[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 53 (Wednesday, April 2, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E644-E645]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INTRODUCING THE REALIZING THE SPIRIT OF IDEA ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 2, 2003

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to introduce the ``Realizing the 
Spirit of IDEA Act'' with my colleague Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ) 
who serves on the Committee for Education and the Workforce.
  For twenty-five years the federal government has made hollow promises 
to fully fund the Individual with Disabilities in Education Act or 
IDEA. This legislation makes good on these promises. However, it does 
more than that. By linking funding to better outcomes, it also makes 
sure that the spirit of IDEA is truly realized for children with 
disabilities.
  IDEA opened the school doors to children with disabilities. But, more 
needs to be done to make special education work for these students. 
National statistics suggest that there is still a sizable disparity in 
the outcomes of students with disabilities when compared to other 
students.
  When compared to students without disabilities, between 19 and 42 
percent fewer students with disabilities are able to pass state 
proficiency examinations.
  The drop out rate for students with disabilities is double that of 
other students.
  Only 55 percent of students with disabilities receive a regular high 
school diploma (compared to 75 percent of individuals within the 
general school population).
  Individuals with disabilities are 50 percent less likely to attend 
college than are individuals who are not disabled.
  Students with disabilities often avoid the painful experience of 
school and their attendance suffers.
  The Census Bureau reports that 50 percent of individuals with 
disabilities are employed, compared with 84 percent of individuals 
without disabilities.
  The under-funding of IDEA could help explain why students with 
disabilities fare so poorly on these critical outcomes. While Congress 
has doubled federal appropriations for IDEA over the last decade, 
federal funding for IDEA is still less than half of what Congress 
originally promised.
  Unfortunately, recent increases in federal funding have translated 
into very modest improvement in the overall outcomes of children with 
disabilities. This would suggest that we not only need more federal 
funding for students with disabilities, but we need to use our 
resources more wisely.
  Disappointingly, the Republican bill, the ``Improving Education 
Results for Children With Disabilities Act of 2003 (HR 1350),'' 
provides no financial incentives for states and local school districts 
to close the glaring gaps in educational achievement for students with 
disabilities. The Republican bill requires that states and local school 
districts meet new performance standards, but guarantees no new funding 
if they achieve these goals.

  Instead, the Republican legislation only authorizes appropriations to 
achieve full funding of IDEA over the next decade, but it leaves the 
fate of whether this will actually happen to the appropriations 
process. With Republicans recently voting to reduce spending on 
education in their budget, it is unlikely that schools will ever get 
full federal funding through the appropriations process. Just like the 
``No Child Left Behind Act,'' the Republicans want better results from 
schools with less federal government funded resources.
  In contrast, the ``Realizing the Spirit of IDEA Act'' will 
dramatically increase the financial support for children with 
disabilities by making all funding mandatory. However, in order to 
receive increases, school districts must make sure special education 
students are not left behind. In return for mandatory increases in 
funding for IDEA, school districts must help these students: Increase 
their attendance, increase academic proficiency, lower the incidence of 
drop out, increase graduation rates, and improve rates of post-
secondary employment and education.
  The bill will also provide mandatory increases in funding for 
research and development as well as for programs that help infants and 
preschoolers with disabilities and their families.
  Experts in the fields of special education, learning disabilities, 
child psychology and psychiatry and disability organizations agree that 
the ``Realizing the Spirit of IDEA Act'' will improve the quality of 
education for students with disabilities. Attached, please find two 
letters of support for this legislation, one from academic experts and 
the other from advocates for people with disabilities.
  Linking mandatory funding to accountability will profoundly change 
the way IDEA works by doing just that--making it work. The Realizing 
the Spirit of IDEA Act is needed to move away from the status quo. Our 
children, regardless of their ability or disability, deserve more than 
a second-class education. Please join me in supporting the Realizing 
the Spirit of IDEA Act. It is about time we give meaning to the phrase, 
Leave No Child Behind.

                                     Judge David L. Bazelon Center


                                        for Mental Health Law,

                                   Washington, DC, March 26, 2003.
     Hon. Pete Stark,
     Cannon House Office Building, House of Representatives, 
         Washington, DC.
       Dear Representative Stark: The undersigned national mental 
     health advocacy organizations are pleased to offer our 
     support for the Realizing the Spirit of IDEA Act, important 
     legislation you will soon be introducing in the House.
       On behalf of our diverse constituency, representing 
     children with disabilities and their families, advocates, 
     providers and professionals, we are concerned about the 
     educational outcomes of students with disabilities who 
     require special education and related services under the 
     Individuals with

[[Page E645]]

     Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). As you well know, students 
     with disabilities have lower rates of gruduation, attendance 
     and overall academic achievement than students without 
     disabilities. Improving these rates and closing the gaps in 
     academic performance between regular education and special 
     education students is of vital importance to our 
     constituencies and is a goal shared by your legislation.
       The Realizing the Spirit of IDEA Act would help children 
     with disabilities benefit from education by providing schools 
     with financial incentives to improve special education 
     students' school performance. The mandatory federal funding 
     provided under the legislation would be based on a school's 
     ability to demonstrate improved outcomes on important 
     measures, including attendance, graduation, drop out rates 
     and post secondary education and employment. Furthermore, the 
     legislation encourages schools to make use of available best 
     practice interventions in an effort to assist students with 
     special education needs to fully realize their academic 
     potential--and ultimately realize the true spirit of IDEA.
       We look forward to working with you this year to enact the 
     Realizing the Spirit of IDEA Act. Thank you for your 
     continued leadership on behalf of students with disabilities 
     and their families.
           Sincerely,
                                                  Laurel L. Stine,
                                    Director of Federal Relations.
       Submitted on behalf of:
       American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
       American Counseling Association.
       American Psychiatric Association.
       American Psychological Association.
       Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity 
     Disorder.
       Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health.
       National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.
       National Association of School Psychologists.
       National Association of Social Workers.
       National Mental Health Association.
                                  ____

                                                    April 2, 2003.
       Dear Members of Congress: As leading academic experts in 
     the fields of special education, child psychology and 
     education policy, we offer this letter of enthusiastic 
     support for ``The Realizing the Spirit of IDEA Act'' 
     introduced by Representative Pete Stark. It will better 
     educate and ultimately improve the lives of disabled children 
     throughout the United States.
       Congress enacted ``The Individuals with Disabilities 
     Education Act'' (IDEA) over 25 years ago. The original intent 
     of IDEA was to ensure that disabled children had access to 
     the same quality public education as all other children. 
     While IDEA has successfully opened the doors of public 
     schools to children with disabilities, their rates of 
     graduation, attendance, academic achievement and drop out lag 
     well behind all other segments of the school population. 
     After they leave school, young people with disabilities are 
     twice as likely to be unemployed and typically do not receive 
     a post secondary education.
       We believe ``The Realizing the Spirit of IDEA Act'' will 
     provide the right incentives to make the spirit of the 
     original IDEA legislation a reality. ``The Realizing the 
     Spirit of IDEA Act'' will dramatically increase the financial 
     support for children with disabilities, and if a school 
     continues to improve, will provide full federal funding. 
     However, in order to receive increases, school districts must 
     make sure disabled children are not left behind by closing 
     the achievement gap between disabled students and their non-
     disabled classmates. In return for mandatory increases in 
     funding for IDEA, school districts must help disabled 
     students increase their attendance, academic proficiency and 
     graduation rate, lower the incidence of drop out, and improve 
     rates of post-secondary employment and education.
       Since IDEA was enacted, social science research has 
     provided solutions that can improve the educational and 
     career outcomes of children with disabilities. However, the 
     current system primarily provides incentives for schools to 
     focus on following the letter of the law rather than 
     implementing education policies to improve students' 
     performance. By holding schools accountable for improving the 
     education of students with disabilities, this bill will 
     encourage schools to implement empirically based 
     interventions that research has demonstrated work.
       ``The Realizing The Spirit of IDEA Act'' will improve IDEA; 
     moreover, it provides schools the flexibility, incentives and 
     supports necessary to have IDEA fulfill it's original intent. 
     That is why we encourage others to join with us and to help 
     enact this important legislation.
           Sincerely,
       Gerald August, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry Division, of 
     Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Minnesota 
     Academic Health Center Medical School.
       Russell A. Barkley, PhD, Professor, College of Health 
     Professions, Medical University of South Carolina.
       Caryn Carlson, PhD, Professor and Co-Director of Clinical 
     Training, Department of Psychology, The University of Texas 
     at Austin.
       James Comer, MD, The Maurice Falk Professor of Child 
     Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine's Child 
     Study Center.
       Kenneth A. Dodge, PhD, William McDougall Professor of 
     Public Policy Studies, Director, Center for Child and Family 
     Policy, Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke 
     University.
       Douglas Fuchs, PhD, Professor and Co-Director, National 
     Center for Research on Learning Disabilities, Vanderbilt 
     University, Peabody College.
       Terry B. Gutkin, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of 
     Counseling, College of Health and Human Services at San 
     Francisco University.
       Alan E. Kazdin, PhD, John M. Musser Professor, Director, 
     Child Study Center at Yale University School of Medicine.
       Michael Cateldo, PhD, Professor of Behavioral Biology at 
     Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Director of 
     the Department of Behavioral Psychology at the Kennedy 
     Krieger Institute.
       Martha Bridge Denckla, MD, Director of the Developmental 
     Cognitive Neurology Clinic and Batza Family Endowed Chair at 
     the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Professor of Neurology, 
     Pediatrics and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the 
     Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
       George DuPaul, PhD, Professor, Department of Education, 
     Leigh University.
       Elizabeth Glennie, PhD, Research Scholar, Center for Child 
     and Family Policy Director, North Carolina Education Research 
     Data Center, Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, North 
     Carolina Education Research Data Center at Duke University.
       George W. Hynd, EdD, Distinguished Research Professor and 
     Associate Dean, Office of Research and External Affairs, 
     College at The University of Georgia.
       Philip C. Kendall, PhD, Laura H. Carnell Professor of 
     Psychology, Director, Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders 
     Clinic at Temple University.
       Thomas R. Kratochwill, PhD, Professor at University of 
     Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Educational Psychology, 
     Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
       Risk Ostrander, EdD, Chief of Neuropsychology, Assistant 
     Professor of Psychiatry, Division of Child and Adolescent 
     Psychiatry at The Johns Hopkins University.
       Evelyn R. Oka, PhD, Associate Professor and Co-Director, 
     School Psychiatry, Associate Professor, Learning Technology 
     and Culture Dept. of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and 
     Special Education at Michigan State University.
       John Reid, PhD, Senior Scientist at Oregon Social Learning 
     Center.
       Karen C. Stoiber, PhD, Professor, Department of Educational 
     Psychology at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
       John R. Weisz, PhD, Professor, Departments of Psychology 
     and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at University of 
     California, Los Angeles.
       John W. Hagen, PhD, Professor of Psychology at University 
     of Michigan, Executive Officer, Society for Research in Child 
     Development.
       Thomas Oakland, PhD, Professor of Educational Psychology, 
     Norman Hall at University of Florida and President, 
     International Foundation for Children's Education.
       Thomas H. Ollendick, PhD, University Distinguished 
     Professor, Director, Child Study Center, Department of 
     Psychology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State 
     University.
       Elizabeth Stearns, PhD, Research Scholar at Duke 
     University, Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Center 
     for Child and Family Policy.
       James R. Thompson, Chairperson, Department of Special 
     Education at Illinois State University.
       Patrick J. Wolf, PhD, Assistant Professor at Georgetown 
     University Public Policy Institute.

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