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November 29, 2004

IDEA reauthorization - a win

Congress did indeed complete its work on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The bill removes unnecessary bureaucracy, paperwork, legal process, and expense from the program. That should reduce the adversarial relationships that sometimes exist between families and school officials. More importantly, the bill will shift the emphasis of this critical program from compliance to improving education outcomes and accountability for all students.

Passage of the bill culminated nearly three years of efforts by NSBA that began with a series of focus group sessions and other meetings with local school board members, state school boards associations, local special education teachers, and school attorneys representing more than 30 states. A committee of special education practitioners who are members of NSBA's Council of School Attorneys was particularly influential in formulating concepts and language that were incorporated into the bill.

You can read NSBA Executive Director Anne L. Bryant's statement on the bill's passage here, and an update from NSBA's Advocacy team highlighting some of the changes, here.

Posted November 29, 2004 12:00 AM