[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 54 (Thursday, May 4, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     IDEA FULL FUNDING ACT OF 2000

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                               speech of

                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 3, 2000

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to express my 
opposition to H.R. 4055, which authorizes over $160 billion in new 
federal spending for programs imposed on local school districts by the 
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). While I share the 
goal of devoting more resources to educating children with learning 
disabilities, I believe that there is a better way to achieve this 
laudable goal than increasing spending on an unconstitutional, failed 
program that thrusts children, parents, and schools into an 
administrative quagmire. Under the system set up by IDEA, parents and 
schools often become advisories and important decisions regarding a 
child's future are made via litigation. I have received compliments 
from a special education administrator in my district that unscrupulous 
trial lawyers are manipulating the IDEA process to line their pockets 
at the expenses of local school districts. Of course, every dollar a 
local school district has to spend on litigation is a dollar the 
district cannot spend educating children.
  IDEA may also force local schools to deny children access to the 
education that best suits their unique needs in order to fulfill the 
federal command that disabled children be educated ``in the least 
restrictive setting,'' which in practice means mainstreaming. Many 
children may thrive in a mainstream classroom environment, however, 
some children may be mainstreamed solely because school officials 
believe it is required by federal law, even though the mainstream 
environment is not the most appropriate for that child.
  On May 10, 1994, Dr. Mary Wagner testified before the Education 
Committee that disabled children who are not placed in a mainstream 
classroom graduate from high school at a much higher rate than disabled 
children who are mainstreamed. Dr. Wagner quite properly accused 
Congress of sacrificing children to ideology.
  Increasing IDEA spending also provides incentives to over-identify 
children as learning disabled, thus unfairly stigmatizing many children 
and, in a vicious cycle, leading to more demands for increased federal 
spending on IDEA. Instead of increasing spending on a federal program 
that may actually damage the children it claims to help, Congress 
should return control over education to those who best know the child's 
needs: parents. In order to restore parental control to education, I 
have introduced the Family Education Freedom Act (H.R. 935), which 
provides parents with a $3,000 per child tax credit to pay for K-12 
education expenses. My tax credit would be of greatest benefit to 
parents of children with learning disabilities because it would allow 
them to devote more of their resources to ensure their children get an 
education that meets the child's unique needs.
  In conclusion, I would remind my colleagues that parents and local 
communities know their children so much better than any federal 
bureaucrat, and they can do a better job of meeting a child's needs 
than we in Washington. There is no way that the unique needs of my 
grandchildren, and some young boy or girl in Los Angeles, CA or New 
York City can be educated by some sort of `Cookie Cutter' approach. 
Thus, the best means of helping disabled children is to empower their 
parents with the resources to make sure their children receive an 
education suited to their child's special needs, instead of an 
education that scarifies that child's best interest on the altar of the 
``Washington-knows-best'' ideology.
  I therefore urge my colleagues to join with me in helping parents of 
special needs children to provide their children with an education by 
repealing federal mandates that divert resources away from helping 
children and, instead, embrace my Family Education Freedom Act.

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