I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 464

To provide relief to teachers, administrators, and related services providers 

from an excessive paperwork burden, and to reduce time spent by teachers on non-instructional activities, as required under the Individuals 

with Disabilities Education Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2003

Mr. KELLER (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, and Mr. CASTLE) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL

To provide relief to teachers, administrators, and related 

services providers from an excessive paperwork burden, 

and to reduce time spent by teachers on non-instructional 

activities, as required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘IDEA Paperwork Re5 duction Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. STRATEGIC PROPOSALS TO REDUCE THE PAPER2 WORK BURDEN UNDER THE INDIVIDUALS 

3 WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT. 

4 Not later than 6 months after the date of the enact5 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall submit 

6 to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 

7 House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, 

8 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report 

9 that details such regulatory proposals as the Secretary 

10 deems advisable for reducing the paperwork burden on 

11 teachers, administrators, and related services providers 

12 under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and 

13 reducing the non-instructional time spent by teachers in 

14 order to comply with the requirements of the Individuals 

15 with Disabilities Education Act. 

16 SEC. 3. SIMPLIFIED AND STREAMLINED NOTICES. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Edu19 cation shall identify, develop, and disseminate simplified 

20 and streamlined model documents for individualized edu21 cation programs (IEPs), procedural safeguards notices, 

22 and prior written notice reporting requirements incor23 porating relevant Federal statutory and regulatory re24 quirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Edu25 cation Act. 
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1 (b) DISSEMINATION AND TRAINING.—In carrying out 

2 subsection (a), the Secretary shall disseminate and provide 

3 training and technical assistance on the model IEPs, pro4 cedural safeguard notices, and prior written notice report5 ing requirements to all State and local educational agen6 cies, parent training centers, and other appropriate enti7 ties. 

8 SEC. 4. 3-YEAR INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 

9 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF 3-YEAR IEP.—Notwith10 standing part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu11 cation Act, a local educational agency that receives funds 

12 under part B of that Act may offer to the parent of a 

13 child with a disability the option of developing a com14 prehensive 3-year IEP. With the consent of the parent, 

15 the IEP Team shall develop an IEP, as described in sec16 tions 614(d)(1) and 614(d)(3) of that Act, that is de17 signed to serve the child for a 3-year period, which in18 cludes a statement of—

19 (1) measurable goals pursuant to section 

20 614(d)(1)(A)(ii) of that Act, coinciding with natural 

21 transition points for the child, that will enable the 

22 child to be involved in and make progress in the gen23 eral education curriculum and that will meet the

24 child’s other educational needs that result from the 

25 child’s disability; and 
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1 (2) annual goals for measuring progress toward 

2 meeting the goals in paragraph (1). 

3 (b) REVIEW AND REVISION OF 3-YEAR IEP.—

4 (1) REQUIREMENT.—The IEP Team shall con5 duct a review of the child’s 3-year IEP under section 

6 614(d)(4) of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu7 cation Act at each of the child’s natural transition 

8 points. 

9 (2) ANNUAL STREAMLINED REVIEW.—In years 

10 other than a child’s natural transition points, the 

11 local educational agency shall ensure that the IEP 

12 Team—

13 (A) provides an annual streamlined review 

14 of the child’s IEP to determine the child’s cur15 rent levels of progress and determine whether 

16 the annual goals for the child are being 

17 achieved; and 

18 (B) revises the IEP, as appropriate, to en19 able the child to continue to meet the measur20 able goals set out in the IEP. 

21 (3) COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW.—If the review 

22 under paragraph (1) determines that the child is not 

23 making sufficient progress toward the goals de24 scribed in subsection (a), the local educational agen25 cy shall ensure that the IEP Team provides a re-
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1 view, within 30 calendar days, of the IEP under sec2 tion 614(d)(4) of the Individuals with Disabilities 

3 Education Act. 

4 (4) PARENTAL PREFERENCE.—At the request 

5 of the parent, the IEP Team shall conduct a review 

6 of the child’s 3-year IEP under section 614(d)(4) of 

7 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act rath8 er than an annual streamlined review under para9 graph (1).

10 SEC. 5. PAPERWORK REDUCTION DEMONSTRATION PRO11 GRAM. 

12 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary is authorized 

13 to grant waivers of paperwork requirements under the In14 dividuals with Disabilities Education Act for a period of 

15 time not to exceed 4 years with respect to not more than 

16 10 States based on proposals submitted by States for ad17 dressing reduction of paperwork and non-instructional 

18 time spent fulfilling statutory and regulatory require19 ments. 

20 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall include in the an21 nual report of the Department of Education (required to 

22 be transmitted to Congress under section 426 of the De23 partment of Education Organization Act) information re24 lated to the effectiveness of waivers granted under sub25 section (a)—
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1 (1) in reducing the paperwork burden on teach2 ers, administrators, and related services providers 

3 under the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

4 Act, and non-instructional time spent by teachers in 

5 compliance of the requirements of the Individuals 

6 with Disabilities Education Act, including any spe7 cific recommendations for broader implementation; 

8 and 

9 (2) in enhancing longer term educational plan10 ning, improving positive outcomes for children with 

11 disabilities, promoting collaboration between IEP 

12 Team members, and ensuring satisfaction of family 

13 members, including any specific recommendations 

14 for broader implementation. 

15 SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABIL16 ITIES EDUCATION ACT. 

17 (a) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS.—

18 (1) DEFINITIONS.—Section 614(d)(1) of the In19 dividuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 

20 1414(d)(1)) is amended—

21 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

22 clause (ii) and inserting the following:

23 ‘‘(ii) a regular education teacher of 

24 such child (if the child is, or may be, par25 ticipating the majority of the school day in 
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1 the regular education environment), but 

2 such teacher shall not be required to at3 tend a meeting or part of a meeting of the 

4 IEP Team involving issues not related to 

5 the child’s participation in regular edu6 cation, nor shall multiple regular education 

7 teachers, if the child has more than one 

8 regular education teacher, be required to 

9 attend a meeting, or part of a meeting, of 

10 the IEP Team;’’; and 

11 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(C) IEP TEAM ATTENDANCE.—The par13 ent of a child with a disability and the local 

14 educational agency may agree to excuse any 

15 member of the IEP Team from attending an 

16 IEP meeting, in whole or in part, when, under 

17 the circumstances, the attendance of such mem18 ber is not necessary. An IEP Team may obtain 

19 input prior to an IEP meeting from any mem20 ber whose attendance at such meeting is not 

21 necessary as determined under the preceding 

22 sentence.’’. 

23 (2) DEVELOPMENT OF IEP.—Section 614(d)(3) 

24 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1414(d)(3)) is amended by 

25 adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(D) WAIVER OF MEETING.—In making 

2 changes to a child’s IEP, the parent of a child 

3 with a disability and the local education agency 

4 may agree to waive the need to reconvene the 

5 IEP Team and instead develop a written docu6 ment to amend or modify an existing IEP. 

7 ‘‘(E) CONSOLIDATION OF MEETINGS.—To 

8 the extent possible, the local educational agency 

9 shall encourage the consolidation of IEP Team 

10 meetings for a child.’’. 

11 (3) USE OF TECHNOLOGY.—Section 614 of 

12 such Act (20 U.S.C. 1414) is amended by adding at 

13 the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(g) ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF MEETING PARTICIPA15 TION.—When conducting IEP team meetings and place16 ment meetings pursuant to this section and section 615, 

17 the parent of a child with a disability and a local edu18 cational agency may agree to use alternative means of 

19 meeting participation, such as video conferencing and tele20 conference calls.’’. 

21 (b) CONSTRUCTION.—Section 614(e) of such Act (20 

22 U.S.C. 1414(e)) is amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: ‘‘Nothing in this section shall be construed to re24 quire that additional information be included in a child’s 

25 IEP beyond what is explicitly required in this section.’’. 
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1 (c) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS NOTICE.—Section 

2 615(d)(1) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1415(d)(1)) is amended 

3 by striking subparagraphs (B) and (C) and inserting the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(B) at the time services are initially pro6 vided; 

7 ‘‘(C) upon registration of a complaint 

8 under subsection (b)(6) of this section; and 

9 ‘‘(D) upon request by a parent.’’. 

10 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—The term 

13 ‘‘child with a disability’’ has the meaning given the 

14 term in section 602 of the Individuals with Disabil15 ities Education Act. 

16 (2) IEP TEAM.—The term ‘‘IEP Team’’ has 

17 the meaning given the term in section 614(d)(1)(B) 

18 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 

19 (3) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM.—

20 The term ‘‘individualized education program’’ or 

21 ‘‘IEP’’ has the meaning such term has in section 

22 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 

23 Act. 

24 (4) NATURAL TRANSITION POINTS.—The term 

25 ‘‘natural transition points’’ means those periods that 
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1 are close in time to the transition of a child with a 

2 disability from preschool to elementary grades, from 

3 elementary grades to middle or junior high school 

4 grades, from middle or junior high school grades to 

5 high school grades, and from high school grades to 

6 postschool activities, but in no case longer than 3 

7 years. 

8 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of Education. 

10 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

11 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the 

12 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

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