IB 
Union Calendar No. 44
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1350
[Report No. 108–77] 
To reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 19, 2003
Mr. CASTLE (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. 
SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. DEMINT, Mrs. BIGGERT, 
Mr. TIBERI, Mr. KELLER, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, and Mr. 
COLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Education and the Workforce 
APRIL 29, 2003
Additional sponsors: Mr. EHLERS, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. KEN-
NEDY of Minnesota, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. GORDON, and Mr. 
BELL 
APRIL 29, 2003
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 19, 2003] 
A BILL 
To reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education 
Act, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Education 
Results for Children With Disabilities Act of 2003’’. 
TITLE I—GENERAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 101. SECTIONS 601 THROUGH 603 OF THE INDIVIDUALS 
WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT. 
Sections 601 through 603 of the Individuals with Dis-
abilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400–1402) are amend-
ed to read as follows:
‘‘SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; FINDINGS; 
PURPOSES. 
‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘In-
dividuals with Disabilities Education Act’.
‘‘(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act 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. Acquisition of equipment; construction or alteration of facilities. 
‘‘Sec. 606. Employment of individuals with disabilities. 
‘‘Sec. 607. Requirements for prescribing regulations. 
‘‘Sec. 608. State administration. 
‘‘PART B—ASSISTANCE FOR EDUCATION OF ALL CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES 
‘‘Sec. 611. Authorization; allotment; use of funds; authorization of appropria-
tions. 
‘‘Sec. 612. State eligibility. 
‘‘Sec. 613. Local educational agency eligibility. 
‘‘Sec. 614. Evaluations, eligibility determinations, individualized education pro-
grams, and educational placements.
‘‘Sec. 615. Procedural safeguards. 
‘‘Sec. 616. Monitoring, enforcement, withholding, and judicial review. 
‘‘Sec. 617. Administration. 
‘‘Sec. 618. Program information. 
‘‘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. Findings. 
‘‘SUBPART 1—STATE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANTS 
‘‘Sec. 652. Purpose. 
‘‘Sec. 653. Eligibility and collaborative process. 
‘‘Sec. 654. Applications. 
‘‘Sec. 655. Use of funds. 
‘‘Sec. 656. State grant amounts. 
‘‘Sec. 657. Authorization of appropriations. 
‘‘SUBPART
2—SCIENTIFICALLY
BASED
RESEARCH; 
TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE; 
MODEL
DEMONSTRATION
PROJECTS; DISSEMINATION
OF
INFORMATION; AND 
PERSONNEL PREPARATION PROGRAMS 
‘‘Sec. 661. Purpose. 
‘‘Sec. 662. Administrative provisions. 
‘‘Sec. 663. Research to improve results for children with disabilities. 
‘‘Sec. 664. Technical assistance, demonstration projects, dissemination of infor-
mation, and implementation of scientifically based research. 
‘‘Sec. 665. Personnel preparation programs to improve services and results for 
children with disabilities. 
‘‘Sec. 666. Studies and evaluations. 
‘‘Sec. 667. Authorization of appropriations.
‘‘SUBPART 3—SUPPORTS TO IMPROVE RESULTS FOR CHILDREN WITH 
DISABILITIES 
‘‘Sec. 671. Purposes. 
‘‘Sec. 672. Parent training and information centers. 
‘‘Sec. 673. Community parent resource centers. 
‘‘Sec. 674. Technical assistance for parent training and information centers.
‘‘Sec. 675. Technology development, demonstration, and utilization; and media 
services.
‘‘(c) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
‘‘(1) Disability is a natural part of the human 
experience and in no way diminishes the right of in-
dividuals to participate in or contribute to society. 
Improving educational results for children with dis-
abilities is an essential element of our national policy 
of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participa-
tion, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency 
for individuals with disabilities. 
‘‘(2) Before the date of the enactment of the Edu-
cation for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 
(Public Law 94–142), the special educational needs of 
millions of children with disabilities were not being 
fully met and there were many children with disabil-
ities participating in regular school programs whose 
undiagnosed disabilities prevented them from having 
a successful educational experience. 
‘‘(3) Since the enactment and implementation of 
the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 
1975, this Act has been successful in ensuring chil-
dren with disabilities and the families of such chil-
dren access to a free appropriate public education 
and in improving educational results for children 
with disabilities.
‘‘(4) Over 25 years of research and experience 
has demonstrated that the education of children with 
disabilities can be made more effective by—
‘‘(A) having high expectations for such chil-
dren and ensuring their access to the general 
education curriculum in the regular classroom to 
the maximum extent possible in order—
‘‘(i) to meet developmental goals and, 
to the maximum extent possible, the chal-
lenging expectations that have been estab-
lished for all children; and 
‘‘(ii) to be prepared to lead productive 
and independent adult lives, to the max-
imum extent possible; 
‘‘(B) strengthening the role and responsi-
bility of parents and ensuring that families of 
such children have meaningful opportunities to 
participate in the education of their children at 
school and at home; 
‘‘(C) coordinating this Act with other local, 
State, and Federal school improvement efforts, 
including efforts under the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965, in order to en-
sure that children with disabilities benefit from 
such efforts and that special education can be-
come a service for such children rather than a 
place where they are sent; 
‘‘(D) supporting high-quality, intensive pro-
fessional development for personnel who work 
with children with disabilities; 
‘‘(E) providing incentives for scientifically 
based reading programs and prereferral inter-
vention services to reduce the need to label chil-
dren as disabled in order to address their learn-
ing needs; 
‘‘(F) focusing resources on teaching and 
learning while reducing paperwork and require-
ments that do not assist in improving edu-
cational results; and 
‘‘(G) supporting the development and use of 
technology, including assistive technology devices 
and services, to maximize accessibility for chil-
dren with disabilities. 
‘‘(5) While States, local educational agencies, 
and educational service agencies are primarily re-
sponsible for providing an education for all children 
with disabilities, it is in the national interest that the 
Federal Government has a supporting role in assist-
ing State and local efforts to educate children with
disabilities in order to improve results for such chil-
dren and to ensure equal protection of the law. 
‘‘(6) A more equitable allocation of resources is 
essential for the Federal Government to meet its re-
sponsibility to provide an equal educational oppor-
tunity for all individuals. 
‘‘(7)(A) The Federal Government must respond 
to the growing needs of an increasingly diverse soci-
ety. 
‘‘(B) America’s ethnic profile is rapidly chang-
ing. In the year 2000, nearly one of every three per-
sons in America was a member of a minority group 
or was limited English proficient. 
‘‘(C) Minority children comprise an increasing 
percentage of public school students. 
‘‘(D) With such changing demographics, recruit-
ment efforts for special education personnel should 
focus on increasing the participation of minorities in 
the teaching profession in order to provide appro-
priate role models with sufficient knowledge to ad-
dress the special education needs of these students.
‘‘(8)(A) The limited English proficient popu-
lation is the fastest growing in our Nation, and the 
growth is occurring in many parts of our Nation.
‘‘(B) Studies have documented apparent discrep-
ancies in the levels of referral and placement of lim-
ited English proficient children in special education. 
‘‘(C) This poses a special challenge for special 
education in the referral, assessment, and provision of 
services for our Nation’s students from non-English 
language backgrounds. 
‘‘(9)(A) Greater efforts are needed to prevent the 
intensification of problems connected with mislabeling 
and high dropout rates among minority children with 
disabilities. 
‘‘(B) More minority children continue to be 
served in special education than would be expected 
from the percentage of minority students in the gen-
eral school population. 
‘‘(C) African American children are overidenti-
fied as having mental retardation and emotional dis-
turbance at rates greater than their white counter-
parts.
‘‘(D) In the 1998–99 school year, African Amer-
ican children represented just 14.8 percent of the pop-
ulation aged 6 through 21, but comprised 20.2 percent 
of all children with disabilities. 
‘‘(E) Studies have found that schools with pre-
dominantly Caucasian students and teachers have
placed disproportionately high numbers of their mi-
nority students into special education. 
‘‘(10)(A) As the number of minority students in 
special education increases, the number of minority 
teachers and related services personnel produced in 
colleges and universities continues to decrease. 
‘‘(B) The opportunity for full participation by 
minority individuals, organizations, and historically 
black colleges and universities in awards for grants 
and contracts, boards of organizations receiving as-
sistance under this Act, peer review panels, and 
training of professionals in the area of special edu-
cation is essential to obtain greater success in the edu-
cation of minority children with disabilities. 
‘‘(d) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are—
‘‘(1)(A) to ensure that all children with disabil-
ities have available to them a free appropriate public 
education that emphasizes special education and re-
lated services designed to meet their unique needs and 
prepare them for further education, employment, and 
independent living; 
‘‘(B) to ensure that the rights of children with 
disabilities and parents of such children are protected; 
and
‘‘(C) to assist States, localities, educational serv-
ice agencies, and Federal agencies to provide for the 
education of all children with disabilities; 
‘‘(2) to assist States in the implementation of a 
statewide, comprehensive, coordinated, multidisci-
plinary, interagency system of early intervention 
services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and 
their families; 
‘‘(3) to ensure that educators and parents have 
the necessary tools to improve educational results for 
children with disabilities by supporting system im-
provement activities; coordinated research and per-
sonnel preparation; coordinated technical assistance, 
dissemination, and support; and technology develop-
ment and media services; and 
‘‘(4) to assess, and ensure the effectiveness of, ef-
forts to educate children with disabilities. 
‘‘SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘Except as otherwise provided, as used in this Act: 
‘‘(1) ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY DEVICE.—The term 
‘assistive technology device’ means any item, piece of 
equipment, or product system, whether acquired com-
mercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that 
is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional 
capabilities of a child with a disability.