I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5591
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
OCTOBER 9, 2002
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 2002’’.
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.
Notwithstanding part B of the Individuals with Dis-
abilities Education Act, a State that receives funds under
part B of that Act may permit local educational agencies
in the State, with the informed, written consent of the par-
ents of a child with a disability, to carry out the following:
(1) Develop a 3-year IEP (in lieu of an annual
IEP) for the child, with IEP goals coinciding with
natural transition points for the child, including an-
nual goals for measuring progress that are tied to
the general education curriculum content standards
as well as other annual goals, such as life skills, self-
advocacy, social skills, desired post-school outcomes,
and other goals deemed appropriate for the child by
the IEP Team.
(2) Comprehensively review and revise the IEP
consistent with applicable provisions of law, but at
natural transition points for the child as opposed to
annually.
(3) Provide for a streamlined annual IEP re-
view meeting focusing on the child’s current levels of
performance and progress toward meeting the meas-
urable annual goals, and, based on that review, de-
termine if any additions or modifications to the spe-
cial education and related services are needed to en-
able the child to meet the measurable annual goals
set out in the IEP.
(4) Consistent with the performance-reporting
requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act—
(A) regularly inform the parents of the
child of the extent to which their child is pro-
gressing toward meeting the goals of the IEP
(including measurable annual goals and 3-year
IEP goals coinciding with natural transition
points for the child); and
(B) inform the parents of the extent to
which that progress is sufficient to enable the
child to achieve the measurable annual goals by
the end of the school year, as well as the 3-year
IEP goals coinciding with natural transition
points for the child.