement or mecha18 nism shall include the following:

19 ‘‘(i) AGENCY FINANCIAL RESPON20 SIBILITY.—An identification of, or a meth21 od for defining, the financial responsibility

22 of each agency for providing services de23 scribed in subparagraph (B)(i) to ensure a
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1 free appropriate public education to chil2 dren with disabilities provided that the fi3 nancial responsibility of each public agency

4 described in subparagraph (B), including

5 the State Medicaid agency and other public

6 insurers of children with disabilities, shall

7 precede the financial responsibility of the

8 local education agency (or the State agency

9 responsible for developing the child’s IEP).

10 ‘‘(ii) CONDITIONS AND TERMS OF RE11 IMBURSEMENT.—The conditions, terms,

12 and procedures under which a local edu13 cational agency shall be reimbursed by

14 other agencies.

15 ‘‘(iii) INTERAGENCY DISPUTES.—Pro16 cedures for resolving interagency disputes

17 (including procedures under which local

18 education agencies may initiate proceed19 ings) under the agreement or other mecha20 nism to secure reimbursement from other

21 agencies or otherwise implement the provi22 sions of the agreement or mechanism.

23 ‘‘(iv) COORDINATION OF SERVICES

24 PROCEDURES.—Policies and procedures for

25 agencies to determine and identify the
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1 interagency coordination responsibilities of

2 each agency to promote the coordination

3 and timely and appropriate delivery of

4 services described in subparagraph (B)(i).

5 ‘‘(B) OBLIGATION OF PUBLIC AGENCY.—

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If any public

7 agency other than an educational agency is

8 otherwise obligated under Federal or State

9 law, or assigned responsibility under State

10 policy or pursuant to subparagraph (A), to

11 provide or pay for any services that are

12 also considered special education or related

13 services (such as, but not limited to, serv14 ices described in sections 602(1) relating

15 to assistive technology devices, 602(2) re16 lating to assistive technology services,

17 602(20) relating to related services,

18 602(27) related to supplementary aids and

19 services, and 602(29) relating to transition

20 services) that are necessary for ensuring a

21 free appropriate public education to chil22 dren with disabilities within the State,

23 such public agency shall fulfill that obliga24 tion or responsibility, either directly or

25 through contract or other arrangement.
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1 ‘‘(ii) REIMBURSEMENT FOR SERVICES

2 BY PUBLIC AGENCY.—If a public agency

3 other than an educational agency fails to

4 provide or pay for the special education

5 and related services described in clause (i),

6 the local educational agency (or State

7 agency responsibility for developing the

8 child’s IEP) shall provide or pay for such

9 services to the child. Such local education

10 agency or State agency may then claim re11 imbursement for the services from the pub12 lic agency that failed to provide or pay for

13 such services and such public agency shall

14 reimburse the local education agency or

15 State agency pursuant to the terms of the

16 interagency agreement described in sub17 paragraph (A)(i) according to the proce18 dures established in such agreement pursu19 ant to subparagraph (A)(ii).

20 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE.—The requirements of

21 subparagraph (A) may be met through—

22 ‘‘(i) State statute or regulation;
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1 ‘‘(ii) signed agreements between re2 spective agency officials that clearly iden3 tify the responsibilities of each agency re4 lating to the provision of services; or

5 ‘‘(iii) other appropriate methods as

6 determined by the Chief Executive Officer

7 or designee of the officer.

8 ‘‘(12) PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS RELATING

9 TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY ELIGIBILITY.—

10 The State educational agency will not make a final

11 determination that a local educational agency is not

12 eligible for assistance under this part without first

13 affording that agency reasonable notice and an op14 portunity for a hearing.

15 ‘‘(13) COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM OF PERSONNEL

16 DEVELOPMENT.—The State has established and im17 plemented, consistent with the purposes of this title

18 and section 635(a)(7), a comprehensive system of

19 personnel development that is designed to ensure an

20 adequate supply of qualified special education and

21 related services personnel necessary to carry out this

22 part, including—
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1 ‘‘(A) a statewide, coordinated personnel-de2 velopment plan that meets the personnel devel3 opment requirements of a State improvement

4 plan under section 683; or

5 ‘‘(B) a personnel-development plan, devel6 oped in consultation with parents of children

7 with disabilities, State and local educational

8 agencies, institutions of higher education, and

9 professional associations that—

10 ‘‘(i) addresses current and projected

11 needs for special education and related

12 services personnel throughout the State;

13 ‘‘(ii) addresses the need for the pre14 service and in-service preparation of per15 sonnel throughout the State, including reg16 ular education personnel, to provide edu17 cational services to children with disabil18 ities;

19 ‘‘(iii) includes a system or procedures

20 for recruiting, preparing, and retaining

21 qualified personnel, including personnel

22 with disabilities and personnel from groups

23 that are underrepresented in the field of

24 special education and related services; and
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1 ‘‘(iv) is integrated, to the maximum

2 extent possible, with other professional de3 velopment plans and activities.

4 ‘‘(14) PERSONNEL STANDARDS.—

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

6 agency has established and maintains standards

7 to ensure that personnel necessary to carry out

8 this part are appropriately and adequately pre9 pared and trained.

10 ‘‘(B) STANDARDS DESCRIBED.—Such

11 standards shall—

12 ‘‘(i) be consistent with any State-ap13 proved or State-recognized certification, li14 censing, registration, or other comparable

15 requirements that apply to the professional

16 discipline in which those personnel are pro17 viding special education or related services;

18 ‘‘(ii) to the extent the standards de19 scribed in subparagraph (A) are not based

20 on the highest requirements in the State

21 applicable to a specific profession or dis22 cipline, the State is taking steps to require

23 retraining or hiring of personnel that meet

24 appropriate professional requirements in

25 the State; and
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1 ‘‘(iii) allow paraprofessionals and as2 sistants who are appropriately trained and

3 supervised, in accordance with State law,

4 regulations, or written policy, in meeting

5 the requirements of this part to be used to

6 assist in the provision of special education

7 and related services to children with dis8 abilities under this part.

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

10 that, within a geographic area of the State

11 there is a shortage of an appropriate number

12 and type of personnel to provide the special

13 education and related services to children with

14 disabilities within such area, and the appro15 priate public agency has taken steps to recruit

16 and hire such personnel, the State may, subject

17 to public comment and review, temporarily sus18 pend the standards of subparagraph (B)(ii)—

19 ‘‘(i) consistent with State law, for the

20 purpose of recruiting and hiring for such

21 shortage areas the most qualified available

22 individuals who are making progress in ap23 plicable coursework; and

24 ‘‘(ii) for a period not to exceed 3

25 years.
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1 ‘‘(15) PERFORMANCE GOALS AND INDICA2 TORS.—The State—

3 ‘‘(A) has established goals for the perform4 ance of children with disabilities in the State

5 that—

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

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

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

9 extent appropriate, with other goals and

10 standards established by the State;

11 ‘‘(B) has established performance indica12 tors the State will use to assess progress toward

13 achieving those goals that, at a minimum, ad14 dress the performance of children with disabil15 ities on assessments, drop-out rates, and grad16 uation rates;

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

18 Secretary and the public on the progress of the

19 State, and of children with disabilities in the

20 State, toward meeting the goals established

21 under subparagraph (A); and

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

23 progress, will revise its State improvement plan

24 under part D as may be needed to improve its
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1 performance, if the State receives assistance

2 under such part.

3 ‘‘(16) PARTICIPATION IN ASSESSMENTS.—

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Children with disabil5 ities are included in general State and district6 wide assessment programs, with appropriate ac7 commodations, where necessary. As appro8 priate, the State or local educational agency—

9 ‘‘(i) develops guidelines for the par10 ticipation of children with disabilities in al11 ternate assessments for those children who

12 cannot participate in State and district13 wide assessment programs; and

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

15 than July 1, 2000, conducts those alter16 nate assessments.

17 ‘‘(B) REPORTS.—The State educational

18 agency makes available to the public, and re19 ports to the public with the same frequency and

20 in the same detail as it reports on the assess21 ment of nondisabled children, the following:

22 ‘‘(i) The number of children with dis23 abilities participating in regular assess24 ments.
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1 ‘‘(ii) The number of those children

2 participating in alternate assessments.

3 ‘‘(iii) The performance of those chil4 dren on regular assessments (beginning

5 not later than July 1, 1998) and on alter6 nate assessments (not later than July 1,

7 2000), if doing so would be statistically

8 sound and would not result in the disclo9 sure of performance results identifiable to

10 individual children.

11 ‘‘(17) SUPPLEMENTATION OF STATE, LOCAL,

12 AND OTHER FEDERAL FUNDS.—

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

14 that amounts provided under a grant to the

15 State under this part, except as provided in

16 subparagraph (B), will be used to supplement

17 State, local, and other Federal funds (including

18 funds not under the direct control of State or

19 local educational agencies) expended for special

20 education and related services, and not to sup21 plant those funds.

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

23 in whole or in part, the requirements of sub24 paragraph (A) if the Secretary determines that

25 the State has provided clear evidence that all
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1 children with disabilities in the State have avail2 able a free appropriate public education or that,

3 such a waiver would allow the State to improve

4 the delivery of special education and related

5 services to children with disabilities in the

6 State.

7 ‘‘(18) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Prior to the

8 adoption of any policies and procedures needed to

9 comply with this section (including any amendments

10 to such policies and procedures), the State ensures

11 that there are public hearings, adequate notice of

12 the hearings, and an opportunity for comment avail13 able to the general public, including individuals with

14 disabilities and parents of children with disabilities.

15 ‘‘(19) STATE ADVISORY PANEL.—

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The State has estab17 lished and maintains an advisory panel for the

18 purpose of providing policy guidance with re19 spect to special education and related services

20 for children with disabilities in the State.

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

22 shall consist of members appointed by the Gov23 ernor, or any other official authorized under

24 State law to make such appointments, that is

25 representative of the State population and that
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1 is composed of individuals involved in, or con2 cerned with, the education of children with dis3 abilities, including—

4 ‘‘(i) parents of children with disabil5 ities;

6 ‘‘(ii) individuals with disabilities;

7 ‘‘(iii) teachers;

8 ‘‘(iv) representatives of institutions of

9 higher education that prepare special edu10 cation and related services personnel;

11 ‘‘(v) State and local education offi12 cials;

13 ‘‘(vi) administrators of programs for

14 children with disabilities;

15 ‘‘(vii) representatives of other State

16 agencies involved in the financing or deliv17 ery of related services to children with dis18 abilities;

19 ‘‘(viii) representatives of private and

20 charter schools;

21 ‘‘(ix) at least one representative of a

22 vocational, community, or business organi23 zation concerned with the provision of

24 transition services to children with disabil25 ities; and
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1 ‘‘(x) representatives from the State

2 juvenile and adult corrections agencies.

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

4 members of the panel shall be individuals with

5 disabilities or parents of children with disabil6 ities.

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

8 ‘‘(i) advise the State educational agen9 cy of unmet needs within the State in the

10 education of children with disabilities;

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

12 regulations proposed by the State regard13 ing—

14 ‘‘(I) the education of children

15 with disabilities; and

16 ‘‘(II) the procedures for distribu17 tion of amounts received by the State

18 under a grant under this part;

19 ‘‘(iii) advise the State educational

20 agency in developing evaluations and re21 porting on data to the Secretary under sec22 tion 618;

23 ‘‘(iv) advise the State educational

24 agency in developing corrective action
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1 plans to address findings identified in Fed2 eral monitoring reports under this part;

3 and

4 ‘‘(v) advise the State educational

5 agency in developing and implementing

6 policies relating to the coordination of serv7 ices for children with disabilities.

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

9 FREE APPROPRIATE PUBLIC EDUCATION OR DIRECT

10 SERVICES.—If the State educational agency provides free

11 appropriate public education to children with disabilities,

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

13 ‘‘(1) shall comply with any additional require14 ments of section 613(a), as if such agency were a

15 local educational agency; and

16 ‘‘(2) may use amounts that are otherwise avail17 able to such agency under this part to serve those

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

19 (relating to excess costs).

20 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION FOR PRIOR STATE PLANS.—

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

22 the Secretary policies and procedures that dem23 onstrate that such State meets any requirement of

24 subsection (a), including any policies and procedures

25 filed under this part as in effect before the date of
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1 the enactment of the IDEA Improvement Act of

2 1997, the Secretary shall consider such State to

3 have met such requirement for purposes of receiving

4 a grant under this part.

5 ‘‘(2) MODIFICATIONS MADE BY STATE.—Sub6 ject to paragraph (3), an application submitted by a

7 State in accordance with this section shall remain in

8 effect until the State submits to the Secretary such

9 modifications as the State deems necessary. This

10 section shall apply to a modification to an applica11 tion to the same extent and in the same manner as

12 this section applies to the original plan.

13 ‘‘(3) MODIFICATIONS REQUIRED BY THE SEC14 RETARY.—The Secretary may require a State to

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

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

17 The Secretary shall reduce or shall not provide any

18 further payments to the State educational agency

19 until the Secretary is satisfied that the State edu20 cational agency is complying with that requirement.

21 ‘‘(d) APPROVAL BY THE SECRETARY.—

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

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

24 part, the Secretary shall notify the State of that de25 termination.
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1 ‘‘(2) NOTICE AND HEARING.—The Secretary

2 shall not make a final determination that a State is

3 not eligible to receive a grant under this part until

4 after providing the State—

5 ‘‘(A) with reasonable notice; and

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

7 ‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE UNDER OTHER FEDERAL PRO8 GRAMS.—Nothing in this title permits a State to reduce

9 medical and other assistance available, or to alter eligi10 bility, under titles V and XIX of the Social Security Act

11 with respect to the provision of a free appropriate public

12 education for children with disabilities within the State.

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

14 SCHOOLS.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If, on the date of enact16 ment of the Education of the Handicapped Act

17 Amendments of 1983, a State educational agency is

18 prohibited by law from providing for the participa19 tion in special programs of children with disabilities

20 enrolled in private elementary and secondary schools

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

22 notwithstanding such provision of law, arrange for

23 the provision of services to such children through ar24 rangements which shall be subject to the require25 ments of such subsection.
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1 ‘‘(2) PAYMENTS.—

2 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNTS.—If

3 the Secretary arranges for services pursuant to

4 this subsection, the Secretary, after consulta5 tion with the appropriate public and private

6 school officials, shall pay to the provider of such

7 services for a fiscal year an amount per child

8 that does not exceed the amount determined by

9 dividing—

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

11 State under this part for such fiscal year;

12 by

13 ‘‘(ii) the number of children with dis14 abilities served in the prior year, as re15 ported to the Secretary by the State under

16 section 618.

17 ‘‘(B) WITHHOLDING OF CERTAIN

18 AMOUNTS.—Pending final resolution of any in19 vestigation or complaint that could result in a

20 determination under this subsection, the Sec21 retary may withhold from the allocation of the

22 affected State educational agency the amount

23 the Secretary estimates would be necessary to

24 pay the cost of services described in subpara25 graph (A).
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1 ‘‘(C) PERIOD OF PAYMENTS.—The period

2 under which payments are made under sub3 paragraph (A) shall continue until the Sec4 retary determines that there will no longer be

5 any failure or inability on the part of the State

6 educational agency to meet the requirements of

7 subsection (a)(9).

8 ‘‘(3) NOTICE AND HEARING.—

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

10 not take any final action under this subsection

11 until the State educational agency affected by

12 such action has had an opportunity, for at least

13 45 days after receiving written notice thereof,

14 to submit written objections and to appear be15 fore the Secretary or the Secretary’s designee

16 to show cause why such action should not be

17 taken.

18 ‘‘(B) REVIEW OF ACTION.—If a State edu19 cational agency is dissatisfied with the Sec20 retary’s final action after a proceeding under

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

22 than 60 days after notice of such action, file

23 with the United States court of appeals for the

24 circuit in which such State is located a petition

25 for review of that action. A copy of the petition
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1 shall be forthwith transmitted by the clerk of

2 the court to the Secretary. The Secretary there3 upon shall file in the court the record of the

4 proceedings on which the Secretary based the

5 Secretary’s action, as provided in section 2112

6 of title 28, United States Code.

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

8 findings of fact by the Secretary, if supported

9 by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive, but

10 the court, for good cause shown, may remand

11 the case to the Secretary to take further evi12 dence, and the Secretary may thereupon make

13 new or modified findings of fact and may mod14 ify the Secretary’s previous action, and shall file

15 in the court the record of the further proceed16 ings. Such new or modified findings of fact

17 shall likewise be conclusive if supported by sub18 stantial evidence.

19 ‘‘(D) JURISDICTION OF COURT OF AP20 PEALS; REVIEW BY UNITED STATES SUPREME

21 COURT.—Upon the filing of a petition under

22 subparagraph (B), the United States court of

23 appeals shall have jurisdiction to affirm the ac24 tion of the Secretary or to set it aside, in whole

25 or in part. The judgment of the court shall be
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1 subject to review by the Supreme Court of the

2 United States upon certiorari or certification as

3 provided in section 1254 of title 28, United

4 States Code.

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

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

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

8 if, except as provided in subsection (b), such agency sub9 mits to the State educational agency information that

10 demonstrates to the satisfaction of the State educational

11 agency the following:

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

13 The local educational agency, in providing for the

14 education of children with disabilities within its ju15 risdiction, has in effect policies, procedures, and pro16 grams that are consistent with the State policies and

17 procedures established under section 612.

18 ‘‘(2) USE OF AMOUNTS.—

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

20 the local educational agency under this part—

21 ‘‘(i) shall be used only to pay the ex22 cess costs of providing special education

23 and related services to children with dis24 abilities;
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1 ‘‘(ii) shall be used to supplement

2 State, local, and other Federal funds and

3 not to supplant such funds;

4 ‘‘(iii) except as provided in subpara5 graph (B), may not be used to reduce the

6 level of expenditures for the education of

7 children with disabilities made by the local

8 educational agency from State or local

9 funds below the level of those expenditures

10 for the preceding fiscal year;

11 ‘‘(iv) may be used, notwithstanding

12 clause (i) or any other provision of this

13 part, for the costs of special education and

14 related services provided in a regular class

15 or other education related setting to a

16 child with a disability in accordance with

17 the child’s individualized education pro18 gram, even if one or more nondisabled chil19 dren benefit from those services; and

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

21 subsection (f) and notwithstanding clause

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

23 develop and implement a coordinated serv24 ices system.
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1 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding the

2 restriction in subparagraph (A)(iii), a local edu3 cation agency may reduce the level of expendi4 tures where such reduction is attributable to—

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

6 otherwise, of special education personnel;

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

8 children with disabilities;

9 ‘‘(iii) the termination of the obligation

10 of the agency, consistent with this part, to

11 provide a program of special education to

12 a particular child with a disability that is

13 an exceptionally costly program, as deter14 mined by the State educational agency, be15 cause the child—

16 ‘‘(I) has left the jurisdiction of

17 the agency;

18 ‘‘(II) has reached the age at

19 which the obligation of the agency to

20 provide a free appropriate public edu21 cation to the child has terminated; or

22 ‘‘(III) no longer needs such pro23 gram of special education; or

24 ‘‘(iv) the termination of costly expend25 itures for long-term purchases, such as the
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1 acquisition of equipment or the construc2 tion of school facilities.

3 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION FOR STATE EDUCATIONAL

4 AGENCY.—The local educational agency shall provide

5 the State educational agency with information nec6 essary to enable the State educational agency to

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

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

9 612(a), information relating to the performance of

10 children with disabilities participating in programs

11 carried out under this part.

12 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC INFORMATION.—The local edu13 cational agency shall make available to parents of

14 children with disabilities and to the general public

15 all documents relating to the eligibility of such agen16 cy under this part.

17 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTION FOR PRIOR LOCAL PLANS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a local educational agen19 cy or State agency has on file with the State edu20 cational agency policies and procedures that dem21 onstrate that such local educational agency, or such

22 State agency, as the case may be, meets any require23 ment of subsection (a), including any policies and

24 procedures filed under this part as in effect before

25 the date of the enactment of IDEA Improvement
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1 Act of 1997, the State educational agency shall con2 sider such local educational agency or State agency,

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

4 for purposes of receiving assistance under this part.

5 ‘‘(2) MODIFICATION MADE BY LOCAL EDU6 CATIONAL AGENCY.—Subject to paragraph (3), an

7 application submitted by a local educational agency

8 in accordance with this section shall remain in effect

9 until the such agency submits to the State edu10 cational agency such modifications as the local edu11 cational agency deems necessary.

12 ‘‘(3) MODIFICATIONS REQUIRED BY STATE

13 EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The State educational

14 agency may require a local educational agency to

15 amend its application at anytime as a result of the

16 compliance reviews of the State educational agency

17 under parts B and C. This paragraph shall apply to

18 a modification to an application to the same extent

19 and in the same manner as this section applies to

20 the original plan.

21 ‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION OF LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN22 CY OR STATE AGENCY IN CASE OF INELIGIBILITY.—If the

23 State educational agency determines that a local edu24 cational agency or State agency is not eligible under this

25 section, the State educational agency shall notify such
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1 local educational agency or State agency, as the case may

2 be, of that determination and shall provide such local edu3 cational agency or State agency with reasonable notice and

4 an opportunity for a hearing.

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

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

7 agency, after reasonable notice and an opportunity

8 for a hearing, finds that a local educational agency

9 or State agency that has been determined to be eligi10 ble under this section is failing to comply with any

11 requirement described in subsection (a), the State

12 educational agency shall reduce or shall not provide

13 any further payments to the local educational agency

14 or State agency until the State educational agency

15 is satisfied that the local educational agency or State

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

17 requirement.

18 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—Any State

19 agency or local educational agency in receipt of a no20 tice described in paragraph (1) shall, by means of

21 public notice, take such measures as may be nec22 essary to bring the pendency of an action pursuant

23 to this subsection to the attention of the public with24 in the jurisdiction of such agency.
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1 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION.—In carrying out its re2 sponsibilities under paragraph (1), the State edu3 cational agency shall consider any decision made in

4 a hearing held under section 615 that is adverse to

5 the local educational agency or State agency involved

6 in that decision.

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

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

9 may require a local educational agency to establish

10 its eligibility jointly with another local educational

11 agency if the State educational agency determines

12 that the local educational agency would be ineligible

13 under this section because the local educational

14 agency would not be able to establish and maintain

15 programs of sufficient size and scope to effectively

16 meet the needs of children with disabilities.

17 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF PAYMENTS.—If a State edu18 cational agency requires the joint establishment of

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

20 funds made available to the affected local edu21 cational agencies shall be equal to the sum of the

22 payments that each such local educational agency

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

24 agencies were eligible for such payments.
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1 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—Local educational agen2 cies that establish joint eligibility under this sub3 section shall—

4 ‘‘(A) adopt policies and procedures that

5 are consistent with the State’s policies and pro6 cedures under section 612(a); and

7 ‘‘(B) be jointly responsible for implement8 ing programs that receive assistance under this

9 part.

10 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS FOR EDUCATIONAL SERV11 ICE AGENCIES.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If an educational serv13 ice agency is required by State law to carry out

14 programs under this part, the joint responsibil15 ities given to local educational agencies under

16 this subsection shall—

17 ‘‘(i) not apply to the administration

18 and disbursement of any payments re19 ceived by that educational service agency;

20 and

21 ‘‘(ii) be carried out only by that edu22 cational service agency.
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1 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT.—Not2 withstanding any other provision of this sub3 section, an educational service agency shall pro4 vide for the education of children with disabil5 ities in the least restrictive environment, as re6 quired by section 612(a)(4).

7 ‘‘(f) COORDINATED SERVICES SYSTEM.—

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

9 may not use more than 5 percent of the amount

10 such agency receives under this part for any fiscal

11 year, in combination with other amounts (which

12 shall include amounts other than education funds),

13 to develop and implement a coordinated services sys14 tem designed to improve results for children and

15 families, including children with disabilities and their

16 families.

17 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—In implementing a coordi18 nated services system under this subsection, a local

19 educational agency may carry out activities which in20 clude—

21 ‘‘(A) improving the effectiveness and effi22 ciency of service delivery, including developing

23 strategies that promote accountability for re24 sults;
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1 ‘‘(B) service coordination and case man2 agement that facilitates the linkage of individ3 ualized education programs under this part and

4 individualized family service plans under part C

5 with individualized service plans under multiple

6 Federal and State programs, such as title I of

7 the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (vocational reha8 bilitation), title XIX of the Social Security Act

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

10 Act (supplemental security income);

11 ‘‘(C) developing and implementing inter12 agency financing strategies for the provision of

13 education, health, mental health, and social

14 services, including transition services and relat15 ed services under this title; and

16 ‘‘(D) interagency personnel development

17 for individuals working on coordinated services.

18 ‘‘(3) COORDINATION WITH CERTAIN PROJECTS

19 UNDER ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION

20 ACT OF 1965.—If a local educational agency is carry21 ing out a coordinated services project under title XI

22 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

23 1965 and a coordinated services project under this

24 part in the same schools, such agency shall use
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1 amounts under this subsection in accordance with

2 the requirements of that title.

3 ‘‘(g) DIRECT SERVICES BY THE STATE EDU4 CATIONAL AGENCY.—

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

6 shall use the payments that would otherwise have

7 been available to a local educational agency or to a

8 State agency to provide special education and relat9 ed services directly to children with disabilities resid10 ing in the area served by that local agency, or for

11 whom that State agency is responsible, if the State

12 educational agency determines that the local edu13 cation agency or State agency, as the case may be—

14 ‘‘(A) has not provided the information

15 needed to establish the eligibility of such agency

16 under this section;

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

18 programs of free appropriate public education

19 that meet the requirements of subsection (a);

20 ‘‘(C) is unable or unwilling to be consoli21 dated with one or more local educational agen22 cies in order to establish and maintain such

23 programs; or

24 ‘‘(D) has one or more children with disabil25 ities who can best be served by a regional or
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1 State program or service delivery system de2 signed to meet the needs of such children.

3 ‘‘(2) MANNER AND LOCATION OF EDUCATION

4 AND SERVICES.—The State educational agency may

5 provide special education and related services under

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

7 (including regional or State centers) as the State

8 agency considers appropriate. Such education and

9 services shall be provided in accordance with this

10 part.

11 ‘‘(h) STATE AGENCY ELIGIBILITY.—Any State agen12 cy that desires to receive a subgrant for any fiscal year

13 under section 611(c) shall demonstrate to the satisfaction

14 of the State educational agency that—

15 ‘‘(1) all children with disabilities who are par16 ticipating in programs and projects funded under

17 this part receive a free appropriate public education,

18 and that those children and their parents are pro19 vided all the rights and procedural safeguards de20 scribed in this part; and

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

22 this section as the Secretary determines to be appro23 priate.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 614. EVALUATIONS, REEVALUATIONS, INDIVIDUAL2 IZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS, AND EDU3 CATIONAL PLACEMENTS.

4 ‘‘(a) EVALUATIONS AND REEVALUATIONS.—

5 ‘‘(1) INITIAL EVALUATIONS.—

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

7 agency, other State agency, or local educational

8 agency shall conduct an initial evaluation, in ac9 cordance with this paragraph and subsection

10 (b), before the initial provision of special edu11 cation and related services to a child with a dis12 ability under this part.

13 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURES.—Such initial evalua14 tion shall consist of procedures—

15 ‘‘(i) to determine whether a child is a

16 child with a disability (as defined in sec17 tion 602(3)); and

18 ‘‘(ii) to determine the educational

19 needs of such child.

20 ‘‘(C) PARENTAL CONSENT.—

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The agency pro22 posing to conduct an initial evaluation to

23 determine if the child qualifies as a child

24 with a disability as defined in section

25 602(3)(A) or 602(3)(B) shall obtain an in26 formed consent from the parent of such
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1 child before the evaluation is conducted.

2 Parental consent for evaluation shall not

3 be construed as consent for placement for

4 receipt of special education and related

5 services.

6 ‘‘(ii) REFUSAL.—If the parents of

7 such child refuse consent for the evalua8 tion, the agency may continue to pursue an

9 evaluation by utilizing the mediation and

10 due process procedures under section

11 615(e).

12 ‘‘(2) REEVALUATIONS.—A local educational

13 agency shall ensure that a reevaluation of each child

14 with a disability is conducted—

15 ‘‘(A) if conditions warrant a reevaluation

16 or if the child’s parent or teacher requests a re17 evaluation, but at least once every 3 years; and

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

19 and (c).

20 ‘‘(b) EVALUATION PROCEDURES.—

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

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

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

24 (b)(4), and (c) of section 615, that describes any
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1 evaluation procedures such agency proposes to

2 conduct.

3 ‘‘(2) CONDUCT OF EVALUATION.—In conduct4 ing the evaluation, the local educational agency

5 shall—

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

7 strategies to gather relevant functional and de8 velopmental information, including information

9 provided by the parent, that may assist in de10 termining whether the child is a child with a

11 disability and the content of the child’s individ12 ualized education program, including informa13 tion related to enabling the child to be involved

14 in and progress in the general curriculum or,

15 for preschool children, to participate in appro16 priate activities;

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

18 sole criterion for determining whether a child is

19 a child with a disability or determining an ap20 propriate educational program for the child;

21 and

22 ‘‘(C) use technically sound instruments

23 that may assess the relative contribution of cog24 nitive and behavioral factors, in addition to

25 physical or developmental factors.
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1 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—Each local

2 educational agency shall ensure that—

3 ‘‘(A) tests and other evaluation materials

4 used to assess a child under this section—

5 ‘‘(i) are selected and administered so

6 as not to be discriminatory on a racial or

7 cultural basis; and

8 ‘‘(ii) are provided and administered in

9 the child’s native language or other mode

10 of communication, unless it is clearly not

11 feasible to do so; and

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

13 to the child—

14 ‘‘(i) have been validated for the spe15 cific purpose for which they are used;

16 ‘‘(ii) are administered by qualified

17 personnel; and

18 ‘‘(iii) are administered in accordance

19 with any instructions provided by the pro20 ducer of such tests; and

21 ‘‘(C) the child is assessed in all areas of

22 suspected disability.

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

24 completion of administration of tests and other eval25 uation materials—
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1 ‘‘(A) the determination of whether the

2 child is a child with a disability as defined in

3 section 602(3) or section 602(3)(B) will be

4 made by a team of qualified professionals and

5 the parent of the child in accordance with para6 graph (5); and

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

8 the documentation of determination of eligibility

9 will be given to the parent.

10 ‘‘(5) SPECIAL RULE FOR ELIGIBILITY DETER11 MINATION.—In making a determination of eligibility

12 under paragraph (4)(A), a child shall not be deter13 mined to be a child with a disability based on any

14 of the following:

15 ‘‘(A) Lack of instruction, including instruc16 tion in reading or math.

17 ‘‘(B) Limited English proficiency.

18 ‘‘(C) Cultural or environmental factors.

19 ‘‘(D) Economic disadvantage.

20 ‘‘(c) REEVALUATION PROCEDURES.—

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

22 to assess a child under this section, the individual23 ized education program team and other qualified

24 professionals, as appropriate, shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) review existing evaluation data on the

2 child, including current classroom-based assess3 ments and teacher and related services provid4 er’s observation; and

5 ‘‘(B) on the basis of that review and input

6 from the child’s parents, identify what addi7 tional data, if any, are needed to determine—

8 ‘‘(i) whether the child continues to

9 have a disability, as described in section

10 602(3)(A)(i) or section 602(3)(B);

11 ‘‘(ii) the child’s present levels of per12 formance and educational needs; and

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

14 need special education and related services;

15 and

16 ‘‘(II) if so, any additions or modifica17 tions to the special education and related

18 services to enable the child to meet the ob19 jectives set out in the individualized edu20 cation program of the child and to partici21 pate, as appropriate, in the general cur22 riculum.

23 ‘‘(2) TESTS AND OTHER EVALUATION MATE24 RIALS.—The local educational agency shall admin25 ister such tests and other evaluation materials as
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1 may be needed to produce the data identified by the

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

3 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS IF ADDITIONAL DATA NOT

4 NEEDED.—If the IEP Team and other qualified pro5 fessionals, as appropriate, determine that no addi6 tional data are needed to determine whether the

7 child continues to be a child with a disability, the

8 local educational agency—

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

10 ‘‘(i) that determination and the rea11 sons for it; and

12 ‘‘(ii) the right of such parents to re13 quest an assessment to determine whether

14 the child continues to be a child with a dis15 ability; and

16 ‘‘(B) shall not be required to conduct such

17 an assessment unless requested to by the child’s

18 parents.

19 ‘‘(d) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS.—

20 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT THAT PROGRAM BE IN EF21 FECT.—

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

23 each school year, each local educational agency,

24 or State educational agency, as the case may

25 be, shall have in effect, for each child with a
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1 disability in its jurisdiction, an individualized

2 education program, as defined in section

3 602(11).

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

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

6 to 5, inclusive, an individualized family service

7 plan that contains the material described in sec8 tion 636, and that is developed in accordance

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

10 child if using that plan as the IEP is—

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

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

13 child’s parents.

14 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OF IEP.—

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An individualized edu16 cation program team shall develop the IEP de17 scribed in paragraph (1). In developing such

18 IEP, the IEP Team, subject to subparagraph

19 (B), shall—

20 ‘‘(i) consider the child’s strengths and

21 the parents’ concerns for enhancing their

22 child’s education;

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

24 evaluation or most recent reevaluation;
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1 ‘‘(iii) in the case of a child whose be2 havior impedes his or her learning or that

3 of others, consider, when appropriate,

4 strategies, including positive behavior man5 agement interventions and strategies to

6 help the child behave in an appropriate

7 and responsible manner conducive to learn8 ing;

9 ‘‘(iv) in the case of a child with lim10 ited English proficiency, consider the lan11 guage needs of the child as such needs re12 late to the child’s IEP;

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

14 or visually impaired, provide for instruction

15 in braille and the use of braille unless all

16 members of the IEP Team concur that,

17 after an evaluation of the child’s reading

18 and writing skills, needs, and appropriate

19 reading and writing media (including an

20 evaluation of the child’s future needs for

21 instruction in braille or the use of braille),

22 instruction in braille or the use of braille

23 is not appropriate for the child;

24 ‘‘(vi) consider the communication

25 needs of the child, and in the case of a
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1 child who is deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, or

2 communicatively disabled, consider the lan3 guage and communication needs of the

4 child; and

5 ‘‘(vii) consider whether the child re6 quires assistive technology services or de7 vices.

8 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT WITH RESPECT TO

9 REGULAR EDUCATION TEACHER.—The regular

10 education teacher of the child, as a member of

11 the IEP Team, shall, to the extent appropriate,

12 participate in the development of the IEP of

13 the child, including the determination of appro14 priate positive behavior-management interven15 tions and strategies consistent with subpara16 graph (A)(iii) of this paragraph, and the deter17 mination of supplementary aids and services,

18 program modifications, and support for school

19 personnel consistent with section 602(11)(E).

20 ‘‘(3) REVIEW AND REVISION OF IEP.—

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

22 agency shall ensure that, subject to subpara23 graph (C), the IEP Team—
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1 ‘‘(i) reviews each IEP at least once a

2 year to determine whether the annual goals

3 for the child are being achieved; and

4 ‘‘(ii) revises the IEP to address—

5 ‘‘(I) any lack of expected

6 progress toward the annual goals and

7 in the general curriculum, where ap8 propriate;

9 ‘‘(II) the results of any reevalua10 tion conducted under this section;

11 ‘‘(III) information about the

12 child provided to, or by, the parents,

13 as described in section 602(11)(F)(ii);

14 or

15 ‘‘(IV) the child’s anticipated

16 needs as otherwise appropriate.

17 ‘‘(B) CERTAIN CHILDREN WITH DISABIL18 ITIES.—

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a

20 child with a disability who has dem21 onstrated a pattern of behavior that sig22 nificantly impairs the education of the

23 child, or the education of the classmates of

24 the child, and the ability of the teacher of

25 the child to teach, if such teacher initiates
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1 or requests an IEP meeting, then the ap2 propriate authority shall convene an IEP

3 meeting to review the child’s educational

4 program, related services, supplementary

5 aids and services, and placement.

6 ‘‘(ii) REVIEW OF IEP.—In carrying

7 out a review of the IEP of the child, the

8 IEP Team shall determine—

9 ‘‘(I) the appropriateness of the

10 current IEP of the child;

11 ‘‘(II) whether or not special edu12 cation and related services have been

13 appropriately provided to the child;

14 ‘‘(III) whether or not other sup15 plementary aids or services, including

16 teacher training, are needed to ad17 dress the behavior of the child; and

18 ‘‘(IV) subject to clauses (iii) and

19 (iv), whether or not the placement of

20 the child should be changed.

21 ‘‘(iii) DETERMINATION OF CHANGE IN

22 PLACEMENT.—Prior to proposing a change

23 in the placement of the child, the IEP

24 Team shall first consider and then docu25 ment the following:
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1 ‘‘(I) The cumulative record over

2 a reasonable period of time describing

3 the frequent behaviors exhibited by

4 the child that significantly impairs the

5 education of the child, the education

6 of the classmates of the child, and the

7 ability of the teacher of the child to

8 teach.

9 ‘‘(II) Documentation of the ef10 forts made to address the behavior of

11 the child, the use of supplementary

12 services or strategies (including the

13 use of behavior management plans)

14 that have been implemented over a

15 reasonable period of time and have

16 failed to address the behavior of the

17 child in a manner that would enable

18 the child to remain in the current

19 educational placement of the child

20 without significantly impairing the

21 education of the child, the education

22 of the classmates of the child, and the

23 ability of the teacher of the child to

24 teach.
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1 ‘‘(III) The training made avail2 able to the teacher or teachers of the

3 child.

4 ‘‘(iv) EXPEDITED DUE PROCESS

5 HEARING.—If the IEP Team determines

6 that a change in placement of the child is

7 appropriate, and the parents of the child

8 disagree with such determination, then ei9 ther party may request an expedited due

10 process hearing in accordance with section

11 615(f)(2).

12 ‘‘(C) REQUIREMENT WITH RESPECT TO

13 REGULAR EDUCATION TEACHER.—The regular

14 education teacher of the child, as a member of

15 the IEP Team, shall, to the extent appropriate,

16 participate in the review and revision of the

17 IEP of the child.

18 ‘‘(4) FAILURE TO MEET TRANSITION OBJEC19 TIVES.—If a participating agency, other than the

20 local educational agency, fails to provide the transi21 tion services described in the IEP in accordance with

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

23 shall reconvene the IEP Team to identify alternative

24 strategies to meet the transition objectives for the

25 child set out in that program.
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1 ‘‘(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in

2 this subsection shall be construed—

3 ‘‘(A) to decrease the amount of informa4 tion that a parent receives concerning the

5 progress of the child of such parent; or

6 ‘‘(B) to increase the amount of paperwork

7 for the teachers, related services personnel, and

8 administrators of such child.

9 ‘‘(e) EDUCATIONAL PLACEMENTS.—Each local edu10 cational agency or State educational agency shall ensure

11 that the parents of each child with a disability are mem12 bers of any group that makes decisions on the educational

13 placement of their child.

14 ‘‘SEC. 615. PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.

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

16 educational agency or local educational agency that re17 ceives assistance under this part shall establish and main18 tain procedures in accordance with this section to assure

19 that children with disabilities and their parents are guar20 anteed procedural safeguards with respect to the provision

21 of free appropriate public education by such agencies.

22 ‘‘(b) TYPES OF PROCEDURES.—The procedures re23 quired by this section shall include—

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

25 with a disability to examine all records relating to
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1 such child and to participate in meetings with re2 spect to the identification, evaluation, and edu3 cational placement of the child, and the provision of

4 a free appropriate public education to such child,

5 and to obtain an independent educational evaluation

6 of the child;

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

8 child whenever the parents of the child are not

9 known, the agency cannot, after reasonable efforts,

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

11 State, including the assignment of an individual

12 (who shall not be an employee of the State edu13 cational agency, the local educational agency, or any

14 other agency that is involved in the education or

15 care of the child) to act as a surrogate for the par16 ents;

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

18 child whenever such agency—

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

20 ‘‘(B) refuses to initiate or change;

21 the identification, evaluation, or educational place22 ment of the child, in accordance with subsection (c),

23 or the provision of a free appropriate public edu24 cation to the child;
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1 ‘‘(4) procedures designed to assure that the no2 tice required by paragraph (3) is in the native lan3 guage of the parents, unless it clearly is not feasible

4 to do so;

5 ‘‘(5) an opportunity for mediation in accordance

6 with subsection (e);

7 ‘‘(6) an opportunity to present complaints with

8 respect to any matter relating to the identification,

9 evaluation, or educational placement of the child, or

10 the provision of a free appropriate public education

11 to such child;

12 ‘‘(7) procedures that require the parent of a

13 child with a disability, or the attorney representing

14 the child, to provide notice (which shall remain con15 fidential)—

16 ‘‘(A) to the State educational agency or

17 local educational agency, as the case may be, in

18 the complaint filed under paragraph (6); and

19 ‘‘(B) that shall include—

20 ‘‘(i) the name of the child, the address

21 of the residence of the child, and the name

22 of the school at which the child is attend23 ing;
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1 ‘‘(ii) a description of the nature of the

2 problem of the child relating to such pro3 posed initiation or change, including facts

4 relating to such problem; and

5 ‘‘(iii) the proposed resolution of the

6 problem; and

7 ‘‘(8) procedures that require the State edu8 cational agency to develop a model form to assist

9 parents in filing a complaint in accordance with

10 paragraph (7).

11 ‘‘(c) CONTENT OF PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE.—The

12 notice required by subsection (b)(3) shall include—

13 ‘‘(1) a description of the action proposed or re14 fused by the agency;

15 ‘‘(2) an explanation of why the agency proposes

16 or refuses to take the action;

17 ‘‘(3) a description of any other options that the

18 agency considered and the reasons why those options

19 were rejected;

20 ‘‘(4) a description of each evaluation procedure,

21 test, record, or report the agency used as a basis for

22 the proposed or refused action;

23 ‘‘(5) a description of any other factors that are

24 relevant to the agency’s proposal or refusal; and
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1 ‘‘(6) a statement that the parents of a child

2 with a disability have protection under the proce3 dural safeguards of this title and, if this notice is

4 not an initial referral for evaluation, the means by

5 which a copy of a description of the procedural safe6 guards can be obtained.

7 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS NOTICE.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A copy of the procedural

9 safeguards available to the parents of a child with

10 a disability shall be given to the parents, at a mini11 mum—

12 ‘‘(A) upon initial referral for evaluation;

13 ‘‘(B) upon each notification of an individ14 ualized education program meeting and upon

15 reevaluation of the child; and

16 ‘‘(C) upon registration of a complaint

17 under subsection (b)(6).

18 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The procedural safeguards

19 notice shall include a full explanation of the proce20 dural safeguards written in the native language of

21 the parents, unless not feasible to do so, and written

22 in an easily understandable manner, available under

23 this section and under regulations promulgated by

24 the Secretary relating to—

25 ‘‘(A) independent educational evaluation;
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1 ‘‘(B) prior written notice;

2 ‘‘(C) parental consent;

3 ‘‘(D) access to educational records;

4 ‘‘(E) opportunity to present complaints;

5 ‘‘(F) the child’s placement during pend6 ency of due process proceedings;

7 ‘‘(G) procedures for students who are sub8 ject to placement in an interim alternative edu9 cational setting;

10 ‘‘(H) requirements for unilateral placement

11 by parents of children in private schools at pub12 lic expense;

13 ‘‘(I) mediation;

14 ‘‘(J) due process hearings, including re15 quirements for disclosure of evaluation results

16 and recommendations;

17 ‘‘(K) State-level appeals (if applicable in

18 that State);

19 ‘‘(L) civil actions; and

20 ‘‘(M) attorney’s fees.

21 ‘‘(e) MEDIATION.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any State educational

23 agency or local educational agency that receives as24 sistance under this part shall ensure that procedures

25 are established and implemented to allow parties to
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1 disputes involving the provision of free appropriate

2 public education to children with disabilities by any

3 such State educational agency or local educational

4 agency to resolve such disputes through a mediation

5 process.

6 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—Such procedures shall

7 meet the following requirements:

8 ‘‘(A) The procedures shall ensure that the

9 mediation process—

10 ‘‘(i) is voluntary on the part of the

11 parents and may be terminated by either

12 party after a good faith effort has been

13 made by the party terminating the medi14 ation process; and

15 ‘‘(ii) is conducted by a qualified and

16 impartial mediator who is trained in effec17 tive mediation techniques.

18 ‘‘(B) The State shall maintain a list of in19 dividuals who are qualified mediators and

20 knowledgeable in laws and regulations relating

21 to the provision of special education and related

22 services.

23 ‘‘(C) The State shall bear the cost of the

24 mediation process.
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1 ‘‘(D) Each session in the mediation process

2 shall be scheduled in a timely manner and shall

3 be held in a location that is convenient to the

4 parties to the dispute.

5 ‘‘(E) An agreement reached by the parties

6 to the dispute in the mediation process shall be

7 set forth in a written mediation agreement.

8 ‘‘(F) Discussions that occur during the

9 mediation process shall be confidential and may

10 not be used as evidence in any subsequent due

11 process hearings or civil proceedings, and the

12 parties to the mediation process may be re13 quired to sign a confidentiality pledge prior to

14 the commencement of such process.

15 ‘‘(G) The State shall determine whether or

16 not attorneys may attend or otherwise partici17 pate in the mediation process after offering the

18 opportunity for parents and representatives of

19 school districts to participate in the mediation

20 process prior to any due process filing without

21 attorneys present.

22 ‘‘(f) IMPARTIAL DUE PROCESS HEARING.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever a complaint has

2 been received under section 614(d)(3)(B), or sub3 section (b)(6) or (k) of this section, the parents in4 volved in such complaint shall have an opportunity

5 for an impartial due process hearing which shall be

6 conducted by the State educational agency or by the

7 local educational agency, as determined by State law

8 or by the State educational agency.

9 ‘‘(2) DISCLOSURE OF EVALUATIONS AND REC10 OMMENDATIONS.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—At least 10 school

12 days prior to a hearing conducted pursuant to

13 paragraph (1), each party shall disclose to all

14 other parties all evaluations and recommenda15 tions based on the offering party’s evaluations

16 which the party intends to use at the hearing.

17 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION.—Any party which fails

18 to meet the requirement of subparagraph (A)

19 shall be barred from introducing such evalua20 tions and recommendations at such hearing.

21 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON CONDUCT OF HEARING.—

22 A hearing conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) may

23 not be conducted by an employee of the State edu24 cational agency or the local educational agency in25 volved in the education or care of the child.
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1 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS WITH RE2 SPECT TO HEARINGS FOR CERTAIN CHILDREN WITH

3 DISABILITIES.—A hearing conducted pursuant to

4 paragraph (1) that is based upon a complaint re5 ceived under section 614(d)(3)(B) shall, in addition

6 to the requirements contained in this subsection,

7 comply with the following additional requirements:

8 ‘‘(A) In determining whether or not the de9 cision by the IEP Team to change the place10 ment of the child is justified and appropriate,

11 the hearing officer shall, at a minimum, review

12 the information under clause (iii) of such

13 section.

14 ‘‘(B) The child shall remain in the current

15 educational placement of the child until the

16 hearing officer reaches a final decision under

17 this subsection.

18 ‘‘(C) The hearing officer shall make a de19 termination of findings and reach a final deci20 sion not later than 20 days after the first day

21 of the hearing, or, at the discretion of the hear22 ing officer, not later than 30 days after such

23 first day of the hearing.
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1 ‘‘(D) The placement of the child, including

2 the placement of the child during any due proc3 ess or judicial proceeding, shall be determined

4 in accordance with the final decision of the

5 hearing officer under this subsection, unless the

6 parents and the State or local educational agen7 cy agree otherwise.

8 ‘‘(g) APPEAL.—If the hearing required by subsection

9 (f) is conducted by a local educational agency, any party

10 aggrieved by the findings and decision rendered in such

11 a hearing may appeal such findings and decision to the

12 State educational agency. Such agency shall conduct an

13 impartial review of such decision. The officer conducting

14 such review shall make an independent decision upon com15 pletion of such review.

16 ‘‘(h) SAFEGUARDS.—Any party to a hearing con17 ducted pursuant to subsection (f), or an appeal conducted

18 pursuant to subsection (g), shall be accorded—

19 ‘‘(1) the right to be accompanied and advised

20 by counsel and by individuals with special knowledge

21 or training with respect to the problems of children

22 with disabilities;

23 ‘‘(2) the right to present evidence and confront,

24 cross-examine, and compel the attendance of wit25 nesses;
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1 ‘‘(3) the right to a written, or, at the option of

2 the parents, electronic verbatim record of such hear3 ing; and

4 ‘‘(4) the right to written, or, at the option of

5 the parents, electronic findings of fact and decisions

6 (which findings and decisions shall be made available

7 to the public consistent with the requirements of sec8 tion 617(c) (relating to the confidentiality of data,

9 information, and records) and shall also be transmit10 ted to the advisory panel established pursuant to

11 section 612(a)(18)).

12 ‘‘(i) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A decision made in a hear14 ing conducted pursuant to subsection (f) shall be

15 final, except that any party involved in such hearing

16 may appeal such decision under the provisions of

17 subsection (g) and paragraph (2) of this subsection.

18 ‘‘(2) RIGHT TO BRING CIVIL ACTION.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any party aggrieved

20 by the findings and decision made under sub21 section (f) who does not have the right to an

22 appeal under subsection (g), and any party ag23 grieved by the findings and decision under this

24 subsection, shall have the right to bring a civil

25 action with respect to the complaint presented
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1 pursuant to this section, which action may be

2 brought in any State court of competent juris3 diction or in a district court of the United

4 States without regard to the amount in con5 troversy.

6 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—In

7 any action brought under this paragraph the

8 court—

9 ‘‘(i) shall receive the records of the

10 administrative proceedings;

11 ‘‘(ii) shall hear additional evidence at

12 the request of a party; and

13 ‘‘(iii) basing its decision on the pre14 ponderance of the evidence, shall grant

15 such relief as the court determines is ap16 propriate.

17 ‘‘(3) JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT COURTS; AT18 TORNEYS’ FEES.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The district courts of

20 the United States shall have jurisdiction of ac21 tions brought under this section without regard

22 to the amount in controversy.

23 ‘‘(B) AWARD OF ATTORNEYS’ FEES.—In

24 any action or proceeding brought under this

25 section, the court, in its discretion, may award
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1 reasonable attorneys’ fees as part of the costs

2 to the parents of a child or youth with a disabil3 ity who is the prevailing party.

4 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF AT5 TORNEYS’ FEES.—Fees awarded under this

6 paragraph shall be based on rates prevailing in

7 the community in which the action or proceed8 ing arose for the kind and quality of services

9 furnished. No bonus or multiplier may be used

10 in calculating the fees awarded under this sub11 section.

12 ‘‘(D) PROHIBITION OF ATTORNEYS’ FEES

13 AND RELATED COSTS FOR CERTAIN SERV14 ICES.—(i) Attorneys’ fees may not be awarded

15 and related costs may not be reimbursed in any

16 action or proceeding under this subsection for

17 services performed subsequent to the time of a

18 written offer of settlement to a parent if—

19 ‘‘(I) the offer is made within the time

20 prescribed by Rule 68 of the Federal Rules

21 of Civil Procedure or, in the case of an ad22 ministrative proceeding, at any time more

23 than ten days before the proceeding begins;

24 ‘‘(II) the offer is not accepted within

25 10 days; and
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1 ‘‘(III) the court or administrative

2 hearing officer finds that the relief finally

3 obtained by the parents is not more favor4 able to the parents than the offer of settle5 ment.

6 ‘‘(ii) Attorneys’ fees may not be awarded

7 relating to any meeting of the IEP Team unless

8 such meeting is convened as a result of a judi9 cial action or proceeding.

10 ‘‘(E) EXCEPTION TO PROHIBITION ON AT11 TORNEYS’ FEES AND RELATED COSTS.—Not12 withstanding subparagraph (D), an award of

13 attorneys’ fees and related costs may be made

14 to a parent who is the prevailing party and who

15 was substantially justified in rejecting the set16 tlement offer.

17 ‘‘(F) REDUCTION IN AMOUNT OF ATTOR18 NEYS’ FEES.—Except as provided in subpara19 graph (G), whenever the court finds that—

20 ‘‘(i) the parent, during the course of

21 the action or proceeding, unreasonably pro22 tracted the final resolution of the con23 troversy;
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1 ‘‘(ii) the amount of the attorneys’ fees

2 otherwise authorized to be awarded unrea3 sonably exceeds the hourly rate prevailing

4 in the community for similar services by

5 attorneys of reasonably comparable skill

6 and experience;

7 ‘‘(iii) the time spent and legal services

8 furnished were excessive considering the

9 nature of the action or proceeding;

10 ‘‘(iv) the attorney representing the

11 parent did not provide to the school dis12 trict the appropriate information in the

13 due process complaint in accordance with

14 subsection (b)(7); or

15 ‘‘(v) the amount of attorneys’ fees re16 quested is not consistent with the extent of

17 the success of the parents;

18 the court shall reduce, accordingly, the amount

19 of the attorneys’ fees awarded under this sub20 section.

21 ‘‘(G) EXCEPTION TO REDUCTION IN

22 AMOUNT OF ATTORNEYS’ FEES.—The provi23 sions of subparagraph (F) shall not apply in

24 any action or proceeding if the court finds that
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1 the State or local educational agency unreason2 ably protracted the final resolution of the action

3 or proceeding or there was a violation of this

4 section.

5 ‘‘(j) MAINTENANCE OF CURRENT EDUCATIONAL

6 PLACEMENT.—Except as provided in subsection (k), dur7 ing the pendency of any proceedings conducted pursuant

8 to this section, unless the State or local educational agency

9 and the parents otherwise agree, the child shall remain

10 in the then current educational placement of such child,

11 or, if applying for initial admission to a public school,

12 shall, with the consent of the parents, be placed in the

13 public school program until all such proceedings have been

14 completed.

15 ‘‘(k) PLACEMENT IN ALTERNATIVE EDUCATIONAL

16 SETTING.—

17 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY OF SCHOOL PERSONNEL.—

18 School personnel under this section may, to the

19 same extent as a court, order a change in the place20 ment of a child with a disability—

21 ‘‘(A) to an appropriate interim alternative

22 educational setting, another setting, or suspen23 sion, for not more than 10 school days (to the

24 extent such alternatives would be applied to

25 children without disabilities); and
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1 ‘‘(B) to an appropriate interim alternative

2 educational setting for the same amount of time

3 that a child without a disability would be sub4 ject to discipline, but for not more than an ad5 ditional 45 school days if—

6 ‘‘(i) the child carries a weapon to

7 school or to a school function under the ju8 risdiction of a State or a local educational

9 agency;

10 ‘‘(ii) the child possesses or uses illegal

11 drugs or sells or solicits the sale of medica12 tions or illegal drugs while at school or a

13 school function under the jurisdiction of a

14 State or local educational agency; or

15 ‘‘(iii) the child causes serious injury

16 while at school or at a school function

17 under the jurisdiction of a State or a local

18 educational agency.

19 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF HEARING OFFICER.—A

20 hearing officer under this section may, to the same

21 extent as a court, order a change in the placement

22 of a child with a disability to an appropriate interim

23 alternative educational setting for not more than 45

24 school days if—
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1 ‘‘(A) the maintenance of the current place2 ment of such child is substantially likely to re3 sult in injury to the child or to others; and

4 ‘‘(B) the hearing officer—

5 ‘‘(i) determines that the public agency

6 has demonstrated by substantial evidence

7 that the requirement of subparagraph (A)

8 has been met;

9 ‘‘(ii) considers the appropriateness of

10 the child’s current placement; and

11 ‘‘(iii) considers whether the public

12 agency has made reasonable efforts to min13 imize the risk of harm including the use of

14 supplementary aids and services.

15 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF SETTING.—The alter16 native educational setting described in paragraph (1)

17 or paragraph (2) shall be determined by the individ18 ualized education program team.

19 ‘‘(4) MANIFESTATION DETERMINATION RE20 VIEW.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a change in place22 ment or disciplinary proceeding, including ex23 pulsion, is contemplated as a result of an action

24 described in paragraph (1) or paragraph (2)—
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1 ‘‘(i) not later than 3 school days after

2 the date on which such action has been

3 taken the parents shall be notified of such

4 action; and

5 ‘‘(ii) not later than 15 school days

6 after the date on which such action has

7 been taken a review shall be conducted of

8 the relationship between the child’s disabil9 ity and the behavior described in para10 graph (1).

11 ‘‘(B) INDIVIDUALS TO CARRY OUT RE12 VIEW.—A review described in subparagraph (A)

13 shall be conducted by the IEP Team and other

14 qualified personnel.

15 ‘‘(C) CONDUCT OF REVIEW.—

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out a

17 review described in subparagraph (A), the

18 individuals described in subparagraph (B)

19 shall consider appropriate factors, includ20 ing—

21 ‘‘(I) the appropriateness of the

22 child’s placement;

23 ‘‘(II) the consistency of the im24 plementation of the child’s entire IEP,
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1 including the technical soundness of

2 the behavior strategies used;

3 ‘‘(III) evaluation and diagnostic

4 results, which may include any such

5 results supplied by the parents or

6 guardian of the child; and

7 ‘‘(IV) observations of the child.

8 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—

9 The IEP Team may determine that the be10 havior of the child was not a manifestation

11 of such child’s disability only if the IEP

12 Team first determines that the disability—

13 ‘‘(I) did not impair the ability of

14 the child to understand the impact

15 and consequences of the behavior; and

16 ‘‘(II) did not impair the ability of

17 the child to control the behavior.

18 ‘‘(5) DETERMINATION THAT BEHAVIOR WAS

19 MANIFESTATION OF DISABILITY.—If the result of

20 the review described in paragraph (4) is a deter21 mination that the behavior of the child with a dis22 ability was a manifestation of such child’s disability

23 and the parents of such child agree with such deter24 mination, the educational placement of such child

25 may be changed. If the parents do not agree with
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1 such determination or with such changed educational

2 placement, an immediate appeal may be made to a

3 hearing officer to determine whether the child’s

4 placement should be changed. Any party aggrieved

5 by the determination of the hearing officer may initi6 ate a due process hearing as described in subsection

7 (f).

8 ‘‘(6) DETERMINATION THAT BEHAVIOR WAS

9 NOT MANIFESTATION OF DISABILITY.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the result of the re11 view described in paragraph (4) is a determina12 tion that the behavior of the child with a dis13 ability was not a manifestation of such child’s

14 disability, the relevant disciplinary procedures

15 applicable to children without disabilities may

16 be applied in the same manner in which they

17 would be applied to children without disabilities.

18 If the parents do not agree with such applica19 tion, a due process hearing, as described in sub20 section (f), may be initiated. Any determination

21 under paragraph (4) that a child’s behavior was

22 not a manifestation of a disability shall be re23 viewed by a hearing officer under subsection (f),

24 whether or not the child’s parents request a

25 hearing, before educational services to the child
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1 may be terminated under this paragraph. Dur2 ing the pendency of such due process proce3 dures, the child shall continue to receive edu4 cational services in the alternative educational

5 setting.

6 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE.—Where application

7 of the relevant disciplinary procedures in sub8 paragraph (A) would result in the expulsion of

9 the child without the receipt of educational

10 services, the child may be expelled only if—

11 ‘‘(i) the child carries a weapon to

12 school or to a school function under the ju13 risdiction of a State or local educational

14 agency; or

15 ‘‘(ii) the child possesses or uses illegal

16 drugs or sells or solicits the sale of medica17 tions or illegal drugs while at school or a

18 school function under the jurisdiction of a

19 State or local educational agency.

20 ‘‘(7) EXPEDITED HEARING.—The State or local

21 educational agency shall arrange for an expedited

22 hearing in any case described in this subsection

23 when requested by the parent.

24 ‘‘(8) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) MAINTENANCE OF ALTERNATIVE

2 EDUCATIONAL SETTING.—If the parent of a

3 child described in this section requests a hear4 ing pursuant to subsection (f), the child shall

5 remain in the alternative educational setting in

6 which such child was placed during the pend7 ency of any proceedings under this subsection,

8 unless the parents and the State or local edu9 cational agency agree otherwise.

10 ‘‘(B) PROTECTIONS FOR CHILDREN NOT

11 YET ELIGIBLE FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION AND

12 RELATED SERVICES.—

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A child who has

14 not been determined to be eligible for spe15 cial education and related services under

16 this part and who has engaged in behavior

17 that violated any rule or code of conduct of

18 the local educational agency, including any

19 behavior described in paragraph (1), may

20 assert any of the protections provided for

21 in this part if the local educational agency

22 had knowledge (as determined in accord23 ance with this subparagraph) that the

24 child was a child with a disability before
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1 the behavior that precipitated the discipli2 nary action occurred.

3 ‘‘(ii) BASIS OF KNOWLEDGE.—A local

4 educational agency shall be deemed to have

5 knowledge that a child is a child with a

6 disability if—

7 ‘‘(I) the parent of the child has

8 expressed concern in writing (unless

9 the parent is illiterate or has a dis10 ability that prevents compliance with

11 the requirements contained in this

12 subclause) to personnel of the appro13 priate educational agency that the

14 child is in need of special education

15 and related services;

16 ‘‘(II) the behavior of the child

17 demonstrates the need for such serv18 ices;

19 ‘‘(III) the parent of the child has

20 requested an evaluation of the child

21 pursuant to section 614; or

22 ‘‘(IV) the teacher of the child, or

23 other personnel of the local edu24 cational agency, has expressed con25 cern about the behavior of the child to
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1 the director of special education of

2 such agency or to other personnel of

3 the agency.

4 ‘‘(iii) CONDITIONS THAT APPLY IF NO

5 BASIS OF KNOWLEDGE.—

6 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If a local

7 educational agency does not have

8 knowledge that a child is a child with

9 a disability (in accordance with clause

10 (ii)) prior to taking disciplinary meas11 ures against the child, the child may

12 be subjected to the same disciplinary

13 measures as measures applied to chil14 dren without disabilities, who engaged

15 in comparable behaviors consistent

16 with paragraph (2).

17 ‘‘(II) LIMITATIONS.—If a request

18 is made for an evaluation of a child

19 during the time period in which the

20 child is subjected to disciplinary meas21 ures under paragraph (1), the evalua22 tion shall be conducted in an expe23 dited manner. If the child is deter24 mined to be a child with a disability,

25 taking into consideration information
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1 from the evaluation conducted by the

2 agency and information provided by

3 the parents, the agency shall provide

4 special education and related services

5 in accordance with the provisions of

6 this part, except that, pending the re7 sults of the evaluation, the child shall

8 remain in the educational placement

9 determined by school authorities.

10 ‘‘(C) REFERRAL TO AND ACTION BY LAW

11 ENFORCEMENT AND JUDICIAL AUTHORITIES.—

12 Nothing in this part shall be construed to pro13 hibit an agency from reporting a crime commit14 ted by a child with a disability to appropriate

15 authorities or to prevent State law enforcement

16 and judicial authorities from exercising their re17 sponsibilities with regard to the application of

18 Federal and State law to crimes committed by

19 a child with a disability.

20 ‘‘(9) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub21 section, the following definitions apply:

22 ‘‘(A) ILLEGAL DRUG.—The term ‘illegal

23 drug’—

24 ‘‘(i) means a controlled substance

25 within the meaning of any of paragraphs
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1 (1) through (5) of section 202 of the Con2 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C 812); but

3 ‘‘(ii) does not include a controlled sub4 stance within the meaning of paragraphs

5 (1) through (5) of section 202 of such Act

6 if—

7 ‘‘(I) such controlled substance is

8 legally possessed or used under the

9 supervision of a licensed health care

10 professional; or

11 ‘‘(II) such controlled substance is

12 legally possessed or used under any

13 other authority under such Act or

14 under any other provision of Federal

15 law.

16 ‘‘(B) SERIOUS INJURY.—The term ‘serious

17 injury’ means an injury that involves substan18 tial risk of death, extreme physical pain, obvi19 ous or protracted disfigurement, loss of the use

20 of bodily members or organs, broken bones, or

21 significant endangerment to an individual’s

22 emotional health or safety that is the result of

23 a physical or verbal assault.

24 ‘‘(C) WEAPON.—The term ‘weapon’ has

25 the meaning given the term ‘dangerous weapon’
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1 under paragraph (2) of the first subsection (g)

2 of section 930 of title 18, United States Code.

3 ‘‘(l) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this part

4 shall be construed to restrict or limit the rights, proce5 dures, and remedies available under the Constitution, the

6 Americans with Disabilities Act, title V of the Rehabilita7 tion Act of 1973, or other Federal laws protecting the

8 rights of children with disabilities, except that before the

9 filing of a civil action under such laws seeking relief that

10 is also available under this part, the procedures under sub11 sections (f) and (g) shall be exhausted to the same extent

12 as would be required had the action been brought under

13 this part.

14 ‘‘(m) TRANSFER OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AT AGE OF

15 MAJORITY.—

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives

17 amounts from a grant under this part may provide

18 that, when a child with a disability reaches the age

19 of majority under State law (except for a child with

20 a disability who has been determined to be incom21 petent under State law)—

22 ‘‘(A) the public agency shall provide any

23 notice required by this section to both the indi24 vidual and the parents;
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1 ‘‘(B) all other rights accorded to parents

2 under this part transfer to the child;

3 ‘‘(C) the agency shall notify the individual

4 and the parents of the transfer of rights; and

5 ‘‘(D) all rights accorded to parents under

6 this part transfer to children who are incarcer7 ated in an adult or juvenile Federal, State, or

8 local correctional institution.

9 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE.—If, under State law, a

10 child with a disability who has reached the age of

11 majority under State law is determined not to have

12 the ability to provide informed consent with respect

13 to the educational program of the child, the State

14 shall establish procedures for appointing the parent

15 of the child, or another appropriate individual, to

16 represent the educational interests of the child

17 throughout the period of eligibility of the child under

18 this part.

19 ‘‘SEC. 616. WITHHOLDING AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.

20 ‘‘(a) WITHHOLDING OF PAYMENTS.—

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the Secretary,

22 after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing

23 to the State educational agency involved (and to any

24 local educational agency or State agency affected by

25 any failure described in subparagraph (B)), finds—
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1 ‘‘(A) that there has been a failure by the

2 State to comply substantially with any provision

3 of this part; or

4 ‘‘(B) that there is a failure to comply with

5 any condition of a local educational agency’s or

6 State agency’s eligibility under this part;

7 the Secretary shall, after notifying the State edu8 cational agency, withhold any further payments to

9 the State under this part.

10 ‘‘(2) NATURE OF WITHHOLDING.—If the Sec11 retary withholds further payments under paragraph

12 (1), the Secretary may determine that such with13 holding will be limited to programs or projects, or

14 portions thereof, affected by the failure, or that the

15 State educational agency shall not make further pay16 ments under this part to specified local educational

17 agencies or State agencies affected by the failure.

18 Until the Secretary is satisfied that there is no

19 longer any failure to comply with the provisions of

20 this part, as specified in subparagraph (A) or (B) of

21 paragraph (1), no further payments shall be made to

22 the State under this part, or payments by the State

23 educational agency under this part shall be limited

24 to local educational agencies and State agencies

25 whose actions did not cause or were not involved in
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1 the failure, as the case may be. Any State edu2 cational agency, State agency, or local educational

3 agency that has received notice under paragraph (1)

4 shall, by means of a public notice, take such meas5 ures as may be necessary to bring the pendency of

6 an action pursuant to this subsection to the atten7 tion of the public within the jurisdiction of such

8 agency.

9 ‘‘(b) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If any State is dissatisfied

11 with the Secretary’s final action with respect to the

12 eligibility of the State under section 612, such State

13 may, not later than 60 days after notice of such ac14 tion, file with the United States court of appeals for

15 the circuit in which such State is located a petition

16 for review of that action. A copy of the petition shall

17 be forthwith transmitted by the clerk of the court to

18 the Secretary. The Secretary thereupon shall file in

19 the court the record of the proceedings upon which

20 the Secretary’s action was based, as provided in sec21 tion 2112 of title 28, United States Code.

22 ‘‘(2) JURISDICTION; REVIEW BY UNITED

23 STATES SUPREME COURT.—Upon the filing of such

24 petition, the court shall have jurisdiction to affirm

25 the action of the Secretary or to set it aside, in
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1 whole or in part. The judgment of the court shall be

2 subject to review by the Supreme Court of the

3 United States upon certiorari or certification as pro4 vided in section 1254 of title 28, United States

5 Code.

6 ‘‘(3) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—The findings of

7 fact by the Secretary, if supported by substantial

8 evidence, shall be conclusive, but the court, for good

9 cause shown, may remand the case to the Secretary

10 to take further evidence, and the Secretary may

11 thereupon make new or modified findings of fact and

12 may modify the Secretary’s previous action, and

13 shall file in the court the record of the further pro14 ceedings. Such new or modified findings of fact shall

15 likewise be conclusive if supported by substantial evi16 dence.

17 ‘‘SEC. 617. ADMINISTRATION.

18 ‘‘(a) RESPONSIBILITIES OF SECRETARY.—In carry19 ing out this part, the Secretary shall—

20 ‘‘(1) cooperate with, and (directly or by grant

21 or contract) furnish technical assistance necessary

22 to, the State in matters relating to—

23 ‘‘(A) the education of children with disabil24 ities; and

25 ‘‘(B) carrying out this part; and
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1 ‘‘(2) provide short-term training programs and

2 institutes.

3 ‘‘(b) RULES AND REGULATIONS.—In carrying out

4 the provisions of this part, the Secretary shall issue regu5 lations under this Act only to the extent that such regula6 tions are necessary to ensure that there is compliance with

7 the specific requirements of this Act.

8 ‘‘(c) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Secretary shall take

9 appropriate action, in accordance with the provisions of

10 section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (20

11 U.S.C. 1232g), to assure the protection of the confiden12 tiality of any personally identifiable data, information, and

13 records collected or maintained by the Secretary and by

14 State and local educational agencies pursuant to the provi15 sions of this part.

16 ‘‘(d) PERSONNEL.—The Secretary is authorized to

17 hire qualified personnel necessary to conduct data collec18 tion and evaluation activities authorized by subsection (a)

19 and section 618 without regard to the provisions of title

20 5, United States Code, relating to appointments in the

21 competitive service and without regard to chapter 51 and

22 subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to classi23 fication and general schedule pay rates, except that no

24 more than twenty such personnel shall be employed at any

25 time.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 618. PROGRAM INFORMATION.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each State that receives assist3 ance under this part, and the Secretary of the Interior,

4 shall provide data, which may be based on a sampling of

5 data, each year to the Secretary on—

6 ‘‘(1) the number of children, categorized by

7 race, ethnicity, gender, and disability, who are re8 ceiving—

9 ‘‘(A) a free appropriate public education;

10 or

11 ‘‘(B) early intervention services because—

12 ‘‘(i) such children have developmental

13 delays; or

14 ‘‘(ii) such children have a diagnosed

15 physical or mental condition that has a

16 high probability of resulting in devel17 opmental delay;

18 ‘‘(2) the progress of the State, and of the chil19 dren with disabilities in the State, toward meeting

20 the goals established under section 612(14);

21 ‘‘(3) the types of early intervention services pro22 vided to such children;

23 ‘‘(4) the number of children with disabilities,

24 categorized by race, ethnicity, gender, and disabil25 ity—
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1 ‘‘(A) participating in regular education

2 programs;

3 ‘‘(B) in separate classes, separate schools

4 or facilities, or public or private residential fa5 cilities;

6 ‘‘(C) who have been otherwise removed

7 from the regular education environment; and

8 ‘‘(D) in various early intervention settings;

9 ‘‘(5) for each year of age from age 14 to 21,

10 the number of children with disabilities, categorized

11 by race, ethnicity, gender, and disability, who, be12 cause of program completion or for other reasons,

13 stopped receiving special education, and the reasons

14 why such children stopped receiving such special

15 education;

16 ‘‘(6)(A) the number of children with disabilities,

17 categorized by race, ethnicity, gender, and disability,

18 who, under section 615(k), are removed to an in19 terim alternative educational setting;

20 ‘‘(B) the acts or items precipitating such re21 movals; and

22 ‘‘(C) the number of children with disabilities

23 who are expelled from school without receiving serv24 ices; and
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1 ‘‘(7) any other information required by the Sec2 retary.

3 ‘‘(b) DISPROPORTIONALITY.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State that receives

5 assistance under this part, and the Secretary of the

6 Interior, shall provide for the collection and exam7 ination of data to determine if significant

8 disproportionality based on race is occurring in the

9 State with respect to—

10 ‘‘(A) the identification of children as chil11 dren with disabilities, including the identifica12 tion of children as children with disabilities in

13 accordance with a particular impairment de14 scribed in section 602(3); and

15 ‘‘(B) the placement in particular edu16 cational settings of such children.

17 ‘‘(2) REVIEW AND REVISION OF POLICIES,

18 PRACTICES, AND PROCEDURES.—In the case of a de19 termination of significant disproportionality with re20 spect to the identification of children as children

21 with disabilities, or the placement in particular edu22 cational settings of such children, in accordance with
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1 paragraph (1), the State or the Secretary of the In2 terior, as the case may be, shall provide for the re3 view and, if appropriate, revision of the policies, pro4 cedures, and practices used in such identification or

5 placement to ensure that such policies, procedures,

6 and practices comply with the requirements of this

7 Act.

8 ‘‘SEC. 619. PRESCHOOL GRANTS.

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide

10 grants under this section to assist States to provide special

11 education and related services, in accordance with this

12 part—

13 ‘‘(1) to children with disabilities aged 3 to 5, in14 clusive; and

15 ‘‘(2) at the State’s discretion, to 2-year-old chil16 dren with disabilities who will turn 3 during the

17 school year.

18 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY.—A State shall be eligible for a

19 grant under this section if such State—

20 ‘‘(1) is eligible under section 612 to receive a

21 grant under this part; and

22 ‘‘(2) makes a free appropriate public education

23 available to all children with disabilities, aged 3 to

24 5, inclusive, residing in the State.

25 ‘‘(c) AMOUNT.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount appro2 priated for any fiscal year pursuant to the author3 ization of appropriations under subsection (m), the

4 Secretary shall allot to each eligible State the

5 amount it received for fiscal year 1997 under this

6 section (as this section was in effect on the day be7 fore the date of the enactment of the IDEA Im8 provement Act of 1997).

9 ‘‘(2) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the amount appro11 priated under subsection (m) for a fiscal year is

12 insufficient to make the full allotments de13 scribed in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall—

14 ‘‘(i) first, reduce the allocation to any

15 State whose number of children aged 3 to

16 5, inclusive, is less than the number of

17 such children in such State in fiscal year

18 1996 by the same percentage by which

19 such number of children declined from the

20 number of children in fiscal year 1996; and

21 ‘‘(ii) second, if necessary, ratably re22 duce the allocations of all States, including

23 those allocations reduced under clause (i).

24 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY OF ADDITIONAL

25 FUNDS.—If additional funds become available
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1 to make allocations under this section, the allo2 cations that were reduced under subparagraph

3 (A) shall be increased on the same basis as

4 such allocations were reduced.

5 ‘‘(d) ALLOTMENT OF REMAINING FUNDS.—After

6 making allotments under subsection (c), the Secretary

7 shall allot any remaining funds to eligible States on the

8 basis of their relative population of children aged 3 to 5,

9 inclusive.

10 ‘‘(e) SPECIAL RULE WITH RESPECT TO PUERTO

11 RICO.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this sub12 section, the amount allotted to Puerto Rico for a fiscal

13 year shall bear the same or lower proportion to the amount

14 appropriated pursuant to subsection (m) as the amount

15 received by Puerto Rico under this section for fiscal year

16 1997 bears to the aggregate of the amounts received by

17 all States under this section for fiscal year 1997.

18 ‘‘(f) DETERMINATION OF POPULATION FIGURES.—

19 For the purpose of providing grants under this section,

20 the Secretary shall use the most recent population data

21 that are available and satisfactory to the Secretary.

22 ‘‘(g) RESERVATION FOR STATE ACTIVITIES.—A

23 State may reserve not more than 25 percent of the amount

24 allotted to the State under this section for a fiscal year
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1 for administration and other State-level activities in ac2 cordance with subsections (h) and (i).

3 ‘‘(h) STATE ADMINISTRATION.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State may use up to 3

5 percent of the amount allotted to the State under

6 this section for a fiscal year for the purpose of ad7 ministering this section, including the coordination

8 of activities under this part with, and providing

9 technical assistance to, other programs that provide

10 services to children with disabilities.

11 ‘‘(2) USE OF AMOUNTS FOR ADMINISTRATION

12 OF PART C.—If the State educational agency is the

13 lead agency for the State under part C, amounts de14 scribed in paragraph (1) may also be used for the

15 administration of such part C.

16 ‘‘(i) OTHER STATE-LEVEL ACTIVITIES.—Each State

17 shall use any funds it retains under subsection (g) and

18 does not use for administration under subsection (h)—

19 ‘‘(1) for support services (including establishing

20 and implementing the mediation process required by

21 section 615(d)), which may benefit children with dis22 abilities younger than 3 or older than 5 as long as

23 those services also benefit children with disabilities

24 aged 3 to 5, inclusive;
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1 ‘‘(2) for direct services for children eligible for

2 services under this section;

3 ‘‘(3) to develop a State improvement plan under

4 part D;

5 ‘‘(4) for activities at the State and local levels

6 to meet the performance goals established by the

7 State under section 612(a)(14) and to support im8 plementation of the State improvement plan under

9 part D if the State receives funds under that part;

10 or

11 ‘‘(5) to supplement other funds used to develop

12 and implement a Statewide coordinated services sys13 tem designed to improve results for children and

14 families, including children with disabilities and their

15 families, but not to exceed one percent of the

16 amount received by the State under this section for

17 a fiscal year.

18 ‘‘(j) SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN19 CIES.—

20 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT TO MAKE SUBGRANTS.—

21 Each State that receives a grant under this section

22 for any fiscal year shall distribute at least 75 per23 cent of the grant funds to local educational agencies

24 in the State, and to State agencies that received

25 funds under section 614A(a) (as such section was in
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1 effect on the day before the date of the enactment

2 of the IDEA Improvement Act of 1997) for fiscal

3 year 1997, that have established their eligibility

4 under section 613.

5 ‘‘(2) METHODS OF DISTRIBUTION.—A State

6 may distribute funds under paragraph (1) on the

7 basis of—

8 ‘‘(A) total school age population;

9 ‘‘(B) school enrollment;

10 ‘‘(C) numbers of children with disabilities

11 aged 3 to 5, inclusive, receiving a free appro12 priate public education;

13 ‘‘(D) allocations for previous fiscal years;

14 ‘‘(E) any two or more of the factors de15 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (D); or

16 ‘‘(F) poverty, in combination with one or

17 more of the factors described in subparagraphs

18 (A) through (D).

19 ‘‘(k) PART C INAPPLICABLE.—Part C of this Act

20 does not apply to any child with a disability receiving a

21 free appropriate public education, in accordance with this

22 part, with funds received under this section.

23 ‘‘(l) PROHIBITION ON CONSOLIDATION OF GRANTS

24 FOR TERRITORIES.—The provisions of section 501 of
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1 Public Law 95–134 (48 U.S.C. 1469a; relating to the con2 solidation of one or more grants provided to certain terri3 tories) shall not apply with respect to amounts provided

4 to a territory under a grant under this section.

5 ‘‘(m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For

6 the purpose of carrying out this section, there are author7 ized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums as may

8 be necessary.

9 ‘‘PART C—INFANTS AND TODDLERS WITH

10 DISABILITIES

11 ‘‘SEC. 631. FINDINGS AND POLICY.

12 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that there is an

13 urgent and substantial need—

14 ‘‘(1) to enhance the development of infants and

15 toddlers with disabilities and to minimize their po16 tential for developmental delay;

17 ‘‘(2) to reduce the educational costs to our soci18 ety, including our Nation’s schools, by minimizing

19 the need for special education and related services

20 after infants and toddlers with disabilities reach

21 school age;

22 ‘‘(3) to minimize the likelihood of institutional23 ization of individuals with disabilities and maximize

24 the potential for their independently living in society;
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1 ‘‘(4) to enhance the capacity of families to meet

2 the special needs of their infants and toddlers with

3 disabilities; and

4 ‘‘(5) to enhance the capacity of State and local

5 agencies and service providers to identify, evaluate,

6 and meet the needs of historically underrepresented

7 populations, particularly minority, low-income, inner8 city, and rural populations.

9 ‘‘(b) POLICY.—It is therefore the policy of the United

10 States to provide financial assistance to States—

11 ‘‘(1) to develop and implement a statewide,

12 comprehensive, coordinated, multidisciplinary, inter13 agency system of early intervention services for in14 fants and toddlers with disabilities and their fami15 lies;

16 ‘‘(2) to facilitate the coordination of payment

17 for early intervention services from Federal, State,

18 local, and private sources (including public and pri19 vate insurance coverage); and

20 ‘‘(3) to enhance their capacity to provide qual21 ity early intervention services and expand and im22 prove existing early intervention services being pro23 vided to infants and toddlers with disabilities and

24 their families.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 632. DEFINITIONS.

2 ‘‘As used in this part:

3 ‘‘(1) AT-RISK INFANT OR TODDLER.—The term

4 ‘at-risk infant or toddler’ means an individual under

5 3 years of age who would be at risk of experiencing

6 a substantial developmental delay if early interven7 tion services were not provided to the individual.

8 ‘‘(2) COUNCIL.—The term ‘council’ means a

9 State interagency coordinating council established

10 under section 641.

11 ‘‘(3) DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY.—The term ‘de12 velopmental delay’, when used with respect to an in13 dividual residing in a State, has the meaning given

14 such term by the State under section 635(a)(1).

15 ‘‘(4) EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES.—The

16 term ‘early intervention services’ means developmen17 tal services which—

18 ‘‘(A) are provided under public supervision;

19 ‘‘(B) are provided at no cost except where

20 Federal or State law provides for a system of

21 payments by families, including a schedule of

22 sliding fees;

23 ‘‘(C) are designed to meet the developmen24 tal needs of an infant or toddler with a disabil25 ity in any one or more of the following areas—

26 ‘‘(i) physical development;
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1 ‘‘(ii) cognitive development;

2 ‘‘(iii) communication development;

3 ‘‘(iv) social or emotional development;

4 or

5 ‘‘(v) adaptive development;

6 ‘‘(D) meet the standards of the State in

7 which they are provided, including the require8 ments of this part;

9 ‘‘(E) include—

10 ‘‘(i) family training, counseling, and

11 home visits;

12 ‘‘(ii) special instruction;

13 ‘‘(iii) speech-language pathology and

14 audiology services;

15 ‘‘(iv) occupational therapy;

16 ‘‘(v) physical therapy;

17 ‘‘(vi) psychological services;

18 ‘‘(vii) service coordination services;

19 ‘‘(viii) medical services only for diag20 nostic or evaluation purposes;

21 ‘‘(ix) early identification, screening,

22 and assessment services;

23 ‘‘(x) health services necessary to en24 able the infant or toddler to benefit from

25 the other early intervention services;
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1 ‘‘(xi) social work services;

2 ‘‘(xii) vision services;

3 ‘‘(xiii) assistive technology devices and

4 assistive technology services; and

5 ‘‘(xiv) transportation and related costs

6 that are necessary to enable an infant or

7 toddler and the infant’s or toddler’s family

8 to receive another service described in this

9 paragraph;

10 ‘‘(F) are provided by qualified personnel,

11 including—

12 ‘‘(i) special educators;

13 ‘‘(ii) speech-language pathologists and

14 audiologists;

15 ‘‘(iii) occupational therapists;

16 ‘‘(iv) physical therapists;

17 ‘‘(v) psychologists;

18 ‘‘(vi) social workers;

19 ‘‘(vii) nurses;

20 ‘‘(viii) nutritionists;

21 ‘‘(ix) family therapists;

22 ‘‘(x) orientation and mobility special23 ists; and

24 ‘‘(xi) pediatricians and other physi25 cians;
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1 ‘‘(G) to the maximum extent appropriate,

2 are provided in natural environments, including

3 the home, and community settings in which

4 children without disabilities participate; and

5 ‘‘(H) are provided in conformity with an

6 individualized family service plan adopted in ac7 cordance with section 636.

8 ‘‘(5) INFANT OR TODDLER WITH A DISABIL9 ITY.—The term ‘infant or toddler with a disabil10 ity’—

11 ‘‘(A) means an individual under 3 years of

12 age who needs early intervention services be13 cause the individual—

14 ‘‘(i) is experiencing developmental

15 delays, as measured by appropriate diag16 nostic instruments and procedures in one

17 or more of the areas of cognitive develop18 ment, physical development, communica19 tion development, social or emotional devel20 opment, and adaptive development; or

21 ‘‘(ii) has a diagnosed physical or men22 tal condition which has a high probability

23 of resulting in developmental delay; and

24 ‘‘(B) may also include, at a State’s discre25 tion, at-risk infants and toddlers.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 633. GENERAL AUTHORITY.

2 ‘‘The Secretary shall, in accordance with this part,

3 make grants to States (from their allocations under sec4 tion 643) to assist each State to maintain and implement

5 a statewide, comprehensive, coordinated, multidisciplinary,

6 interagency system to provide early intervention services

7 for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families.

8 ‘‘SEC. 634. ELIGIBILITY.

9 ‘‘In order to be eligible for a grant under section 633,

10 a State shall demonstrate to the Secretary that the

11 State—

12 ‘‘(1) has adopted a policy that appropriate early

13 intervention services are available to all infants and

14 toddlers with disabilities in the State and their fami15 lies, including Indian infants and toddlers with dis16 abilities and their families residing on a reservation

17 geographically located in the State; and

18 ‘‘(2) has in effect a statewide system that meets

19 the requirements of section 635.

20 ‘‘SEC. 635. REQUIREMENTS FOR STATEWIDE SYSTEM.

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A statewide system described in

22 section 633 shall include, at a minimum, the following

23 components:

24 ‘‘(1) A definition of the term ‘developmental

25 delay’ that will be used by the State in carrying out

26 programs under this part.
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1 ‘‘(2) A timely, comprehensive, multidisciplinary

2 evaluation of the functioning of each infant or tod3 dler with a disability in the State, and a family4 directed identification of the needs of each family of

5 such an infant or toddler, to appropriately assist in

6 the development of the infant or toddler.

7 ‘‘(3) For each infant or toddler with a disability

8 in the State, an individualized family service plan in

9 accordance with section 636, including service co10 ordination services in accordance with such service

11 plan.

12 ‘‘(4) A comprehensive child find system, con13 sistent with part B, including a system for making

14 referrals to service providers that includes timelines

15 and provides for participation by primary referral

16 sources.

17 ‘‘(5) A public awareness program focusing on

18 early identification of infants and toddlers with dis19 abilities, including the preparation and dissemination

20 by the lead agency designated or established under

21 paragraph (8) to all primary referral sources, espe22 cially hospitals and physicians, of information for

23 parents on the availability of early intervention serv24 ices, and procedures for determining the extent to
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1 which such sources disseminate such information to

2 parents of infants and toddlers.

3 ‘‘(6) A central directory which includes infor4 mation on early intervention services, resources, and

5 experts available in the State and research and dem6 onstration projects being conducted in the State.

7 ‘‘(7) A comprehensive system of personnel de8 velopment, including the training of paraprofes9 sionals and the training of primary referral sources

10 respecting the basic components of early intervention

11 services available in the State, that is consistent

12 with the comprehensive system of personnel develop13 ment described in section 612(a)(13) (or with the

14 personnel development requirements for State im15 provement plans under section 683) and may in16 clude—

17 ‘‘(A) implementing innovative strategies

18 and activities for the recruitment and retention

19 of early education service providers;

20 ‘‘(B) promoting the preparation of early

21 intervention providers who are fully and appro22 priately qualified to provide early intervention

23 services under this part;

24 ‘‘(C) training personnel to work in rural

25 and inner city areas; and
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1 ‘‘(D) training personnel to coordinate tran2 sition services for infants and toddlers served

3 under this part from an early intervention pro4 gram under this part to preschool or other ap5 propriate services.

6 ‘‘(8) Policies and procedures relating to the es7 tablishment and maintenance of standards to ensure

8 that personnel necessary to carry out this part are

9 appropriately and adequately prepared and trained,

10 including—

11 ‘‘(A) the establishment and maintenance of

12 standards which are consistent with any State

13 approved or recognized certification, licensing,

14 registration, or other comparable requirements

15 which apply to the area in which such personnel

16 are providing early intervention services; and

17 ‘‘(B) subject to subsection (b), to the ex18 tent such standards are not based on the high19 est requirements in the State applicable to a

20 specific profession or discipline, the steps the

21 State is taking to require the retraining or hir22 ing of personnel that meet appropriate profes23 sional requirements in the State;
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1 except that nothing in this part, including this para2 graph, prohibits the use of paraprofessionals and as3 sistants who are appropriately trained and super4 vised, in accordance with State law, regulations, or

5 written policy, to assist in the provision of early

6 intervention services to infants and toddlers with

7 disabilities under this part.

8 ‘‘(9) A single line of responsibility in a lead

9 agency designated or established by the Governor for

10 carrying out—

11 ‘‘(A) the general administration and super12 vision of programs and activities receiving as13 sistance under section 633, and the monitoring

14 of programs and activities used by the State to

15 carry out this part, whether or not such pro16 grams or activities are receiving assistance

17 made available under section 633, to ensure

18 that the State complies with this part;

19 ‘‘(B) the identification and coordination of

20 all available resources within the State from

21 Federal, State, local and private sources;

22 ‘‘(C) the assignment of financial respon23 sibility in accordance with section 637(a)(1) to

24 the appropriate agencies;
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1 ‘‘(D) the development of procedures to en2 sure that services are provided to infants and

3 toddlers and their families under this part in a

4 timely manner pending the resolution of any

5 disputes among public agencies or service pro6 viders;

7 ‘‘(E) the resolution of intra- and inter8 agency disputes; and

9 ‘‘(F) the entry into formal interagency

10 agreements that define the financial responsibil11 ity of each agency for paying for early interven12 tion services (consistent with State law) and

13 procedures for resolving disputes and that in14 clude all additional components necessary to en15 sure meaningful cooperation and coordination.

16 ‘‘(10) A policy pertaining to the contracting or

17 making of other arrangements with service providers

18 to provide early intervention services in the State,

19 consistent with the provisions of this part, including

20 the contents of the application used and the condi21 tions of the contract or other arrangements.

22 ‘‘(11) A procedure for securing timely reim23 bursement of funds used under this part in accord24 ance with section 640(a).
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1 ‘‘(12) Procedural safeguards with respect to

2 programs under this part, as required by section

3 639.

4 ‘‘(13) A system for compiling data requested by

5 the Secretary under section 618 that relates to this

6 part.

7 ‘‘(14) A State interagency coordinating council

8 that meets the requirements of section 641.

9 ‘‘(15) Policies and procedures to ensure that,

10 consistent with section 636(d)(5)—

11 ‘‘(A) to the maximum extent appropriate,

12 early intervention services are provided in natu13 ral environments; and

14 ‘‘(B) the provision of early intervention

15 services for any infant or toddler occurs in a

16 setting other than a natural environment only

17 when early intervention cannot be achieved sat18 isfactorily for such infant or toddler in a natu19 ral environment.

20 ‘‘(b) MODIFICATION OF PERSONNEL REQUIRE21 MENT.—If a State determines that the requirement of

22 subsection (a)(8)(B) would significantly inhibit the ability

23 of the State to contract with, or employ, an appropriate

24 number and types of personnel to provide early interven25 tion services to infants and toddlers with disabilities in
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1 a geographic region, the State may, subject to public no2 tice and comment, temporarily suspend the requirement

3 for the region, in a manner consistent with State law and

4 for a period not exceeding 3 years, with respect to the

5 most qualified available individuals in shortage areas who

6 are making annual progress in applicable coursework.

7 ‘‘SEC. 636. INDIVIDUALIZED FAMILY SERVICE PLAN.

8 ‘‘(a) ASSESSMENT AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT.—

9 A statewide system described in section 633 shall provide,

10 at a minimum, for each infant or toddler with a disability,

11 and the infant’s or toddler’s family, to receive—

12 ‘‘(1) a multidisciplinary assessment of the

13 unique strengths and needs of the infant or toddler

14 and the identification of services appropriate to meet

15 such needs;

16 ‘‘(2) a family-directed assessment of the re17 sources, priorities, and concerns of the family and

18 the identification of the supports and services nec19 essary to enhance the family’s capacity to meet the

20 developmental needs of the infant or toddler; and

21 ‘‘(3) a written individualized family service plan

22 developed by a multidisciplinary team, including the

23 parents, as required by subsection (e).

24 ‘‘(b) PERIODIC REVIEW.—The individualized family

25 service plan shall be evaluated once a year and the family
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1 shall be provided a review of the plan at 6-month intervals

2 (or more often where appropriate based on infant or tod3 dler and family needs).

4 ‘‘(c) PROMPTNESS AFTER ASSESSMENT.—The indi5 vidualized family service plan shall be developed within a

6 reasonable time after the assessment required by sub7 section (a)(1) is completed. With the parents’ consent,

8 early intervention services may commence prior to the

9 completion of such assessment.

10 ‘‘(d) CONTENT OF PLAN.—The individualized family

11 service plan shall be in writing and contain—

12 ‘‘(1) a statement of the infant’s or toddler’s

13 present levels of physical development, cognitive de14 velopment, communication development, social or

15 emotional development, and adaptive development,

16 based on objective criteria;

17 ‘‘(2) a statement of the family’s resources, pri18 orities, and concerns relating to enhancing the devel19 opment of the family’s infant or toddler with a dis20 ability;

21 ‘‘(3) a statement of the major outcomes ex22 pected to be achieved for the infant or toddler and

23 the family, and the criteria, procedures, and

24 timelines used to determine the degree to which

25 progress toward achieving the outcomes is being
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1 made and whether modifications or revisions of the

2 outcomes or services are necessary;

3 ‘‘(4) a statement of specific early intervention

4 services necessary to meet the unique needs of the

5 infant or toddler and the family, including the fre6 quency, intensity, and method of delivering services;

7 ‘‘(5) a statement of the natural environments in

8 which early intervention services shall appropriately

9 be provided, including a justification of the extent,

10 if any, to which such services will not be provided in

11 a natural environment;

12 ‘‘(6) the projected dates for initiation of serv13 ices and the anticipated duration of such services;

14 ‘‘(7) the identification of the service coordinator

15 from the profession most immediately relevant to the

16 infant’s or toddler’s or family’s needs (or who is oth17 erwise qualified to carry out all applicable respon18 sibilities under this part) who will be responsible for

19 the implementation of the plan and coordination

20 with other agencies and persons; and

21 ‘‘(8) the steps to be taken to support the transi22 tion of the toddler with a disability to preschool or

23 other appropriate services.

24 ‘‘(e) PARENTAL CONSENT.—The contents of the indi25 vidualized family service plan shall be fully explained to
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1 the parents and informed written consent from such par2 ents shall be obtained prior to the provision of early inter3 vention services described in such plan. If such parents

4 do not provide such consent with respect to a particular

5 early intervention service, then the early intervention serv6 ices to which such consent is obtained shall be provided.

7 ‘‘SEC. 637. STATE APPLICATION AND ASSURANCES.

8 ‘‘(a) APPLICATION.—A State desiring to receive a

9 grant under section 633 shall submit an application to the

10 Secretary at such time and in such manner as the Sec11 retary may reasonably require. Such application shall con12 tain—

13 ‘‘(1) a designation of the lead agency in the

14 State that will be responsible for the administration

15 of funds provided under section 633;

16 ‘‘(2) a designation of a person responsible for

17 assigning financial responsibility among appropriate

18 agencies;

19 ‘‘(3) information demonstrating eligibility of the

20 State under section 634, including—

21 ‘‘(A) information demonstrating to the

22 Secretary’s satisfaction that the State has in ef23 fect the statewide system required by section

24 633; and
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1 ‘‘(B) a description of services to be pro2 vided to infants and toddlers with disabilities

3 and their families through the system;

4 ‘‘(4) a description of the uses for which funds

5 will be expended in accordance with this part;

6 ‘‘(5) a description of the procedure used to en7 sure that resources are made available under this

8 part for all geographic areas within the State;

9 ‘‘(6) a description of State policies and proce10 dures that ensure that, prior to the adoption by the

11 State of any other policy or procedure necessary to

12 meet the requirements of this part, there are public

13 hearings, adequate notice of the hearings, and an

14 opportunity for comment available to the general

15 public, including individuals with disabilities and

16 parents of infants and toddlers with disabilities;

17 ‘‘(7) a description of the policies and procedures

18 to be used—

19 ‘‘(A) to ensure a smooth transition for tod20 dlers receiving early intervention services under

21 this part to preschool or other appropriate serv22 ices, including a description of how—

23 ‘‘(i) the families of such toddlers will

24 be included in the transition plans required

25 by subparagraph (C); and
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1 ‘‘(ii) the lead agency designated or es2 tablished under section 635(a) will—

3 ‘‘(I) notify the local educational

4 agency for the area in which such a

5 child resides that the child will shortly

6 reach the age of eligibility for pre7 school services under part B, as deter8 mined in accordance with State law;

9 ‘‘(II) in the case of such a child

10 who may be eligible for such preschool

11 services, with the approval of the fam12 ily of the child, convene a conference

13 among the lead agency, the family,

14 and the local educational agency at

15 least 90 days (and at the discretion of

16 all such parties, up to 6 months) be17 fore the child is eligible for the pre18 school services, to discuss any such

19 services that the child may receive;

20 and

21 ‘‘(III) in the case of such a child

22 who may not be eligible for such pre23 school services, with the approval of

24 the family, make reasonable efforts to

25 convene a conference among the lead
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1 agency, the family, and providers of

2 other appropriate services for children

3 who are not eligible for preschool serv4 ices under part B, to discuss the ap5 propriate services that the child may

6 receive;

7 ‘‘(B) to review the child’s program options

8 for the period from the child’s third birthday

9 through the remainder of the school year; and

10 ‘‘(C) to establish a transition plan; and

11 ‘‘(8) such other information and assurances as

12 the Secretary may reasonably require.

13 ‘‘(b) ASSURANCES.—The application described in

14 subsection (a) shall contain the following:

15 ‘‘(1) A satisfactory assurance that the State

16 will—

17 ‘‘(A) make such reports in such form and

18 containing such information as the Secretary

19 may require to carry out the Secretary’s func20 tions under this part; and

21 ‘‘(B) keep such records and afford such ac22 cess thereto as the Secretary may find nec23 essary to assure the correctness and verification

24 of such reports and proper disbursement of

25 Federal funds under this part.
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1 ‘‘(2) A satisfactory assurance that Federal

2 funds made available under section 633 will be used

3 to supplement and increase the level of State and

4 local funds expended for infants and toddlers with

5 disabilities and their families under this part and in

6 no case to supplant such State and local funds.

7 ‘‘(3) Such other information and assurances as

8 the Secretary may reasonably require by regulation.

9 ‘‘(c) STANDARD FOR DISAPPROVAL OF APPLICA10 TION.—The Secretary may not disapprove such an appli11 cation unless the Secretary determines, after notice and

12 opportunity for a hearing, that the application fails to

13 comply with the requirements of this section.

14 ‘‘(d) SUBSEQUENT STATE APPLICATION.—If a State

15 has on file with the Secretary a policy, procedure, or as16 surance that demonstrates that the State meets a require17 ment of this section, including any policy or procedure

18 filed under part H (as in effect before the date of the en19 actment of the IDEA Improvement Act of 1996), the Sec20 retary shall consider the State to have met the require21 ment for purposes of receiving a grant under this part.

22 ‘‘(e) MODIFICATION OF APPLICATION.—An applica23 tion submitted by a State in accordance with this section
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1 shall remain in effect until the State submits to the Sec2 retary such modifications as the State determines nec3 essary. This section shall apply to a modification of an

4 application to the same extent and in the same manner

5 as this section applies to the original application.

6 ‘‘SEC. 638. USES OF FUNDS.

7 ‘‘In addition to using funds provided under section

8 633 to maintain and implement the statewide system re9 quired by such section, a State may use such funds—

10 ‘‘(1) for direct early intervention services for in11 fants and toddlers with disabilities, and their fami12 lies, under this part that are not otherwise funded

13 through other public or private sources;

14 ‘‘(2) to expand and improve on services for in15 fants and toddlers and their families under this part

16 that are otherwise available; and

17 ‘‘(3) to provide a free appropriate public edu18 cation, in accordance with part B, to children with

19 disabilities from their third birthday to the begin20 ning of the following school year.

21 ‘‘SEC. 639. PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS.

22 ‘‘(a) MINIMUM PROCEDURES.—The procedural safe23 guards required to be included in a statewide system

24 under section 635(a)(10) shall provide, at a minimum, the

25 following:
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1 ‘‘(1) The timely administrative resolution of

2 complaints by parents. Any party aggrieved by the

3 findings and decision regarding an administrative

4 complaint shall have the right to bring a civil action

5 with respect to the complaint in any State court of

6 competent jurisdiction or in a district court of the

7 United States without regard to the amount in con8 troversy. In any action brought under this para9 graph, the court shall receive the records of the ad10 ministrative proceedings, shall hear additional evi11 dence at the request of a party, and, basing its deci12 sion on the preponderance of the evidence, shall

13 grant such relief as the court determines is appro14 priate.

15 ‘‘(2) The right to confidentiality of personally

16 identifiable information, including the right of par17 ents to written notice of and written consent to the

18 exchange of such information among agencies con19 sistent with Federal and State law.

20 ‘‘(3) The right of the parents to determine

21 whether they, their infant or toddler, or other family

22 members will accept or decline any early intervention

23 service under this part in accordance with State law

24 without jeopardizing other early intervention services

25 under this part.
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1 ‘‘(4) The opportunity for parents to examine

2 records relating to assessment, screening, eligibility

3 determinations, and the development and implemen4 tation of the individualized family service plan.

5 ‘‘(5) Procedures to protect the rights of the in6 fant or toddler whenever the parents of the child are

7 not known or cannot be found or the child is a ward

8 of the State, including the assignment of an individ9 ual (who shall not be an employee of the State or

10 any person, or any employee of a person, providing

11 early intervention services to the infant or toddler or

12 any family member of the infant or toddler) to act

13 as a surrogate for the parents.

14 ‘‘(6) Written prior notice to the parents of the

15 infant or toddler with a disability whenever the State

16 agency or service provider proposes to initiate or

17 change or refuses to initiate or change the identifica18 tion, evaluation, placement, or the provision of ap19 propriate early intervention services to the infant or

20 toddler with a disability.

21 ‘‘(7) Procedures designed to assure that the no22 tice required by paragraph (6) fully informs the par23 ents, in the parents’ native language, unless it clear24 ly is not feasible to do so, of all procedures available

25 pursuant to this section.
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1 ‘‘(8) The right of parents to use mediation in

2 accordance with section 615(e), except that—

3 ‘‘(A) any reference in such section to a

4 State educational agency shall be considered to

5 be a reference to a State’s lead agency estab6 lished or designated under section 635(a)(8);

7 ‘‘(B) any reference in such section to a

8 local educational agency shall be considered to

9 be a reference to a local service provider or the

10 State’s lead agency under this part, as the case

11 may be; and

12 ‘‘(C) any reference in such section to the

13 provision of free appropriate public education to

14 children with disabilities shall be considered to

15 be a reference to the provision of appropriate

16 early intervention services to infants and tod17 dlers with disabilities.

18 ‘‘(b) SERVICES DURING PENDENCY OF PROCEED19 INGS.—During the pendency of any proceeding or action

20 involving a complaint by the parents of an infant or tod21 dler with a disability, unless the State agency and the par22 ents otherwise agree, the infant or toddler shall continue

23 to receive the appropriate early intervention services cur24 rently being provided or, if applying for initial services,

25 shall receive the services not in dispute.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 640. PAYOR OF LAST RESORT.

2 ‘‘(a) NONSUBSTITUTION.—Funds provided under

3 section 643 may not be used to satisfy a financial commit4 ment for services which would have been paid for from

5 another public or private source but for the enactment of

6 this part, except that whenever considered necessary to

7 prevent a delay in the receipt of appropriate early inter8 vention services by an infant, toddler, or family in a timely

9 fashion, funds provided under section 643 may be used

10 to pay the provider of services pending reimbursement

11 from the agency which has ultimate responsibility for the

12 payment.

13 ‘‘(b) REDUCTION OF OTHER BENEFITS.—Nothing in

14 this part shall be construed to permit the State to reduce

15 medical or other assistance available or to alter eligibility

16 under title V of the Social Security Act (relating to mater17 nal and child health) or title XIX of the Social Security

18 Act (relating to medicaid for infants or toddlers with dis19 abilities) within the State.

20 ‘‘SEC. 641. STATE INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUNCIL.

21 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State that desires to re23 ceive financial assistance under this part shall estab24 lish a State interagency coordinating council.

25 ‘‘(2) APPOINTMENT.—The council shall be ap26 pointed by the Governor. In making appointments to
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1 the council, the Governor shall ensure that the mem2 bership of the council reasonably represents the pop3 ulation of the State.

4 ‘‘(3) CHAIRPERSON.—The Governor shall des5 ignate a member of the council to serve as the chair6 person of the council, or shall require the council to

7 so designate such a member. Any member of the

8 council who is a representative of the lead agency

9 designated under section 635(b)(8) may not serve as

10 the chairperson of the council.

11 ‘‘(b) COMPOSITION.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The council shall be com13 posed as follows:

14 ‘‘(A) PARENTS.—At least 20 percent of

15 the members shall be parents of infants or tod16 dlers with disabilities or children with disabil17 ities aged 12 or younger, with knowledge of, or

18 experience with, programs for infants and tod19 dlers with disabilities. At least one such mem20 ber shall be a parent of an infant or toddler

21 with a disability or a child with a disability

22 aged 6 or younger.

23 ‘‘(B) SERVICE PROVIDERS.—At least 20

24 percent of the members shall be public or pri25 vate providers of early intervention services.
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1 ‘‘(C) STATE LEGISLATURE.—At least one

2 member shall be from the State legislature.

3 ‘‘(D) PERSONNEL PREPARATION.—At least

4 one member shall be involved in personnel prep5 aration.

6 ‘‘(E) AGENCY FOR EARLY INTERVENTION

7 SERVICES.—At least one member shall be from

8 each of the State agencies involved in the provi9 sion of, or payment for, early intervention serv10 ices to infants and toddlers with disabilities and

11 their families and shall have sufficient authority

12 to engage in policy planning and implementa13 tion on behalf of such agencies.

14 ‘‘(F) AGENCY FOR PRESCHOOL SERV15 ICES.—At least one member shall be from the

16 State educational agency responsible for pre17 school services to children with disabilities and

18 shall have sufficient authority to engage in pol19 icy planning and implementation on behalf of

20 such agency.

21 ‘‘(G) AGENCY FOR INSURANCE.—At least

22 one member shall be from the agency respon23 sible for the State governance of insurance, es24 pecially in the area of health insurance.
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1 ‘‘(H) HEAD START AGENCY.—A represent2 ative from a Head Start agency or program in

3 the State.

4 ‘‘(I) A representative from a State agency

5 responsible for child care.

6 ‘‘(2) OTHER MEMBERS.—The council may in7 clude other members selected by the Governor, in8 cluding a representative from the Bureau of Indian

9 Affairs, or where there is no BIA operated or funded

10 school, from the Indian Health Service or the tribe/

11 tribal council.

12 ‘‘(c) MEETINGS.—The council shall meet at least

13 quarterly and in such places as it deems necessary. The

14 meetings shall be publicly announced, and, to the extent

15 appropriate, open and accessible to the general public.

16 ‘‘(d) MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY.—Subject to the ap17 proval of the Governor, the council may prepare and ap18 prove a budget using funds under this part to conduct

19 hearings and forums, to reimburse members of the council

20 for reasonable and necessary expenses for attending coun21 cil meetings and performing council duties (including child

22 care for parent representatives), to pay compensation to

23 a member of the council if such member is not employed
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1 or must forfeit wages from other employment when per2 forming official council business, to hire staff, and to ob3 tain the services of such professional, technical, and cleri4 cal personnel as may be necessary to carry out its func5 tions under this part.

6 ‘‘(e) FUNCTIONS OF COUNCIL.—

7 ‘‘(1) DUTIES.—The council shall—

8 ‘‘(A) advise and assist the lead agency des9 ignated or established under section 635(b)(8)

10 in the performance of the responsibilities set

11 out in such section, particularly the identifica12 tion of the sources of fiscal and other support

13 for services for early intervention programs, as14 signment of financial responsibility to the ap15 propriate agency, and the promotion of the

16 interagency agreements;

17 ‘‘(B) advise and assist the lead agency in

18 the preparation of applications and amend19 ments thereto;

20 ‘‘(C) advise and assist the State edu21 cational agency regarding the transition of tod22 dlers with disabilities to preschool and other ap23 propriate services; and

24 ‘‘(D) prepare and submit an annual report

25 to the Governor and to the Secretary on the
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1 status of early intervention programs for in2 fants and toddlers with disabilities and their

3 families operated within the State.

4 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITY.—The council may

5 advise and assist the lead agency and the State edu6 cational agency regarding the provision of appro7 priate services for children aged birth to 5, inclusive.

8 ‘‘(f) CONFLICT OF INTEREST.—No member of the

9 council shall cast a vote on any matter which would pro10 vide direct financial benefit to that member or otherwise

11 give the appearance of a conflict of interest under State

12 law.

13 ‘‘SEC. 642. FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION.

14 ‘‘Sections 616, 617, 618, and 620 shall, to the extent

15 not inconsistent with this part, apply to the program au16 thorized by this part, except that—

17 ‘‘(1) any reference in such sections to a State

18 educational agency shall be considered to be a ref19 erence to a State’s lead agency established or des20 ignated under section 635(a)(8);

21 ‘‘(2) any reference in such sections to a local

22 educational agency, educational service agency, or a

23 State agency shall be considered to be a reference to

24 an early intervention service provider under this

25 part; and
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1 ‘‘(3) any reference to the education of children

2 with disabilities or the education of all children with

3 disabilities shall be considered to be a reference to

4 the provision of appropriate early intervention serv5 ices to infants and toddlers with disabilities.

6 ‘‘SEC. 643. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.

7 ‘‘(a) RESERVATION OF FUNDS FOR TERRITORIES.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the sums appro9 priated to carry out this part for any fiscal year, the

10 Secretary may reserve up to one percent for pay11 ments to Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Is12 lands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mari13 ana Islands in accordance with their respective

14 needs.

15 ‘‘(2) CONSOLIDATION OF FUNDS.—The provi16 sions of Public Law 95–134, permitting the consoli17 dation of grants to the territories, shall not apply to

18 funds those areas receive under this part.

19 ‘‘(b) PAYMENTS TO INDIANS.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, sub21 ject to this subsection, make payments to the Sec22 retary of the Interior to be distributed to tribes,

23 tribal organizations (as defined under section 4 of

24 the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assist25 ance Act), or consortia of the above entities for the
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1 coordination of assistance in the provision of early

2 intervention services by the States to infants and

3 toddlers with disabilities and their families on res4 ervations served by elementary and secondary

5 schools for Indian children operated or funded by

6 the Department of the Interior. The amount of such

7 payment for any fiscal year shall be 1.25 percent of

8 the aggregate of the amount available to all States

9 under this part for such fiscal year.

10 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—For each fiscal year, the

11 Secretary of the Interior shall distribute the entire

12 payment received under paragraph (1) by providing

13 to each tribe, tribal organization, or consortium an

14 amount based on the number of infants and toddlers

15 residing on the reservation as determined annually

16 divided by the total of such children served by all

17 tribes, tribal organizations, or consortia.

18 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION.—To receive a payment

19 under this paragraph, the tribe, tribal organization,

20 or consortia shall submit such information to the

21 Secretary of the Interior as is needed to determine

22 the amounts to be allocated under paragraph (2).

23 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—The funds received by a

24 tribe, tribal organization, or consortia shall be used

25 to assist States in child find, screening, and other
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1 procedures for the early identification of Indian chil2 dren under 3 years of age and for parent training.

3 Such funds may also be used to provide early inter4 vention services in accordance with this part. Such

5 activities may be carried out directly or through con6 tracts or cooperative agreements with the BIA, local

7 educational agencies, and other public or private

8 nonprofit organizations. The tribe, tribal organiza9 tion, or consortia is encouraged to involve Indian

10 parents in the development and implementation of

11 these activities. The above entities shall, as appro12 priate, make referrals to local, State, or Federal en13 tities for the provision of services or further diag14 nosis.

15 ‘‘(5) REPORTS.—To be eligible to receive a

16 grant under paragraph (2), a tribe, tribal organiza17 tion, or consortia shall make a biennial report to the

18 Secretary of the Interior of activities undertaken

19 under this subsection, including the number of con20 tracts and cooperative agreements entered into, the

21 number of children contacted and receiving services

22 for each year, and the estimated number of children

23 needing services during the 2 years following the

24 year in which the report is made. The Secretary of
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1 the Interior shall include a summary of this informa2 tion on a biennial basis to the Secretary of Edu3 cation along with such other information as required

4 under section 611(f)(3)(D). The Secretary of Edu5 cation may require any additional information from

6 the Secretary of the Interior.

7 ‘‘(6) PROHIBITED USES OF FUNDS.—None of

8 the funds under this subsection may be used by the

9 Secretary of the Interior for administrative pur10 poses, including child count, and the provision of

11 technical assistance.

12 ‘‘(c) STATE ALLOTMENTS.—

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para14 graphs (2), (3), and (4), from the funds remaining

15 for each fiscal year after the reservation and pay16 ments under subsections (a) and (b), the Secretary

17 shall first allot to each State an amount that bears

18 the same ratio to the amount of such remainder as

19 the number of infants and toddlers in the State

20 bears to the number of infants and toddlers in all

21 States.

22 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM ALLOTMENTS.—Except as pro23 vided in paragraphs (3) and (4), no State shall re24 ceive an amount under this section for any fiscal

25 year that is less than the greatest of—
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1 ‘‘(A) one-half of one percent of the remain2 ing amount described in paragraph (1); or

3 ‘‘(B) $500,000.

4 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR 1998 AND 1999.—

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

6 paragraph (4), no State may receive an amount

7 under this section for either fiscal year 1998 or

8 1999 that is less than the sum of the amounts

9 such State received for fiscal year 1994

10 under—

11 ‘‘(i) part H (as in effect on the day

12 before the date of the enactment of the

13 IDEA Improvement Act of 1997); and

14 ‘‘(ii) subpart 2 of part D of chapter 1

15 of title I of the Elementary and Secondary

16 Education Act of 1965 (as in effect on the

17 day before the date of the enactment of the

18 Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994)

19 for children with disabilities under 3 years

20 of age.

21 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—If, for fiscal year 1998

22 or 1999, the number of infants and toddlers in

23 a State, as determined under paragraph (1), is

24 less than the number of infants and toddlers so
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1 determined for fiscal year 1994, the amount de2 termined under subparagraph (A) for the State

3 shall be reduced by the same percentage by

4 which the number of such infants and toddlers

5 so declined.

6 ‘‘(4) RATABLE REDUCTION.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the sums made

8 available under this part for any fiscal year are

9 insufficient to pay the full amounts that all

10 States are eligible to receive under this sub11 section for such year, the Secretary shall rat12 ably reduce the allocations to such States for

13 such year.

14 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—If additional

15 funds become available for making payments

16 under this subsection for a fiscal year, alloca17 tions that were reduced under subparagraph

18 (A) shall be increased on the same basis as

19 such allocations were reduced.

20 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this

21 subsection—

22 ‘‘(A) the terms ‘infants’ and ‘toddlers’

23 mean children under 3 years of age; and
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1 ‘‘(B) the term ‘State’ means each of the 50

2 States, the District of Columbia, and the Com3 monwealth of Puerto Rico.

4 ‘‘(d) REALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.—If a State elects

5 not to receive its allotment under subsection (c), the Sec6 retary shall reallot, among the remaining States, amounts

7 from such State in accordance with such subsection.

8 ‘‘SEC. 644. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

9 ‘‘For the purpose of carrying out this part, there are

10 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec11 essary for each of the fiscal years 1998 through 2002.

12 ‘‘PART D—NATIONAL ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE

13 EDUCATION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

14 ‘‘SEC. 651. PURPOSE OF PART.

15 ‘‘The purpose of this part is to support national,

16 State, and local activities aimed at improving educational,

17 early intervention, and transitional services and opportuni18 ties for children with disabilities.

19 ‘‘SEC. 652. ELIGIBILITY FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

20 ‘‘No State, State educational agency, local edu21 cational agency, educational service agency, or other pub22 lic institution or agency may receive a grant, contract, or

23 cooperative agreement under this part which relates exclu24 sively to programs, projects, and activities for children

25 aged 3 to 5, inclusive, unless the State, or, in the case
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1 of an agency or institution, the State in which the agency

2 or institution is located, is eligible to receive a grant under

3 section 619.

4 ‘‘SEC. 653. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop and

6 implement a comprehensive plan for ongoing activities

7 conducted by the Secretary under this part.

8 ‘‘(b) USE OF KNOWLEDGE IN DEVELOPING PLAN.—

9 To the maximum extent appropriate, the Secretary shall

10 ensure that the plan is based upon the knowledge gained

11 from research on practices that have been proven effective

12 in improving the achievement of children with disabilities.

13 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In developing the plan, the

14 Secretary shall consult the following persons:

15 ‘‘(1) Individuals with disabilities.

16 ‘‘(2) Parents of children with disabilities.

17 ‘‘(3) Representatives of State and local edu18 cational agencies and educational service agencies.

19 ‘‘(4) Private schools.

20 ‘‘(5) Institutions of higher education.

21 ‘‘(6) Other Federal agencies.

22 ‘‘(7) The National Council on Disability.

23 ‘‘(8) National organizations with an interest in,

24 and expertise in, providing services to children with

25 disabilities and their families.
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1 ‘‘(9) Any other professionals determined appro2 priate by the Secretary.

3 ‘‘(d) DEADLINE.—The plan shall be developed not

4 later than the date that is 12 months after the date of

5 the enactment of the IDEA Improvement Act of 1997.

6 ‘‘SEC. 654. PEER REVIEW.

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use a panel

8 of experts who are competent, by virtue of their training,

9 expertise, or experience, to evaluate an application under

10 this part that requests more than $75,000 in Federal fi11 nancial assistance.

12 ‘‘(b) COMPOSITION OF PANEL.—A majority of a

13 panel described in subsection (a) shall be composed of in14 dividuals who are not employees of the Federal Govern15 ment.

16 ‘‘(c) PAYMENT OF FEES AND EXPENSES OF CERTAIN

17 MEMBERS.—The Secretary may use available funds ap18 propriated to carry out this part to pay the expenses and

19 fees of panel members who are not employees of the Fed20 eral Government.

21 ‘‘SEC. 655. ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.

22 ‘‘Except as otherwise provided in this part, the per23 sons who, and the agencies that, may apply for receipt

24 of grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements under this

25 part are the following:
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1 ‘‘(1) Institutions of higher education.

2 ‘‘(2) State educational agencies.

3 ‘‘(3) Local educational agencies.

4 ‘‘(4) Educational service agencies.

5 ‘‘(5) Other public agencies.

6 ‘‘(6) Private nonprofit organizations.

7 ‘‘(7) Indian tribes and tribal organizations (as

8 defined under section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter9 mination and Education Assistance Act).

10 ‘‘(8) For-profit organizations.

11 ‘‘SEC. 656. APPLICANT AND RECIPIENT RESPONSIBILITIES.

12 ‘‘(a) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS ON APPLICANTS AND

13 RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary may not make a grant to,

14 or enter into a contract or cooperative agreement with,

15 a person or agency under this part unless—

16 ‘‘(1) the person or agency involves individuals

17 with disabilities, and parents of children with dis18 abilities, in planning, implementing, and evaluating

19 activities conducted under the grant, contract, or

20 agreement;

21 ‘‘(2) the person or agency, where appropriate,

22 evaluates the potential for replication and wide23 spread adoption of such activities; and
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1 ‘‘(3) the person or agency prepares their find2 ings and work product in a format useful for a spe3 cific audience specified by the Secretary, such as

4 parents, administrators, teachers, early intervention

5 personnel, related services personnel, or individuals

6 with disabilities.

7 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS IMPOSED AT DIS8 CRETION OF SECRETARY.—The Secretary may require

9 that a person who, or agency that, is awarded a grant,

10 contract, or cooperative agreement under this part—

11 ‘‘(1) assume a portion of the cost of carrying

12 out the grant, contract, or agreement;

13 ‘‘(2) disseminate the findings and work product

14 of the person or agency; and

15 ‘‘(3) collaborate with other such persons and

16 agencies.

17 ‘‘SEC. 657. INDIRECT COSTS.

18 ‘‘The Secretary—

19 ‘‘(1) may not permit any recipient of Federal

20 funds under this part to use more than 25 percent

21 of such funds for indirect costs; and

22 ‘‘(2) may further limit the extent to which any

23 such recipient may use such funds for such costs.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 658. PROGRAM EVALUATION.

2 ‘‘The Secretary may use funds appropriated to carry

3 out this part to evaluate any activity carried out under

4 this part.

5 ‘‘Subpart 1—National Research and Improvement

6 Activities

7 ‘‘SEC. 661. GENERAL AUTHORITY TO MAKE AWARDS.

8 ‘‘The Secretary may make grants to, and enter into

9 contracts and cooperative agreements with, eligible entities

10 to carry out research and improvement activities that fur11 ther the purpose of this part and are consistent with the

12 priorities established under section 662.

13 ‘‘SEC. 662. PRIORITIES.

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In making awards under this

15 subpart, the Secretary may, without regard to the rule

16 making procedures under section 553 of title 5, United

17 States Code, limit such awards to, or otherwise give prior18 ity to—

19 ‘‘(1) projects that address the improvement of

20 the academic performance of children with disabil21 ities;

22 ‘‘(2) projects that address one or more—

23 ‘‘(A) age ranges;

24 ‘‘(B) disabilities;

25 ‘‘(C) grades in school;
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1 ‘‘(D) types of educational placements or

2 early intervention environments;

3 ‘‘(E) types of services; or

4 ‘‘(F) content areas such as reading;

5 ‘‘(3) projects that address the needs of children

6 based on the severity of their disability;

7 ‘‘(4) projects that address the needs of—

8 ‘‘(A) low-achieving students;

9 ‘‘(B) underserved populations;

10 ‘‘(C) children from low-income families;

11 ‘‘(D) children with limited English pro12 ficiency;

13 ‘‘(E) unserved and underserved areas;

14 ‘‘(F) particular types of geographic areas,

15 such as inner-city or rural areas; or

16 ‘‘(G) institutionalized children in juvenile

17 and adult correctional institutions;

18 ‘‘(5) any activity that is expressly authorized in

19 this title;

20 ‘‘(6) a large-scale longitudinal study designed to

21 provide information on the long-term impact of edu22 cation agency disciplinary procedures on children

23 with disabilities;

24 ‘‘(7) research and development projects includ25 ing—
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1 ‘‘(A) projects that advance knowledge

2 about—

3 ‘‘(i) teaching and learning practices,

4 and assessment techniques, instruments,

5 and strategies, including behavioral strate6 gies, that lead to improved results for chil7 dren with disabilities;

8 ‘‘(ii) the developmental and learning

9 characteristics of children with disabilities

10 in a manner that will improve the design

11 and effectiveness of interventions and in12 struction; or

13 ‘‘(iii) the coordination of education

14 with health and social services;

15 ‘‘(B) large-scale longitudinal studies de16 signed to produce information on the long-term

17 impact of early intervention and education on

18 results for individuals with disabilities;

19 ‘‘(C) model demonstration projects to

20 apply and test research findings in typical serv21 ice settings to determine the usability, effective22 ness, and general applicability of such research

23 findings in such areas as improving instruc24 tional methods, curricula, and tools such as

25 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 to produce, and promote the use

11 of, knowledge to address the special needs of chil12 dren who have a high likelihood of needing special

13 education and related services in order to reduce,

14 through early intervention, the need for special edu15 cation services later in life;

16 ‘‘(10) educational media activities including—

17 ‘‘(A) through September 30, 1998, video

18 description, open captioning, or closed caption19 ing;

20 ‘‘(B) video description, open captioning, or

21 closed captioning of educational, news, and in22 formational materials;

23 ‘‘(C) through September 30, 1998, dis24 tribution of captioned and described materials

25 and videos;
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1 ‘‘(D) distribution of captioned and de2 scribed educational, news, and informational

3 materials and videos; and

4 ‘‘(E) recording free educational materials,

5 including textbooks, for visually impaired and

6 print-disabled students in elementary, second7 ary, post-secondary, and graduate schools; and

8 ‘‘(11) projects to assist institutions of higher

9 education in appropriately serving students with dis10 abilities, including deaf students.

11 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term

12 ‘low-incidence disability’ means—

13 ‘‘(1) a visual impairment, a hearing impair14 ment, or simultaneous visual and hearing impair15 ments;

16 ‘‘(2) a significant cognitive impairment; or

17 ‘‘(3) any impairment for which a small number

18 of personnel, with highly specialized skills and

19 knowledge, are needed nationwide in order for all

20 children with disabilities who have the impairment to

21 receive early intervention services or a free appro22 priate public education.

23 ‘‘(c) REPORT.—If the Secretary awards a grant, con24 tract, or cooperative agreement under this subpart prior

25 to February 1, 1998 with respect to an educational media
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1 activity described in subparagraph (A) or (C) of sub2 section (a)(10), the Secretary, after consulting with the

3 chairman of the Federal Communications Commission,

4 shall submit to the Committee on Economic and Edu5 cational Opportunities of the House of Representatives

6 and the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of

7 the Senate, not later than April 15, 1998, a report on the

8 progress that the Federal Communications Commission is

9 making towards meeting the requirements imposed on the

10 Commission under section 713 of the Communications Act

11 of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 613).

12 ‘‘SEC. 663. NATIONAL ASSESSMENT.

13 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE OF ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary

14 shall carry out a national assessment of activities carried

15 out with Federal funds under this title in order—

16 ‘‘(1) to determine the effectiveness of the title

17 in achieving the purposes of the title;

18 ‘‘(2) to provide information to the President,

19 the Congress, the States, local educational agencies,

20 and the public on how to implement the title more

21 effectively; and

22 ‘‘(3) to provide the President and the Congress

23 with information that will be useful in developing

24 legislation to achieve the purposes of this title more

25 effectively.
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1 ‘‘(b) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall plan, re2 view, and conduct the national assessment under this sec3 tion in consultation with researchers, State practitioners,

4 local practitioners, parents of children with disabilities, in5 dividuals with disabilities, and other appropriate individ6 uals.

7 ‘‘(c) SCOPE OF ASSESSMENT.—The national assess8 ment shall examine how well schools, local educational

9 agencies, States, other recipients of assistance under this

10 title, and the Secretary are achieving the purposes of this

11 title, including—

12 ‘‘(1) the performance of children with disabil13 ities in general scholastic activities and assessments

14 as compared to nondisabled children;

15 ‘‘(2) providing for the participation of children

16 with disabilities in the general education curriculum;

17 ‘‘(3) helping children with disabilities make suc18 cessful transitions from—

19 ‘‘(A) early intervention services to pre20 school education;

21 ‘‘(B) preschool education to elementary

22 school; and

23 ‘‘(C) secondary school to adult life;
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1 ‘‘(4) placing and serving children with disabil2 ities, including children from underserved popu3 lations, in the least restrictive environment appro4 priate;

5 ‘‘(5) preventing children with disabilities, espe6 cially children with emotional disturbances and spe7 cific learning disabilities, from dropping out of

8 school;

9 ‘‘(6) assessing the use of disciplinary measures,

10 and the effect of such use, with children with dis11 abilities as compared to nondisabled children;

12 ‘‘(7) coordinating services provided under this

13 title with each other, with other educational and

14 pupil services (including preschool services), and

15 with health and social services funded from other

16 sources;

17 ‘‘(8) addressing the participation of parents of

18 children with disabilities in the education of their

19 children; and

20 ‘‘(9) resolving disagreements between education

21 personnel and parents through activities such as

22 mediation.

23 ‘‘(d) INTERIM AND FINAL REPORTS.—The Secretary

24 shall submit to the President and the Congress—
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1 ‘‘(1) an interim report that summarizes the pre2 liminary findings of the assessment not later than

3 October 1, 1999; and

4 ‘‘(2) a final report of the findings of the assess5 ment not later than October 1, 2001.

6 ‘‘SEC. 664. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap8 propriated to carry out this subpart such sums as may

9 be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1998 through

10 2002.

11 ‘‘(b) MINIMUM AMOUNTS.—Subject to subsection (c),

12 the Secretary shall ensure that, for each fiscal year, at

13 least the following amounts are provided under this sub14 part to address the following needs:

15 ‘‘(1) $12,832,000 to address the educational,

16 related services, transitional, and early intervention

17 needs of children with deaf-blindness.

18 ‘‘(2) $4,000,000 to address the postsecondary,

19 vocational, technical, continuing, and adult edu20 cation needs of individuals with deafness.

21 ‘‘(c) RATABLE REDUCTION.—If the total amount ap22 propriated to carry out this subpart for any fiscal year

23 is less than $135,600,000, the amounts listed in sub24 section (b) shall be ratably reduced.
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1 ‘‘Subpart 2—Professional Development

2 ‘‘SEC. 671. PURPOSE.

3 ‘‘The purpose of this subpart is to help ensure that—

4 ‘‘(1) personnel responsible for serving children

5 with disabilities, including general and special edu6 cation personnel, related services personnel, and

7 early intervention personnel, have the knowledge and

8 skills necessary to help such children—

9 ‘‘(A) meet developmental goals and, to the

10 maximum extent possible, those challenging ex11 pectations that have been established for all

12 children; and

13 ‘‘(B) be prepared to lead productive, inde14 pendent adult lives to the maximum extent pos15 sible;

16 ‘‘(2) there are adequate numbers of such per17 sonnel to meet the needs of children with disabilities;

18 and

19 ‘‘(3) the skills and knowledge of personnel re20 sponsible for serving children with disabilities reflect

21 the best practices, as determined through research

22 and experience, particularly with respect to the in23 clusion of children with disabilities in the regular

24 education environment.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 672. FINDING.

2 ‘‘The Congress finds that the conditions noted in

3 paragraphs (7) through (10) of section 601(c) can be

4 greatly improved by providing opportunities for the full

5 participation of minorities through the implementation of

6 the following recommendations:

7 ‘‘(1) Implementation of a policy to mobilize the

8 Nation’s resources to prepare minorities for careers

9 in special education and related services.

10 ‘‘(2) Focusing such policy on—

11 ‘‘(A) the recruitment of minorities into

12 teaching; and

13 ‘‘(B) financially assisting historically black

14 colleges and universities and other institutions

15 of higher education (whose minority student en16 rollment is at least 25 percent) to prepare stu17 dents for special education and related service

18 careers.

19 ‘‘SEC. 673. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES.

20 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may

21 make grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative

22 agreements with, eligible entities to support activities of

23 national significance that—

24 ‘‘(1) have broad applicability; and

25 ‘‘(2) will help ensure that the purpose of this

26 subpart is met.
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1 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this

2 section, the Secretary may support any activity that is

3 consistent with subsection (a), including—

4 ‘‘(1) the development, evaluation, demonstra5 tion, or dissemination of effective personnel prepara6 tion practices for personnel to work with children

7 with disabilities;

8 ‘‘(2) promoting the transferability of licensure

9 and certification of teachers and administrators

10 among State and local jurisdictions;

11 ‘‘(3) developing and disseminating models that

12 prepare teachers with strategies, including behav13 ioral management techniques, for addressing the

14 conduct of children with disabilities that impedes

15 their learning and that of others in the classroom;

16 and

17 ‘‘(4) supporting historically black colleges and

18 universities and institutions of higher education with

19 minority enrollments of at least 25 percent for the

20 purpose of preparing personnel.

21 ‘‘SEC. 674. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR PERSONNEL

22 SERVING LOW-INCIDENCE POPULATIONS.

23 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may

24 make grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative

25 agreements with, eligible entities to meet the purpose of
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1 this subpart by supporting preparation for personnel who

2 will provide educational and related services to children

3 with low-incidence disabilities and personnel who will pro4 vide early intervention services to infants and toddlers

5 with disabilities.

6 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Individuals who may be

8 prepared pursuant to this section include personnel

9 who—

10 ‘‘(A) are currently prepared in the fields of

11 educational, related, or early intervention serv12 ices; and

13 ‘‘(B) are studying—

14 ‘‘(i) to obtain degrees, certification, li15 censure, or endorsements in one or more of

16 such fields; or

17 ‘‘(ii) to meet competency requirements

18 in one or more of such fields.

19 ‘‘(2) SCHOLARSHIPS.—The Secretary may in20 clude funds for scholarships, with necessary stipends

21 and allowances, in awards made under this section.

22 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—Any application for assistance

23 under this section shall propose to provide preparation

24 that addresses a significant need, as shown by letters from

25 one or more States stating that the State—
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1 ‘‘(1) intends to accept successful completion of

2 the proposed personnel preparation as meeting State

3 personnel standards for serving children with low-in4 cidence disabilities, or for serving infants and tod5 dlers with disabilities; and

6 ‘‘(2) needs personnel in the area or areas in

7 which the applicant proposes to provide preparation,

8 as identified in the State’s comprehensive system of

9 personnel development under part B or C, or in the

10 State’s State improvement plan under subpart 3.

11 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

12 term ‘low-incidence disability’ has the meaning given such

13 term in section 662(b).

14 ‘‘SEC. 675. LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL.

15 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may

16 make grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative

17 agreements with, eligible entities to meet the purpose of

18 this subpart by preparing educational, related service, and

19 early intervention leadership personnel (including teacher20 preparation faculty, administrators, researchers, super21 visors, and principals) so that they are prepared to help

22 children with disabilities—

23 ‘‘(1) meet developmental goals and, to the max24 imum extent possible, those challenging expectations

25 that have been established for all children; and
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1 ‘‘(2) be prepared to lead productive, independ2 ent adult lives to the maximum extent possible.

3 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this sec5 tion, the Secretary may support any activity that is

6 consistent with subsection (a), including—

7 ‘‘(A) preparation of personnel at the ad8 vanced graduate, doctoral, or post-doctoral lev9 els; and

10 ‘‘(B) professional development of leader11 ship personnel.

12 ‘‘(2) SCHOLARSHIPS.—The Secretary may in13 clude funds for scholarships, with necessary stipends

14 and allowances, in awards under this section.

15 ‘‘(c) PREFERENCES.—In making awards under this

16 section, the Secretary shall give preference to projects at

17 institutions of higher education that have successfully in18 tegrated the professional development of general and spe19 cial education personnel.

20 ‘‘SEC. 676. SERVICE OBLIGATION.

21 ‘‘Each application for funds under section 674 or 675

22 shall include an assurance that the applicant will ensure

23 that individuals who are prepared under the proposed

24 project will subsequently perform work related to their
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1 preparation or repay all or part of the cost of such prepa2 ration.

3 ‘‘SEC. 677. OUTREACH.

4 ‘‘(a) PLAN FOR OUTREACH SERVICES.—The Sec5 retary shall develop a plan for providing outreach services

6 to the entities and populations described in subsection (b)

7 in order to increase the participation of such entities and

8 populations in competitions for grants, contracts, and co9 operative agreements under this subpart.

10 ‘‘(b) ENTITIES AND POPULATIONS DESCRIBED.—

11 The entities and populations referred to in subsection (a)

12 are—

13 ‘‘(1) historically black colleges and universities

14 and other institutions of higher education whose mi15 nority student enrollment is at least 25 percent;

16 ‘‘(2) eligible institutions, as defined in section

17 312 of the Higher Education Act of 1965;

18 ‘‘(3) nonprofit and for-profit agencies at least

19 51 percent owned or controlled by one or more mi20 nority individuals; and

21 ‘‘(4) underrepresented populations.

22 ‘‘(c) FUNDING.—For the purpose of implementing

23 the plan required under subsection (a), the Secretary
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1 shall, for each of the fiscal years 1998 through 2002, ex2 pend 1 percent of the funds appropriated for the fiscal

3 year involved for carrying out this subpart.

4 ‘‘(d) DILIGENCE.—The Secretary shall exercise the

5 utmost authority, resourcefulness, and diligence of the

6 Secretary to meet the requirements of this section.

7 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—Not later than January 31 of each

8 year, beginning with fiscal year 1998 and ending with fis9 cal year 2002, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress

10 a final report on the progress toward meeting the goals

11 of this section during the preceding fiscal year. The report

12 shall include—

13 ‘‘(1) a full explanation of any progress toward

14 meeting the goals of this section; and

15 ‘‘(2) a plan to meet the goals, if necessary.

16 ‘‘(f) UNDERREPRESENTED POPULATIONS DE17 FINED.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘underrep18 resented populations’ means populations such as minori19 ties, the poor, individuals with limited English proficiency,

20 and individuals with disabilities.
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1 ‘‘Subpart 3—State Program Improvement Grants for

2 Children with Disabilities

3 ‘‘SEC. 681. PURPOSE.

4 ‘‘The purpose of this subpart is to assist States in

5 reforming and improving their systems for providing edu6 cational and early intervention services, particularly their

7 systems for professional development, to improve the

8 achievement of children with disabilities.

9 ‘‘SEC. 682. ELIGIBILITY AND COLLABORATIVE PROCESS.

10 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—A State may apply for

11 a grant under this subpart for a grant period that is not

12 less than one year, but is not greater than 4 years.

13 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION THAT COLLABORATIVE PROC14 ESS HAS BEEN USED.—A State that desires to receive

15 a grant under this subpart shall certify to the Secretary

16 that a collaborative process with persons described in sub17 section (c) has been used in developing the State improve18 ment plan described in section 683.

19 ‘‘(c) COLLABORATIVE PROCESS PARTICIPANTS.—

20 ‘‘(1) REQUIRED PARTICIPANTS.—The collabo21 rative process referred to in subsection (b) is a State

22 process for making decisions which includes as par23 ticipants, at a minimum, the Governor of the State

24 and representatives, appointed by such Governor,

25 of—

26 ‘‘(A) parents of children with disabilities;
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1 ‘‘(B) parents of nondisabled children;

2 ‘‘(C) individuals with disabilities;

3 ‘‘(D) organizations representing individuals

4 with disabilities and their parents;

5 ‘‘(E) community-based and other nonprofit

6 organizations related to the education and em7 ployment of individuals with disabilities;

8 ‘‘(F) the lead State agency official or offi9 cials for part C;

10 ‘‘(G) local educational agencies;

11 ‘‘(H) general and special education teach12 ers;

13 ‘‘(I) the State educational agency;

14 ‘‘(J) the State advisory panel established

15 under part B; and

16 ‘‘(K) the State interagency coordinating

17 council established under part C.

18 ‘‘(2) OPTIONAL PARTICIPANTS.—The collabo19 rative process may include, at the Governor’s discre20 tion, representatives, appointed by the Governor,

21 of—

22 ‘‘(A) individuals knowledgeable about voca23 tional education;

24 ‘‘(B) the State agency for higher edu25 cation;
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•HR 5 IH

1 ‘‘(C) institutions of higher education;

2 ‘‘(D) schools of education;

3 ‘‘(E) the State vocational rehabilitation

4 agency;

5 ‘‘(F) public agencies with jurisdiction in

6 the areas of health, mental health, social serv7 ices, and juvenile justice; and

8 ‘‘(G) any other individuals designated by

9 the Governor.

10 ‘‘SEC. 683. STATE IMPROVEMENT PLANS.

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State that desires to receive

12 a grant under this subpart shall submit to the Secretary

13 a State improvement plan that is integrated, to the maxi14 mum extent possible, with State plans under the Elemen15 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and the Reha16 bilitation Act of 1973, as appropriate.

17 ‘‘(b) DETERMINING CHILD AND PROGRAM NEEDS.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State improvement

19 plan shall identify those critical aspects of early

20 intervention, general education, and special edu21 cation programs (including professional development,

22 based on an assessment of State and local needs)

23 that must be improved to enable children with dis24 abilities to meet the goals established by the State

25 under section 612(a)(14).
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1 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED ANALYSES.—To meet the re2 quirement of paragraph (1), the State improvement

3 plan shall include at least—

4 ‘‘(A) an analysis of all information, reason5 ably available to the State, on the performance

6 of children with disabilities in the State, includ7 ing—

8 ‘‘(i) their performance on State as9 sessments and other performance indica10 tors established for all children, including

11 drop-out rates and graduation rates;

12 ‘‘(ii) their participation in postsecond13 ary education and employment; and

14 ‘‘(iii) how their performance on the

15 assessments and indicators described in

16 clause (i) compares to that of non-disabled

17 children;

18 ‘‘(B) an analysis of State and local needs

19 for professional development for personnel to

20 serve children with disabilities that includes, at

21 a minimum, relevant information on current

22 and anticipated personnel shortages, and on the

23 extent of certification or retraining necessary to

24 eliminate such shortages, that is based, to the
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1 maximum extent possible, on existing assess2 ments of personnel needs; and

3 ‘‘(C) a summary of the information and

4 analysis provided by the State to the Secretary

5 under parts B and C on the effectiveness of the

6 State’s systems of early intervention, special

7 education, and general education in meeting the

8 needs of children with disabilities.

9 ‘‘(c) IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES.—Each State im10 provement plan shall—

11 ‘‘(1) describe the strategies the State will use to

12 address the needs identified under subsection (b)(1),

13 including—

14 ‘‘(A) how it will hold school districts and

15 schools accountable for educational progress of

16 children with disabilities;

17 ‘‘(B) how it will provide technical assist18 ance to school districts and schools to improve

19 results for children with disabilities;

20 ‘‘(C) how it will address the identified

21 needs for in-service and pre-service preparation
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1 to ensure that all personnel who work with chil2 dren with disabilities (including both profes3 sional and paraprofessional personnel who pro4 vide early intervention services, special edu5 cation, general education, or related services)

6 have the skills and knowledge necessary to meet

7 the needs of children with disabilities, including

8 a description of how—

9 ‘‘(i) the State will prepare general

10 education and special education personnel

11 with the content knowledge and collabo12 rative skills needed to meet the needs of

13 children with disabilities, including how the

14 State will work with other States on com15 mon certification criteria;

16 ‘‘(ii) the State will prepare profes17 sionals and paraprofessionals in the area of

18 early intervention with the content knowl19 edge and collaborative skills needed to

20 meet the needs of infants and toddlers

21 with disabilities;

22 ‘‘(iii) the State will work with institu23 tions of higher education and other entities

24 that prepare (on both a pre-service and an

25 in-service basis) personnel who work with
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1 children with disabilities to ensure that

2 such institutions and entities develop the

3 capacity to support professional develop4 ment programs which reflect actual edu5 cation practices and techniques;

6 ‘‘(iv) the State’s requirements for li7 censure of teachers and administrators, in8 cluding certification and recertification,

9 will be modified to support an adequate

10 supply of personnel with the necessary

11 skills and knowledge (including, where ap12 propriate, strategies for developing recip13 rocal certification agreements and common

14 certification requirements with other

15 States); and

16 ‘‘(v) the State will work to develop

17 collaborative agreements with other States

18 for the joint support and development of

19 programs to prepare personnel for which

20 there is not sufficient demand within a sin21 gle State to justify support or development

22 of such a program of preparation;

23 ‘‘(D) how it will work in collaboration with

24 other States, particularly neighboring States, to

25 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 than 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 682; 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. 684. 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. 685. 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

25 territory.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 686. 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 1998 through 2002.

5 ‘‘Subpart 4—Parent Training

6 ‘‘SEC. 691. 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) INITIAL AWARDS.—

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

5 make at least one award to a parent organiza6 tion in each State, unless the Secretary does

7 not receive an application from such an organi8 zation in each State of sufficient quality to war9 rant approval.

10 ‘‘(B) SELECTION REQUIREMENT.—The

11 Secretary shall select among applications sub12 mitted by parent organizations in a State in a

13 manner that ensures the most effective assist14 ance to parents, including parents in urban and

15 rural areas, in the State.

16 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL AWARDS.—

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may

18 make additional awards to community-based

19 parent organizations in each State.

20 ‘‘(B) SELECTION REQUIREMENT.—The

21 Secretary may make additional awards in a

22 manner that ensures that parents of children

23 with disabilities in low-income, high-density,

24 and rural areas have access to parent training
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1 and information centers that provide appro2 priate training and information.

3 ‘‘SEC. 692. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR PARENT TRAINING

4 AND INFORMATION CENTERS.

5 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may

6 provide technical assistance for developing, assisting, and

7 coordinating parent training and information programs

8 carried out by parent training and information centers re9 ceiving assistance under section 691.

10 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary may

11 provide technical assistance to a parent training and infor12 mation center under this section in areas such as—

13 ‘‘(1) effective coordination of parent training

14 efforts;

15 ‘‘(2) dissemination of information;

16 ‘‘(3) evaluation by the center of itself;

17 ‘‘(4) promotion of the use of technology, includ18 ing assistive technology devices and assistive tech19 nology services;

20 ‘‘(5) reaching underserved populations;

21 ‘‘(6) including children with disabilities in gen22 eral education programs;

23 ‘‘(7) facilitation of transitions from—

24 ‘‘(A) early intervention services to pre25 school;
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1 ‘‘(B) preschool to school; and

2 ‘‘(C) secondary school to postsecondary en3 vironments; and

4 ‘‘(8) promotion of alternative methods of dis5 pute resolution.

6 ‘‘SEC. 693. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

8 this subpart such sums as may be necessary for each of

9 the fiscal years 1998 through 2002.’’.

10 TITLE II—MISCELLANEOUS

11 PROVISIONS

12 SEC. 201. AMENDMENT TO ESEA TO COORDINATE IDEA AND

13 SCHOOLWIDE PROGRAMS.

14 Section 1114(a)(4) of the Elementary and Secondary

15 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6314(a)(4)) is amend16 ed—

17 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘Secretary

18 (other than formula or discretionary grant programs

19 under the Individuals with Disabilities Education

20 Act),’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary,’’; and

21 (2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘special

22 education and related services under an individual23 ized education program, procedural safeguards,’’

24 after ‘‘civil rights,’’.
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1 SEC. 202. EFFECTIVE DATES.

2 (a) PARTS A, B, AND C.—Except as provided in sub3 section (b), parts A, B, and C of the Individuals with Dis4 abilities Education Act, as amended by title I, shall take

5 effect on July 1, 1998.

6 (b) SECTION 605.—Section 605 of such Act, as

7 amended by title I, shall take effect upon the enactment

8 of this Act.

9 (c) PART D.—Part D of such Act, as amended by

10 title I, shall take effect on October 1, 1997.

11 SEC. 203. REPEALERS.

12 (a) PART I.—Part I of the Individuals with Disabil13 ities Education Act is hereby repealed.

14 (b) PART H.—Effective July 1, 1998, part H of such

15 Act is hereby repealed.

16 (c) PARTS E, F, AND G.—Effective October 1, 1997,

17 parts E, F, and G of such Act are hereby repealed.

Æ