[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 135 (Saturday, November 20, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 1350, INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION 
                        IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2004

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 19, 2004

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the 
Conference Report on H.R. 1350, the Improving Education Results for 
Children with Disabilities Act, IDEA, because it continues to protect 
the right of students with disabilities to receive a free and 
appropriate education. The very purpose of IDEA is to protect the civil 
rights of disabled students and I am pleased to see that my colleagues 
were able to remove the provisions in the House bill that undermined 
that purpose.
  I have received many letters and phone calls from my constituents 
letting me know about the difference that IDEA has made for their 
children. One constituent wrote to me about her son, who has a form of 
autism, and how IDEA rights are helping him thrive for the first time 
in his life. Two other constituents of mine shared a story with me 
regarding their 12-year-old granddaughter, Veronica, and how IDEA 
allowed her to receive the proper attention she needed at an early 
stage in her schooling. Veronica has improved greatly since then and 
her needs are now met with minimal intervention.
  This agreement goes a long way towards ensuring that IDEA will 
continue to benefit children with disabilities. For example, unlike in 
the House version of this bill, students will not be moved indefinitely 
to ``alternative placements'' for any violation of a school code of 
conduct--even if a child's disability is the cause of the specific 
behavior.
  However, I would like to express my disappointment that this 
agreement still does not force us to live up to our funding promises 
for IDEA. Ever since IDEA's initial enactment in 1975, the law has 
included a commitment to pay 40 percent of the average per student cost 
for every special education student. The federal government currently 
pays for about 19 percent of the cost of educating a child with 
disabilities and at the current rate of increase we will never reach 
that promised level of funding.
  The lack of funding for IDEA hurts students and it hurts schools. I 
urge my colleagues to join with me in voting for this conference report 
today, and then I urge them to join with me in fighting to make sure 
that we live up to our funding promises.

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