McKeon, Castle Applaud Release of

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Regulations

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. House Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) and Education Reform Subcommittee Chairman Mike Castle (R-DE) today applauded the release of new regulations by the U.S. Department of Education regarding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

“I am pleased that these new regulations have been released in time for the upcoming school year and am eager to work with Secretary Spellings and others at the Department of Education to see that the goals of both IDEA and No Child Left Behind are fully met,” said Castle.  “For too many years, children with disabilities were denied access to public education, and since the enactment of IDEA, these students have made incredible progress.  One example is that the number of children with disabilities who enroll in college as freshmen has more than tripled.”

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, which reauthorized IDEA and was sponsored by Castle, was signed into law by President Bush on December 3, 2004.  The law calls for reforms to strengthen accountability and results for students; reduce the IDEA paperwork burden for teachers; provide greater flexibility for local school districts to improve early intervention strategies; reduce the number of children who are wrongly placed in special education classes; reduce litigation and restore trust between parents and school districts; and align IDEA with the 2002 No Child Left Behind education reform law.  Since its enactment, Committee Republicans have been working to ensure it would be successfully implemented in U.S. schools. 

“My Committee colleagues and I look forward to more closely reviewing these new guidelines,” concluded McKeon.  “After Congress passed IDEA reform in 2004, the Department went to work on these regulations to help states and local schools implement the newly reauthorized and stronger special education law.  Today represents the most important step yet in that direction.”

For more information on House Republican efforts to reform and strengthen IDEA, visit the Committee’s website at http://edworkforce.house.gov/issues/109th/education/idea/idea.htm.