November 17, 2003

Senate Gets Ready to Vote on IDEA Changes;
Parent Advocates Concerned About Attorney Fees Limits

After months in committee, the Senate bill updating the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) will be coming to the floor soon for a vote by the full Senate.

Advocates are urging interested parents to pay close attention to the progress of the Senate bill, which may be saddled with some limiting amendments.

IDEA, first passed in 1975 and last updated (“reauthorized”) in 1997, promises appropriate public education to the approximately 6.5 million American students with disabilities. The periodic reauthorizations serve to change policies and adjust funding. IDEA has never been fully funded by Congress, despite its initial promise to pay 40 percent of the states’ cost of educating children with disabilities.

In addition to funding, parent/student advocates are concerned that the Senate bill, S.1248, might pick up an amendment allowing governors to set rates for attorneys who represent disabled children in disputes with school districts. This means that fees for family attorneys may be capped, but not fees for school districts’ attorneys, potentially making it difficult for families to find legal representation.

The House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill this summer which made a number of key changes to IDEA relating to early identification of learning disabilities, student discipline, tracking of student progress, paperwork reduction, educational objectives, attorney fees and other areas. Although praised by groups representing teachers, principals and schools, the House bill has drawn sharp criticism from special education/parent groups that say it guts protections for children with disabilities.

Once the Senate passes its bill, the House and Senate bills will be merged in a conference committee, and the final compromise version then will go back to the full Congress for a vote, probably sometime in 2004. Until that time, the existing IDEA legislation remains in effect.

The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) urges concerned parents to write, e-mail or phone their senators asking them not to accept any amendments which limit family attorney fees. (For contact information for your legislators, click here.)

Summaries of the proposed bills can be viewed by going to the Library of Congress Web site and entering S.1248 (Senate bill) or H.R.1350 (House bill) in the search field, then clicking “Bill Summary and Status File.”