Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1996

Abstract

The U.S. Congress is close to completing the first extensive revision of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) since P.L. 94–142 was enacted. This article provides an overview of the major substantive amendments to IDEA currently being proposed by the 104th Congress in the U.S. Senate, including changes in state and local educational agency eligibility; least restrictive environment; private school placement; evaluations, reevaluations, and Individualized Education Programs; discipline procedures; mediation; attorneys' fees; funding obligations of noneducational agencies; comprehensive system of personnel development; professional standards; general education initiatives; flexibility in use of funds; and the discretionary authorities that fund research, personnel preparation, programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities, and other activities. In addition, the article identifies possible scenarios and forecasts the most likely outcome for IDEA reauthorization as it makes its way through the U.S. Congress.

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References

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. $sT 12101 et seq.

Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, 20 U.S.C. $sT 1400 et seq.

Education of the Handicapped Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C. $sT 1400 et seq.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. $sT 2701 et seq.

Hensley v. Echerhart, 461 U.S. 424 (1983). Improving America's Schools Act of 1994, 20 U.S.C. $sT 6301.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990, 20 U.S.C. $sT 1400 et seq.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. $sT 794.

Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. P.L. 104–104, 110 Stat. 56.

Turnbull, H. R. (1993). Free appropriate public education: The law and children with disabilities (4th ed.). Denver: Love.

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U.S. Senate, Committee on Labor and Human Resources . (1996). Report accompanying the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1996 (S. Rept. No. 104–275). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

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