[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 108 (Thursday, August 1, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7949-S7950]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CRAIG:
  S. 2883. A bill to allow States to design a program to increase 
parental choice in special education, to fully fund the Federal share 
of part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, to help 
States reduce paperwork requirements under part B of such Act, and for 
other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I introduce The Choice IDEA Act, which 
would reform the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA. The 
federal government began dealing with special education in the 1970's, 
and on the whole what has come to be known as IDEA had proven to be a 
remarkable success. Before federal legislation, many times a child with 
a disability received little or no education. And if the child did 
receive an education, it was often sub-standard. IDEA has undoubtedly 
been a success, and you will find no stronger champion of educating the 
disabled than I. However, the success of IDEA should not blind us to 
the problems it, in its current form, causes.
  These problems come up every time I meet with educators and education 
administrators from my state. When we sit down and discuss what we in 
the federal government can do for them, the discussion invariably turns 
to IDEA. These educators and school personnel want two things: full 
funding of the federal government's share of IDEA, like we promised 
back in the 1970's, and a reduction in paperwork. I have also talked to 
numerous parents about their experiences with IDEA. While many are 
happy with the current system, there are also many who are dissatisfied 
and who want more control and more choice over how their children are 
educated.
  Some of the stories I hear are truly incredible and illustrate the 
serious need for IDEA reform. For example, there is a school district 
in North Idaho--in a county which has had very high unemployment and 
below average per-capita income since the early 1990's--which has well 
above the national average of children in special education. This 
district is doing a great job educating those children, but the high 
costs associated with doing so, and the time it takes to complete the 
reams of paperwork that must be filled out for every child, are severe 
drains on that district. I've also heard from a school superintendent 
in Idaho who is going through a particularly sticky due process hearing 
and who laments that the paperwork required by this hearing is costly, 
unnecessary, and takes away teachers' time from the

[[Page S7950]]

classroom. Parents have also contacted me with their stories of how 
school districts have mistreated them and how they can only find the 
proper program for their special child at a private school. The Choice 
IDEA Act would help out these parents, teachers, and school 
administrators by fully funding IDEA by Fiscal Year 2010, giving 
parents significantly more control over how their children are 
educated, and by reducing the onerous burden of paperwork that hampers 
the special education process.
  The centerpiece of the bill is a proposal to allow states to set up a 
special education system based on parental choice. States that want to 
reform would draw up a list of disability categories and how much it 
costs to educate and accommodate a child who has that disability. The 
states would also draw up a menu outlining the educational services 
each pubic school in the state offers to children with those 
disabilities, and how much those services costs. These services must 
equal the quality of the services they offer today, and the states' 
programs would be approved by the Department of Education. If the 
Department of Education approves a state's plan, parents of special 
education children in that state would get a voucher for each child to 
choose from schools' menus to meet the needs of their children. Or, if 
parents did not find satisfactory services from the public schools, 
they could take their vouchers to any private school that could meet 
their children's needs.
  As you can see, parents would have the ultimate control over how 
their child is educated. Since parents would have the option of taking 
their voucher and leaving a school if their child was not being 
educated properly, the due process requirements under IDEA would not be 
necessary and the school personnel would have their paperwork burden 
dramatically reduced. Parents and school personnel could work together 
to find a proper diagnosis for a student who had a disability and to 
find the right ways to educate this child, instead of being forced into 
an adversarial relationship as they are today.
  It is important to point out, though, that this bill has no mandate 
on states that they must design the system outlined above. My bill 
would strengthen states' rights by allowing states one more option in 
dealing with special education. If states want to design such a special 
education system, they should have the freedom to do so. As welfare 
reform has shown us, states are often more innovative than the federal 
government in solving problems. This bill would give them one more tool 
to deal with the problems that are associated with IDEA.
  Another important provision of this bill is that it would set up a 
grant program (up to $1 million) within the Department of Education to 
help school districts which have 15 percent or more of their students 
in special education hire para-professionals to help deal with the 
paperwork.
  The Choice IDEA Act is not intended to be the final say on IDEA 
reform. I agree with many of the Presidential Commission's suggestions 
for IDEA reauthorization and hope to see them enacted into law; 
however, this reauthorization should include a provision giving states 
the option of pursuing their own reforms within the structure outlined 
above. When the Senate begins debating IDEA reauthorization, it is my 
hope that my bill will be considered and the Senate will reform IDEA so 
that the concept of ``no child is left behind'' truly includes every 
child.
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