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 teach-
ers 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 Disabil-
ities Education Act.
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 ‘‘IDEA Paperwork Re-
duction Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. STRATEGIC PROPOSALS TO REDUCE THE PAPER-
WORK BURDEN UNDER THE INDIVIDUALS 
WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT. 
Not later than 6 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall submit 
to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate a report 
that details such regulatory proposals as the Secretary 
deems advisable for reducing the paperwork burden on 
teachers, administrators, and related services providers 
under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and 
reducing the non-instructional time spent by teachers in 
order to comply with the requirements of the Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act. 
SEC. 3. SIMPLIFIED AND STREAMLINED NOTICES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Edu-
cation shall identify, develop, and disseminate simplified 
and streamlined model documents for individualized edu-
cation programs (IEPs), procedural safeguards notices, 
and prior written notice reporting requirements incor-
porating relevant Federal statutory and regulatory re-
quirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Edu-
cation Act.
(b) DISSEMINATION AND TRAINING.—In carrying out 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall disseminate and provide 
training and technical assistance on the model IEPs, pro-
cedural safeguard notices, and prior written notice report-
ing requirements to all State and local educational agen-
cies, parent training centers, and other appropriate enti-
ties. 
SEC. 4. 3-YEAR INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 
(a) DEVELOPMENT
OF
3-YEAR
IEP.—Notwith-
standing part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu-
cation Act, a local educational agency that receives funds 
under part B of that Act may offer to the parent of a 
child with a disability the option of developing a com-
prehensive 3-year IEP. With the consent of the parent, 
the IEP Team shall develop an IEP, as described in sec-
tions 614(d)(1) and 614(d)(3) of that Act, that is de-
signed to serve the child for a 3-year period, which in-
cludes a statement of—
(1) measurable goals pursuant to section 
614(d)(1)(A)(ii) of that Act, coinciding with natural 
transition points for the child, that will enable the 
child to be involved in and make progress in the gen-
eral education curriculum and that will meet the
child’s other educational needs that result from the 
child’s disability; and
(2) annual goals for measuring progress toward 
meeting the goals in paragraph (1). 
(b) REVIEW AND REVISION OF 3-YEAR IEP.—
(1) REQUIREMENT.—The IEP Team shall con-
duct a review of the child’s 3-year IEP under section 
614(d)(4) of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu-
cation Act at each of the child’s natural transition 
points. 
(2) ANNUAL STREAMLINED REVIEW.—In years 
other than a child’s natural transition points, the 
local educational agency shall ensure that the IEP 
Team—
(A) provides an annual streamlined review 
of the child’s IEP to determine the child’s cur-
rent levels of progress and determine whether 
the annual goals for the child are being 
achieved; and 
(B) revises the IEP, as appropriate, to en-
able the child to continue to meet the measur-
able goals set out in the IEP. 
(3) COMPREHENSIVE
REVIEW.—If the review 
under paragraph (1) determines that the child is not 
making sufficient progress toward the goals de-
scribed in subsection (a), the local educational agen-
cy shall ensure that the IEP Team provides a re-
view, within 30 calendar days, of the IEP under sec-
tion 614(d)(4) of the Individuals with Disabilities 
Education Act. 
(4) PARENTAL PREFERENCE.—At the request 
of the parent, the IEP Team shall conduct a review 
of the child’s 3-year IEP under section 614(d)(4) of 
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act rath-
er than an annual streamlined review under para-
graph (1).
SEC. 5. PAPERWORK REDUCTION DEMONSTRATION PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary is authorized 
to grant waivers of paperwork requirements under the In-
dividuals with Disabilities Education Act for a period of 
time not to exceed 4 years with respect to not more than 
10 States based on proposals submitted by States for ad-
dressing reduction of paperwork and non-instructional 
time spent fulfilling statutory and regulatory require-
ments. 
(b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall include in the an-
nual report of the Department of Education (required to 
be transmitted to Congress under section 426 of the De-
partment of Education Organization Act) information re-
lated to the effectiveness of waivers granted under sub-
section (a)—
(1) in reducing the paperwork burden on teach-
ers, administrators, and related services providers 
under the Individuals with Disabilities Education 
Act, and non-instructional time spent by teachers in 
compliance of the requirements of the Individuals 
with Disabilities Education Act, including any spe-
cific recommendations for broader implementation; 
and 
(2) in enhancing longer term educational plan-
ning, improving positive outcomes for children with 
disabilities, promoting collaboration between IEP 
Team members, and ensuring satisfaction of family 
members, including any specific recommendations 
for broader implementation. 
SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABIL-
ITIES EDUCATION ACT. 
(a) INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS.—
(1) DEFINITIONS.—Section 614(d)(1) of the In-
dividuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 
1414(d)(1)) is amended—
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 
clause (ii) and inserting the following:
‘‘(ii) a regular education teacher of 
such child (if the child is, or may be, par-
ticipating the majority of the school day in
the regular education environment), but 
such teacher shall not be required to at-
tend a meeting or part of a meeting of the 
IEP Team involving issues not related to 
the child’s participation in regular edu-
cation, nor shall multiple regular education 
teachers, if the child has more than one 
regular education teacher, be required to 
attend a meeting, or part of a meeting, of 
the IEP Team;’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) IEP TEAM ATTENDANCE.—The par-
ent of a child with a disability and the local 
educational agency may agree to excuse any 
member of the IEP Team from attending an 
IEP meeting, in whole or in part, when, under 
the circumstances, the attendance of such mem-
ber is not necessary. An IEP Team may obtain 
input prior to an IEP meeting from any mem-
ber whose attendance at such meeting is not 
necessary as determined under the preceding 
sentence.’’. 
(2) DEVELOPMENT OF IEP.—Section 614(d)(3) 
of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1414(d)(3)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
‘‘(D) WAIVER
OF
MEETING.—In making 
changes to a child’s IEP, the parent of a child 
with a disability and the local education agency 
may agree to waive the need to reconvene the 
IEP Team and instead develop a written docu-
ment to amend or modify an existing IEP. 
‘‘(E) CONSOLIDATION OF MEETINGS.—To 
the extent possible, the local educational agency 
shall encourage the consolidation of IEP Team 
meetings for a child.’’. 
(3) USE
OF
TECHNOLOGY.—Section 614 of 
such Act (20 U.S.C. 1414) is amended by adding at 
the end the following: 
‘‘(g) ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF MEETING PARTICIPA-
TION.—When conducting IEP team meetings and place-
ment meetings pursuant to this section and section 615, 
the parent of a child with a disability and a local edu-
cational agency may agree to use alternative means of 
meeting participation, such as video conferencing and tele-
conference calls.’’. 
(b) CONSTRUCTION.—Section 614(e) of such Act (20 
U.S.C. 1414(e)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: ‘‘Nothing in this section shall be construed to re-
quire that additional information be included in a child’s 
IEP beyond what is explicitly required in this section.’’.
(c) PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS NOTICE.—Section 
615(d)(1) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1415(d)(1)) is amended 
by striking subparagraphs (B) and (C) and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(B) at the time services are initially pro-
vided; 
‘‘(C) upon registration of a complaint 
under subsection (b)(6) of this section; and 
‘‘(D) upon request by a parent.’’. 
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) CHILD
WITH
A
DISABILITY.—The term 
‘‘child with a disability’’ has the meaning given the 
term in section 602 of the Individuals with Disabil-
ities Education Act. 
(2) IEP TEAM.—The term ‘‘IEP Team’’ has 
the meaning given the term in section 614(d)(1)(B) 
of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 
(3) INDIVIDUALIZED
EDUCATION
PROGRAM.—
The term ‘‘individualized education program’’ or 
‘‘IEP’’ has the meaning such term has in section 
602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education 
Act. 
(4) NATURAL TRANSITION POINTS.—The term 
‘‘natural transition points’’ means those periods that
are close in time to the transition of a child with a 
disability from preschool to elementary grades, from 
elementary grades to middle or junior high school 
grades, from middle or junior high school grades to 
high school grades, and from high school grades to 
postschool activities, but in no case longer than 3 
years. 
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Education. 
(6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 
the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
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