[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 7, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E60-E61]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IDEA IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1997

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. FRANK RIGGS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 7, 1997

  Mr. RIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join Chairman Goodling, and 
others, in the introduction of the IDEA Improvement Act of 1997. I will 
serve as the chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth and 
Families during the 105th Congress. I care deeply about ensuring that 
all children receive a quality education. There is nothing more 
important to the future of our country than providing the opportunity 
for a high quality education for all Americans. I believe that this can 
be achieved by working together to build on what works: basic 
academics, parental involvement, and dollars to the classroom, not 
bureaucracy.
  We must ensure that children with disabilities are not denied the 
opportunity for a high quality education. The IDEA Improvement Act of 
1997 will help children with disabilities by focusing on their 
education instead of process and bureaucracy, by increasing parents' 
participation, and by giving teachers the tools they need to teach all 
children.
  The bill I have cosponsored is nearly identical to the bipartisan 
IDEA Improvement Act of 1996. That bill, which passed the House in June 
1996 without a single dissenting vote, made numerous changes to current 
law. The 1997 bill changes the focus of the Act to education, not 
process and bureaucracy. It ensures evaluations for special education 
so that schools will consider whether other needs are the primary cause 
of a child's learning problems. These could include inability to speak 
English, or lack of previous instruction in reading and math.
  Another change focusing on education is in the area of due process. 
The IDEA Improvement Act will shift the focus of dispute resolution 
from litigation to mediation--focusing on the real needs of the child. 
Similarly, prior to the commencement of any litigation and unlike 
current law, parents and schools will be required to disclose their 
concerns about the child's education to the other party. I believe this 
will lead to conflict resolution and education for the child, instead 
of more litigation and attorney's fees.
  Parental involvement is an important hallmark of this bill. Under the 
bill, parents will be given the right to access all of their child's 
records and participate in any decisions on the placement of their 
child. Parents will be able to receive regular, meaningful updates 
about the progress their child is making, in another marked change from 
current law. This will further ensure that a child with a disability 
receives a quality education, not simply passes through an educational 
process.
  Finally, the bill will ensure that teachers have the tools they need 
to teach all children. The bill will shift decisions on the expenditure 
of Federal training funds from the Federal Government to States and 
localities. That change will mean more general and special education 
teachers receiving the in-service training they need, instead of the 
pre-service training for special educators that the universities 
desire. The bill will eliminate the incidental benefit rule, which 
prevents schools from allowing even an incidental benefit from IDEA 
funds from deriving to other students, even if doing so would result in 
substantial aggregate cost savings, which can be used to educate all 
children.
  I would like to briefly comment on the process that has led to this 
bill's introduction. During the past 2 months, I met with a number of 
members of the disability and education communities to learn their 
views on last year's bill and the need for reforming IDEA in general. 
During my discussions with the disability community, they expressed 
their appreciation for our initial intention to introduce a bill that 
is silent on the issue of whether schools may expel students with 
disabilities without education services in cases where such expulsion 
is permitted by local law and where the child's actions are unrelated 
to their disability.
  I had taken that action as a sign of good faith that the topic of 
student discipline would be discussed in a fair and open manner by the 
committee. Our hope was that all groups would agree to such a free, 
democratic process.
  Following my conversation with representatives of the disability 
community, I was both surprised and saddened to receive a letter from 
the co-chairs of the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities asking 
Chairman Goodling and me not to introduce a bill at this time. They 
indicated that there was insufficient time in this new Congress for my 
Democrat counterparts to consider a new bill. They were also concerned 
that the bill would be represented as having their support because it 
is based on last year's bill, the contents of which drew heavily from 
the disability and education group consensus process that occurred in 
the spring of last year.
  I do not believe our introduction of the IDEA Improvement Act of 
1997, which has only technical changes from the bill that passed the 
House unanimously last year, will result in any undue difficulty for 
our committee's Democrats. Being based on last year's bill, the 1997 
bill draws from the four hearings and six drafts that preceded the 
House's later bipartisan passage of that bill.

[[Page E61]]

  I certainly do not expect that this legislation will be greeted by 
immediate, unconditional support from all parties. I do, however, 
expect that interested parties will use this new bill as the basis of 
discussion in the coming months.
  Because the disability community has apparently decided against 
supporting such a process of open discussion, the cosponsors of this 
bill and I have chosen to introduce a bill which includes all 
provisions of the bill which has received bipartisan support in the 
House of Representatives. That bill included provisions on cessation of 
education services.
  Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 
will be the first priority of my subcommittee in the 105th Congress. 
Chairman Goodling and I will once again attempt to reach a consensus 
with all of the groups affected by our legislation.

                          ____________________