[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 132 (Wednesday, October 9, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1807-E1808]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        INTRODUCTION OF THE IDEA PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT OF 2002

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN A. BOEHNER

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 9, 2002

  Mr. BOEHNER. Mr. Speaker, today I am proud to join my colleague 
Representative Ric Keller in introducing the IDEA Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 2002. This legislation will go a long way in providing school 
districts and administrators the relief they need from the IDEA 
paperwork burden, and in reducing time spent by teachers on non-
instructional activities, as required under the Individuals with 
Disabilities Act (IDEA).
  One year ago, the House Education and the Workforce Committee began 
an aggressive series of hearings exploring major issues that would 
likely be addressed in the Committee's reauthorization of IDEA. 
Numerous witnesses at these hearings testified about the need for the 
Department of Education to identify and

[[Page E1808]]

simplify burdensome regulations under IDEA and for Congress to adopt 
statutory changes that would provide relief to the nation's special 
education and general education teachers who dedicate their careers to 
educating children with special needs.
  The goal of this Committee is to ensure that all students receive a 
quality education. Currently, teachers are forced to spend too much 
time on an overwhelming paperwork burden and not enough time on 
important needs, like lesson plans and parent-teacher conferences. This 
bill will help teachers move beyond simply having enough time to comply 
with regulations and allow them to focus on what is really important, 
reach achievement for our students with special needs. The current 
paperwork structure provides a real threat to ensuring that the maximum 
available resources are focused on a quality education for students 
with special needs.
  Currently, there's a growing shortage of qualified teachers, 
particularly in special education. Special education teachers are being 
driven out of the profession in frustration over the seemingly endless 
stream of red tape and paperwork associated with IDEA. This year, 
President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law. NCLB 
requires that all children with special needs who attend federally 
funded schools have the opportunity to learn from a highly qualified 
special education teacher. States must submit a plan to ensure all 
special education teachers are highly qualified by the end of the 2005-
2006 school year. We must do all we can to ensure that every child with 
special needs is receiving a quality education.
  In our hearings, the Committee heard from school principals, 
administrators, and others voicing frustrations with their schools' 
efforts to provide services to students as required by their 
individualized education programs (IEPs) when paperwork requirements 
compete with available instructional time. In Fairfax County, Virginia, 
for example, professionals spend on average 83.5 hours on paperwork for 
a student who qualifies for service under IDEA, from initial referral 
to development of the IEP--all this before a student even starts to 
receive services under IDEA. As one principal testified at a hearing 
earlier this year, ``teachers find themselves between a rock and a hard 
place . . . with unyielding demands made on their time. When something 
gives, the impact is either on the teacher or the student, two of our 
most valuable resources.''
  According to the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), ``too often 
in special education practice, compliance-related documentation is 
stressed over thoughtful decision-making for children and youth and 
their families. No barrier to delivering quality services is more 
problematic to special educators than paperwork.'' CEC estimates that 4 
hours of pre-meeting time is needed for review and revision of the 
average IEP going into each IEP meeting. In addition, CEC reports that 
a majority of special educators estimate that they spend a day or more 
each week on paperwork, and eighty-three percent report spending from 
half to one-and-a-half days per week in IEP-related meetings.
  Teacher quality is perhaps the most important factor in ensuring the 
progress of students with special needs. We're asking a lot of 
America's special education teachers, and they deserve our full 
support. That's why Representative Keller's bill is so important.
  Representative Keller's proposed amendments to IDEA will help bring 
good teachers to classrooms by identifying and simplifying burdensome 
statutory provisions in IDEA, and it will do so while preserving the 
quality of education provided to children with special needs. They are 
innovative, provide much-needed flexibility to the nation's special 
education system, and will be, I believe, non-controversial in nature.
  This legislation streamlines and increases the effectiveness of many 
provisions within IDEA. It directs the Secretary of Education to 
identify, develop, and disseminate model forms for individualized 
education programs (IEPs), procedural safeguard notices, and prior 
written notice report requirements that incorporate all relevant 
federal statutory and regulatory requirements under IDEA. In addition, 
the legislation allows states that receive funds under Part B of IDEA 
to permit local educational agencies in each state to develop a three-
year IEP (in lieu of an annual IEP) for each child with a disability. 
Representative Keller's bill would also create a pilot program allowing 
the Secretary to waive paperwork requirements under IDEA to 10 states 
based on their proposals for reducing paperwork and non-classroom time 
spent fulfilling statutory and regulatory requirements. These 
initiatives, and others in the bill, will promote innovation and 
provide much-needed flexibility for states as they implement IDEA and 
its accompanying federal, state, and local regulations.
  The IDEA Paperwork Reduction Act of 2002 will take us one step closer 
to reducing burdensome rules under IDEA and allowing teachers and 
administrators the time to do their job of educating children with 
special needs more efficiently and effectively. I urge my colleagues to 
support this legislation.

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