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 fol-
lowing 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.
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 Improvement
Act of 1997’’.
TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO THE
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABIL-
ITIES EDUCATION ACT
SEC. 101. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DIS-
ABILITIES EDUCATION ACT.
Parts A through D of the Individuals with Disabil-
ities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) are amended
to read as follows:
‘‘PART A—GENERAL PROVISIONS
‘‘SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; FINDINGS;
PURPOSES.
‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This title may be cited as the
‘Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’.
‘‘(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents
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 appro-
priations.
‘‘Sec. 612. State requirements.
‘‘Sec. 613. Local educational agency requirements.
‘‘Sec. 614. Evaluations, reevaluations, individualized education programs,
and educational placements.
‘‘Sec. 615. Procedural safeguards.
‘‘Sec. 616. Withholding and judicial review.
‘‘Sec. 617. Administration.
‘‘Sec. 618. Program information.
‘‘Sec. 619. Preschool grants.
‘‘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.
‘‘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.
‘‘(c) FINDINGS.—The 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-suffi-
ciency for individuals with disabilities.
‘‘(2) Before the date of the enactment of the
Education for All Handicapped Children Act of
1975 (Public Law 94–142)—
‘‘(A) the special educational needs of chil-
dren with disabilities were not being fully met;
‘‘(B) more than one-half of the children
with disabilities in the United States did not re-
ceive appropriate educational services that
would enable such children to have full equality
of opportunity;
‘‘(C) 1,000,000 of the children with dis-
abilities in the United States were excluded en-
tirely from the public school system and did not
go through the educational process with their
peers;
‘‘(D) there were many children with dis-
abilities throughout the United States partici-
pating in regular school programs whose dis-
abilities prevented such children from having a
successful educational experience because their
disabilities were undetected; and
‘‘(E) because of the lack of adequate serv-
ices within the public school system, families
were often forced to find services outside the
public school system, often at great distance
from their residence and at their own expense.
‘‘(3) Since the enactment and implementation
of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act
of 1975, this Act has been successful in ensuring
children with disabilities and the families of such
children access to a free appropriate public edu-
cation and in improving educational results for chil-
dren with disabilities.
‘‘(4) However, the implementation of this Act
has been impeded by low expectations, and an insuf-
ficient focus on applying replicable research on prov-
en methods of teaching and learning for children
with disabilities.
‘‘(5) Over 20 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
children and ensuring their access in the gen-
eral curriculum to the maximum extent pos-
sible;
‘‘(B) ensuring that families of such chil-
dren have meaningful opportunities to partici-
pate in the education of their children at school
and at home;
‘‘(C) coordinating this Act with other local,
educational service agency, State, and Federal
school improvement efforts in order to ensure
that such children benefit from such efforts and
that special education can become a service for
such children rather than a place where they
are sent;
‘‘(D) providing appropriate special edu-
cation and related services and aids and sup-
ports in the regular classroom to such children,
whenever appropriate;
‘‘(E) supporting high-quality, intensive
professional development for all personnel who
work with such children in order to ensure that