INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1997
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INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1997
(House of Representatives - May 13, 1997)
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INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1997
Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (
H.R. 5) to amend the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act,
to reauthorize and make improvements to that act, and for other
purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 5
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997''.
TITLE I--AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT
SEC. 101. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES
EDUCATION ACT.
Parts A through D of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) are amended to read as
follows:
``PART A--GENERAL PROVISIONS
``SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; FINDINGS;
PURPOSES.
``(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the
`Individuals with Disabilities Education Act'.
``(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this
Act is as follows:
``Part A--General Provisions
``Sec. 601. Short title; table of contents; findings; purposes.
``Sec. 602. Definitions.
``Sec. 603. Office of Special Education Programs.
``Sec. 604. Abrogation of State sovereign immunity.
``Sec. 605. Acquisition of equipment; construction or alteration of
facilities.
``Sec. 606. Employment of individuals with disabilities.
``Sec. 607. Requirements for prescribing regulations.
``Part B--Assistance for Education of All Children with Disabilities
``Sec. 611. Authorization; allotment; use of funds; authorization of
appropriations.
``Sec. 612. State eligibility.
``Sec. 613. Local educational agency eligibility.
``Sec. 614. Evaluations, eligibility determinations, individualized
education programs, and educational placements.
``Sec. 615. Procedural safeguards.
``Sec. 616. Withholding and judicial review.
``Sec. 617. Administration.
``Sec. 618. Program information.
``Sec. 619. Preschool grants.
``Part C--Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities
``Sec. 631. Findings and policy.
``Sec. 632. Definitions.
``Sec. 633. General authority.
``Sec. 634. Eligibility.
``Sec. 635. Requirements for statewide system.
``Sec. 636. Individualized family service plan.
``Sec. 637. State application and assurances.
``Sec. 638. Uses of funds.
``Sec. 639. Procedural safeguards.
``Sec. 640. Payor of last resort.
``Sec. 641. State Interagency Coordinating Council.
``Sec. 642. Federal administration.
``Sec. 643. Allocation of funds.
``Sec. 644. Federal Interagency Coordinating Council.
``Sec. 645. Authorization of appropriations.
``Part D--National Activities to Improve Education of Children with
Disabilities
``subpart 1--state program improvement grants for children with
disabilities
``Sec. 651. Findings and purpose.
``Sec. 652. Eligibility and collaborative process.
``Sec. 653. Applications.
``Sec. 654. Use of funds.
``Sec. 655. Minimum State grant amounts.
``Sec. 656. Authorization of appropriations.
``subpart 2--coordinated research, personnel preparation, technical
assistance, support, and dissemination of information
``Sec. 661. Administrative provisions.
``chapter 1--improving early intervention, educational, and
transitional services and results for children with disabilities
through coordinated research and personnel preparation
``Sec. 671. Findings and purpose.
``Sec. 672. Research and innovation to improve services and results for
children with disabilities.
``Sec. 673. Personnel preparation to improve services and results for
children with disabilities.
``Sec. 674. Studies and evaluations.
``chapter 2--improving early intervention, educational, and
transitional services and results for children with disabilities
through coordinated technical assistance, support, and dissemination of
information
``Sec. 681. Findings and purposes.
``Sec. 682. Parent training and information centers.
``Sec. 683. Community parent resource centers.
``Sec. 684. Technical assistance for parent training and information
centers.
``Sec. 685. Coordinated technical assistance and dissemination.
``Sec. 686. Authorization of appropriations.
``Sec. 687. Technology development, demonstration, and utilization, and
media services.
``(c) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
``(1) Disability is a natural part of the human experience
and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to
participate in or contribute to society. Improving
educational results for children with disabilities is an
essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality
of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and
economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.
``(2) Before the date of the enactment of the Education for
All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-142)--
``(A) the special educational needs of children with
disabilities were not being fully met;
``(B) more than one-half of the children with disabilities
in the United States did not receive appropriate educational
services that would enable such children to have full
equality of opportunity;
``(C) 1,000,000 of the children with disabilities in the
United States were excluded entirely from the public school
system and did not go through the educational process with
their peers;
``(D) there were many children with disabilities throughout
the United States participating in regular school programs
whose disabilities prevented such children from
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having a successful educational experience because their
disabilities were undetected; and
``(E) because of the lack of adequate services within the
public school system, families were often forced to find
services outside the public school system, often at great
distance from their residence and at their own expense.
``(3) Since the enactment and implementation of the
Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, this Act
has been successful in ensuring children with disabilities
and the families of such children access to a free
appropriate public education and in improving educational
results for children with disabilities.
``(4) However, the implementation of this Act has been
impeded by low expectations, and an insufficient focus on
applying replicable research on proven methods of teaching
and learning for children with disabilities.
``(5) Over 20 years of research and experience has
demonstrated that the education of children with disabilities
can be made more effective by--
``(A) having high expectations for such children and
ensuring their access in the general curriculum to the
maximum extent possible;
``(B) strengthening the role of parents and ensuring that
families of such children have meaningful opportunities to
participate in the education of their children at school and
at home;
``(C) coordinating this Act with other local, educational
service agency, State, and Federal school improvement efforts
in order to ensure that such children benefit from such
efforts and that special education can become a service for
such children rather than a place where they are sent;
``(D) providing appropriate special education and related
services and aids and supports in the regular classroom to
such children, whenever appropriate;
``(E) supporting high-quality, intensive professional
development for all personnel who work with such children in
order to ensure that they have the skills and knowledge
necessary to enable them--
``(i) to meet developmental goals and, to the maximum
extent possible, those challenging expectations that have
been established for all children; and
``(ii) to be prepared to lead productive, independent,
adult lives, to the maximum extent possible;
``(F) providing incentives for whole-school approaches and
pre-referral intervention to reduce the need to label
children as disabled in order to address their learning
needs; and
``(G) focusing resources on teaching and learning while
reducing paperwork and requirements that do not assist in
improving educational results.
``(6) While States, local educational agencies, and
educational service agencies are responsible for providing an
education for all children with disabilities, it is in the
national interest that the Federal Government have a role in
assisting State and local efforts to educate children with
disabilities in order to improve results for such children
and to ensure equal protection of the law.
``(7)(A) The Federal Government must be responsive to the
growing needs of an increasingly more diverse society. A more
equitable allocation of resources is essential for the
Federal Government to meet its responsibility to provide an
equal educational opportunity for all individuals.
``(B) America's racial profile is rapidly changing. Between
1980 and 1990, the rate of increase in the population for
white Americans was 6 percent, while the rate of increase for
racial and ethnic minorities was much higher: 53 percent for
Hispanics, 13.2 percent for African-Americans, and 107.8
percent for Asians.
``(C) By the year 2000, this Nation will have 275,000,000
people, nearly one of every three of whom will be either
African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, or American
Indian.
``(D) Taken together as a group, minority children are
comprising an ever larger percentage of public school
students. Large-city school populations are overwhelmingly
minority, for example: for fall 1993, the figure for Miami
was 84 percent; Chicago, 89 percent; Philadelphia, 78
percent; Baltimore, 84 percent; Houston, 88 percent; and Los
Angeles, 88 percent.
``(E) Recruitment efforts within special education must
focus on bringing larger numbers of minorities into the
profession in order to provide appropriate practitioner
knowledge, role models, and sufficient manpower to address
the clearly changing demography of special education.
``(F) The limited English proficient population is the
fastest growing in our Nation, and the growth is occurring in
many parts of our Nation. In the Nation'
s 2 largest school
districts, limited English students make up almost half of
all students initially entering school at the kindergarten
level. Studies have documented apparent discrepancies in the
levels of referral and placement of limited English
proficient children in special education. The Department of
Education has found that services provided to limited English
proficient students often do not respond primarily to the
pupil's academic needs. These trends pose special challenges
for special education in the referral, assessment, and
services for our Nation's students from non-English language
backgrounds.
``(8)(A) Greater efforts are needed to prevent the
intensification of problems connected with mislabeling and
high dropout rates among minority children with disabilities.
``(B) More minority children continue to be served in
special education than would be expected from the percentage
of minority students in the general school population.
``(C) Poor African-American children are 2.3 times more
likely to be identified by their teacher as having mental
retardation than their white counterpart.
``(D) Although African-Americans represent 16 percent of
elementary and secondary enrollments, they constitute 21
percent of total enrollments in special education.
``(E) The drop-out rate is 68 percent higher for minorities
than for whites.
``(F) More than 50 percent of minority students in large
cities drop out of school.
``(9)(A) The opportunity for full participation in awards
for grants and contracts; boards of organizations receiving
funds under this Act; and peer review panels; and training of
professionals in the area of special education by minority
individuals, organizations, and historically black colleges
and universities is essential if we are to obtain greater
success in the education of minority children with
disabilities.
``(B) In 1993, of the 915,000 college and university
professors, 4.9 percent were African-American and 2.4 percent
were Hispanic. Of the 2,940,000 teachers, prekindergarten
through high school, 6.8 percent were African-American and
4.1 percent were Hispanic.
``(C) Students from minority groups comprise more than 50
percent of K-12 public school enrollment in seven States yet
minority enrollment in teacher training programs is less than
15 percent in all but six States.
``(D) As the number of African-American and Hispanic
students in special education increases, the number of
minority teachers and related service personnel produced in
our colleges and universities continues to decrease.
``(E) Ten years ago, 12 percent of the United States
teaching force in public elementary and secondary schools
were members of a minority group. Minorities comprised 21
percent of the national population at that time and were
clearly underrepresented then among employed teachers. Today,
the elementary and secondary teaching force is 13 percent
minority, while one-third of the students in public schools
are minority children.
``(F) As recently as 1991, historically black colleges and
universities enrolled 44 percent of the African-American
teacher trainees in the Nation. However, in 1993,
historically black colleges and universities received only 4
percent of the discretionary funds for special education and
related services personnel training under this Act.
``(G) While African-American students constitute 28 percent
of total enrollment in special education, only 11.2 percent
of individuals enrolled in preservice training programs for
special education are African-American.
``(H) In 1986-87, of the degrees conferred in education at
the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D levels, only 6, 8, and 8 percent,
respectively, were awarded to African-American or Hispanic
students.
``(10) Minorities and underserved persons are socially
disadvantaged because of the lack of opportunities in
training and educational programs, undergirded by the
practices in the private sector that impede their full
participation in the mainstream of society.
``(d) Purposes.--The purposes of this title are--
``(1)(A) to ensure that all children with disabilities have
available to them a free appropriate public education that
emphasizes special education and related services designed to
meet their unique needs and prepare them for employment and
independent living;
``(B) to ensure that the rights of children with
disabilities and parents of such children are protected; and
``(C) to assist States, localities, educational service
agencies, and Federal agencies to provide for the education
of all children with disabilities;
``(2) to assist States in the implementation of a
statewide, comprehensive, coordinated, multidisciplinary,
interagency system of early intervention services for infants
and toddlers with disabilities and their families;
``(3) to ensure that educators and parents have the
necessary tools to improve educational results for children
with disabilities by supporting systemic-change activities;
coordinated research and personnel preparation; coordinated
technical assistance, dissemination, and support; and
technology development and media services; and
``(4) to assess, and ensure the effectiveness of, efforts
to educate children with disabilities.
``SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS.
``Except as otherwise provided, as used in this Act:
``(1) Assistive technology device.--The term `assistive
technology device' means any item, piece of equipment, or
product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf,
modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain,
or improve functional capabilities of a child with a
disability.
``(2) Assistive technology service.--The term `assistive
technology service' means any service that directly assists a
child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use
of an assistive technology device. Such term includes--
``(A) the evaluation of the needs of such child, including
a functional evaluation of
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the child in the child's customary environment;
``(B) purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing for the
acquisition of assistive technology devices by such child;
``(C) selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting,
applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing of assistive
technology devices;
``(D) coordinating and using other therapies,
interventions, or services with assistive technology devices,
such as those associated with existing education and
rehabilitation plans and programs;
``(E) training or technical assistance for such child, or,
where appropriate, the family of such child; and
``(F) training or technical assistance for professionals
(including individuals providing education and rehabilitation
services), employers, or other individuals who provide
services to, employ, or are otherwise substantially involved
in the major life functions of such child.
``(3) Child with a disability.--
``(A) In general.--The term `child with a disability' means
a child--
``(i) with mental retardation, hearing impairments
(including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual
impairments (including blindness), serious emotional
disturbance (hereinafter referred to as `emotional
disturbance'), orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic
brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning
disabilities; and
``(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and
related services.
``(B) Child aged 3 through 9.--The term `child with a
disability' for a child aged 3 through 9 may, at the
discretion of the State and the local educational agency,
include a child--
``(i) experiencing developmental delays, as defined by the
State and as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments
and procedures, in one or more of the following areas:
physical development, cognitive development, communication
development, social or emotional development, or adaptive
development; and
``(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and
related services.
``(4) Educational service agency.--The term `educational
service agency'--
``(A) means a regional public multiservice agency--
``(i) authorized by State law to develop, manage, and
provide services or programs to local educational agencies;
and
``(ii) recognized as an administrative agency for purposes
of the provision of special education and related services
provided within public elementary and secondary schools of
the State; and
``(B) includes any other public institution or agency
having administrative control and direction over a public
elementary or secondary school.
``(5) Elementary school.--The term `elementary school'
means a nonprofit institutional day or residential school
that provides elementary education, as determined under State
law.
``(6) Equipment.--The term `equipment' includes--
``(A) machinery, utilities, and built-in equipment and any
necessary enclosures or structures to house such machinery,
utilities, or equipment; and
``(B) all other items necessary for the functioning of a
particular facility as a facility for the provision of
educational services, including items such as instructional
equipment and necessary furniture; printed, published, and
audio-visual instructional materials; telecommunications,
sensory, and other technological aids and devices; and books,
periodicals, documents, and other related materials.
``(7) Excess costs.--The term `excess costs' means those
costs that are in excess of the average annual per-student
expenditure in a local educational agency during the
preceding school year for an elementary or secondary school
student, as may be appropriate, and which shall be computed
after deducting--
``(A) amounts received--
``(i) under part B of this title;
``(ii) under part A of title I of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965; or
``(iii) under part A of title VII of that Act; and
``(B) any State or local funds expended for programs that
would qualify for assistance under any of those parts.
``(8) Free appropriate public education.--The term `free
appropriate public education' means special education and
related services that--
``(A) have been provided at public expense, under public
supervision and direction, and without charge;
``(B) meet the standards of the State educational agency;
``(C) include an appropriate preschool, elementary, or
secondary school education in the State involved; and
``(D) are provided in conformity with the individualized
education program required under section 614(d).
``(9) Indian.--The term `Indian' means an individual who is
a member of an Indian tribe.
``(10) Indian tribe.--The term `Indian tribe' means any
Federal or State Indian tribe, band, rancheria, pueblo,
colony, or community, including any Alaska Native village or
regional village corporation (as defined in or established
under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act).
``(11) Individualized education program.--The term
`individualized education program' or `IEP' means a written
statement for each child with a disability that is developed,
reviewed, and revised in accordance with section 614(d).
``(12) Individualized family service plan.--The term
`individualized family service plan' has the meaning given
such term in section 636.
``(13) Infant or toddler with a disability.--The term
`infant or toddler with a disability' has the meaning given
such term in section 632.
``(14) Institution of higher education.--The term
`institution of higher education'--
``(A) has the meaning given that term in section 1201(a) of
the Higher Education Act of 1965; and
``(B) also includes any community college receiving funding
from the Secretary of the Interior under the Tribally
Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978.
``(15) Local educational agency.--
``(A) The term `local educational agency' means a public
board of education or other public authority legally
constituted within a State for either administrative control
or direction of, or to perform a service function for, public
elementary or secondary schools in a city, county, township,
school district, or other political subdivision of a State,
or for such combination of school districts or counties as
are recognized in a State as an administrative agency for its
public elementary or secondary schools.
``(B) The term includes--
``(i) an educational service agency, as defined in
paragraph (4); and
``(ii) any other public institution or agency having
administrative control and direction of a public elementary
or secondary school.
``(C) The term includes an elementary or secondary school
funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but only to the
extent that such inclusion makes the school eligible for
programs for which specific eligibility is not provided to
the school in another provision of law and the school does
not have a student population that is smaller than the
student population of the local educational agency receiving
assistance under this Act with the smallest student
population, except that the school shall not be subject to
the jurisdiction of any State educational agency other than
the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
``(16) Native language.--The term `native language', when
used with reference to an individual of limited English
proficiency, means the language normally used by the
individual, or in the case of a child, the language normally
used by the parents of the child.
``(17) Nonprofit.--The term `nonprofit', as applied to a
school, agency, organization, or institution, means a school,
agency, organization, or institution owned and operated by
one or more nonprofit corporations or associations no part of
the net earnings of which inures, or may lawfully inure, to
the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.
``(18) Outlying area.--The term `outlying area' means the
United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
``(19) Parent.--The term `parent'--
``(A) includes a legal guardian; and
``(B) except as used in sections 615(b)(2) and 639(a)(5),
includes an individual assigned under either of those
sections to be a surrogate parent.
``(20) Parent organization.--The term `parent organization'
has the meaning given that term in section 682(g).
``(21) Parent training and information center.--The term
`parent training and information center' means a center
assisted under section 682 or 683.
``(22) Related services.--The term `related services' means
transportation, and such developmental, corrective, and other
supportive services (including speech-language pathology and
audiology services, psychological services, physical and
occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic
recreation, social work services, counseling services,
including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility
services, and medical services, except that such medical
services shall be for diagnostic and evaluation purposes
only) as may be required to assist a child with a disability
to benefit from special education, and includes the early
identification and assessment of disabling conditions in
children.
``(23) Secondary school.--The term `secondary school' means
a nonprofit institutional day or residential school that
provides secondary education, as determined under State law,
except that it does not include any education beyond grade
12.
``(24) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary
of Education.
``(25) Special education.--The term `special education'
means specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents,
to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability,
including--
``(A) instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home,
in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings; and
``(B) instruction in physical education.
``(26) Specific learning disability.--
``(A) In general.--The term `specific learning disability'
means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological
processes involved in understanding or in using language,
spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in
imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write,
spell, or do mathematical calculations.
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``(B) Disorders included.--Such term includes such
conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal
brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.
``(C) Disorders not included.--Such term does not include a
learning problem that is primarily the result of visual,
hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of
emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or
economic disadvantage.
``(27) State.--The term `State' means each of the 50
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, and each of the outlying areas.
``(28) State educational agency.--The term `State
educational agency' means the State board of education or
other agency or officer primarily responsible for the State
supervision of public elementary and secondary schools, or,
if there is no such officer or agency, an officer or agency
designated by the Governor or by State law.
``(29) Supplementary aids and services.--The term
`supplementary aids and services' means, aids, services, and
other supports that are provided in regular education classes
or other education-related settings to enable children with
disabilities to be educated with nondisabled children to the
maximum extent appropriate in accordance with section
612(a)(5).
``(30) Transition services.--The term `transition services'
means a coordinated set of activities for a student with a
disability that--
``(A) is designed within an outcome-oriented process, which
promotes movement from school to post-school activities,
including post-secondary education, vocational training,
integrated employment (including supported employment),
continuing and adult education, adult services, independent
living, or community participation;
``(B) is based upon the individual student's needs, taking
into account the student's preferences and interests; and
``(C) includes instruction, related services, community
experiences, the development of employment and other post-
school adult living objectives, and, when appropriate,
acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational
evaluation.
``SEC. 603. OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS.
``(a) Establishment.--There shall be, within the Office of
Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the
Department of Education, an Office of Special Education
Programs, which shall be the principal agency in such
Department for administering and carrying out this Act and
other programs and activities concerning the education of
children with disabilities.
``(b) Director.--The Office established under subsection
(a) shall be headed by a Director who shall be selected by
the Secretary and shall report directly to the Assistant
Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
``(c) Voluntary and Uncompensated Services.--
Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United States Code,
the Secretary is authorized to accept voluntary and
uncompensated services in furtherance of the purposes of this
Act.
``SEC. 604. ABROGATION OF STATE SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.
``(a) In General.--A State shall not be immune under the
eleventh amendment to the Constitution of the United States
from suit in Federal court for a violation of this Act.
``(b) Remedies.--In a suit against a State for a violation
of this Act, remedies (including remedies both at law and in
equity) are available for such a violation to the same extent
as those remedies are available for such a violation in the
suit against any public entity other than a State.
``(c) Effective Date.--Subsections (a) and (b) apply with
respect to violations that occur in whole or part after the
date of the enactment of the Education of the Handicapped Act
Amendments of 1990.
``SEC. 605. ACQUISITION OF EQUIPMENT; CONSTRUCTION OR
ALTERATION OF FACILITIES.
``(a) In General.--If the Secretary determines that a
program authorized under this Act would be improved by
permitting program funds to be used to acquire appropriate
equipment, or to construct new facilities or alter existing
facilities, the Secretary is authorized to allow the use of
those funds for those purposes.
``(b) Compliance With Certain Regulations.--Any
construction of new facilities or alteration of existing
facilities under subsection (a) shall comply with the
requirements of--
``(1) appendix A of part 36 of title 28, Code of Federal
Regulations (commonly known as the `Americans with
Disabilities Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and
Facilities'); or
``(2) appendix A of part 101-19.6 of title 41, Code of
Federal Regulations (commonly known as the `Uniform Federal
Accessibility Standards').
``SEC. 606. EMPLOYMENT OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.
``The Secretary shall ensure that each recipient of
assistance under this Act makes positive efforts to employ
and advance in employment qualified individuals with
disabilities in programs assisted under this Act.
``SEC. 607. REQUIREMENTS FOR PRESCRIBING REGULATIONS.
``(a) Public Comment Period.--The Secretary shall provide a
public comment period of at least 90 days on any regulation
proposed under part B or part C of this Act on which an
opportunity for public comment is otherwise required by law.
``(b) Protections Provided to Children.--The Secretary may
not implement, or publish in final form, any regulation
prescribed pursuant to this Act that would procedurally or
substantively lessen the protections provided to children
with disabilities under this Act, as embodied in regulations
in effect on July 20, 1983 (particularly as such protections
relate to parental consent to initial evaluation or initial
placement in special education, least restrictive
environment, related services, timelines, attendance of
evaluation personnel at individualized education program
meetings, or qualifications of personnel), except to the
extent that such regulation reflects the clear and
unequivocal intent of the Congress in legislation.
``(c) Policy Letters and Statements.--The Secretary may
not, through policy letters or other statements, establish a
rule that is required for compliance with, and eligibility
under, this part without following the requirements of
section 553 of title 5, United States Code.
``(d) Correspondence From Department of Education
Describing Interpretations of This Part.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall, on a quarterly
basis, publish in the Federal Register, and widely
disseminate to interested entities through various additional
forms of communication, a list of correspondence from the
Department of Education received by individuals during the
previous quarter that describes the interpretations of the
Department of Education of this Act or the regulations
implemented pursuant to this Act.
``(2) Additional information.--For each item of
correspondence published in a list under paragraph (1), the
Secretary shall identify the topic addressed by the
correspondence and shall include such other summary
information as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
``(e) Issues of National Significance.--If the Secretary
receives a written request regarding a policy, question, or
interpretation under part B of this Act, and determines that
it raises an issue of general interest or applicability of
national significance to the implementation of part B, the
Secretary shall--
``(1) include a statement to that effect in any written
response;
``(2) widely disseminate that response to State educational
agencies, local educational agencies, parent and advocacy
organizations, and other interested organizations, subject to
applicable laws relating to confidentiality of information;
and
``(3) not later than one year after the date on which the
Secretary responds to the written request, issue written
guidance on such policy, question, or interpretation through
such means as the Secretary determines to be appropriate and
consistent with law, such as a policy memorandum, notice of
interpretation, or notice of proposed rulemaking.
``(f) Explanation.--Any written response by the Secretary
under subsection (e) regarding a policy, question, or
interpretation under part B of this Act shall include an
explanation that the written response--
``(1) is provided as informal guidance and is not legally
binding; and
``(2) represents the interpretation by the Department of
Education of the applicable statutory or regulatory
requirements in the context of the specific facts presented.
``PART B--ASSISTANCE FOR EDUCATION OF ALL CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
``SEC. 611. AUTHORIZATION; ALLOTMENT; USE OF FUNDS;
AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``(a) Grants to States.--
``(1) Purpose of grants.--The Secretary shall make grants
to States and the outlying areas, and provide funds to the
Secretary of the Interior, to assist them to provide special
education and related services to children with disabilities
in accordance with this part.
``(2) Maximum amounts.--The maximum amount of the grant a
State may receive under this section for any fiscal year is--
``(A) the number of children with disabilities in the State
who are receiving special education and related services--
``(i) aged three through five if the State is eligible for
a grant under section 619; and
``(ii) aged six through 21; multiplied by
``(B) 40 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure in
public elementary and secondary schools in the United States.
``(b) Outlying Areas and Freely Associated States.--
``(1) Funds reserved.--From the amount appropriated for any
fiscal year under subsection (j), the Secretary shall reserve
not more than one percent, which shall be used--
``(A) to provide assistance to the outlying areas in
accordance with their respective populations of individuals
aged three through 21; and
``(B) for fiscal years 1998 through 2001, to carry out the
competition described in paragraph (2), except that the
amount reserved to carry out that competition shall not
exceed the amount reserved for fiscal year 1996 for the
competition under part B of this Act described under the
heading ``SPECIAL EDUCATION'' in Public Law 104-134.
``(2) Limitation for freely associated states.--
``(A) Competitive grants.--The Secretary shall use funds
described in paragraph (1)(B) to award grants, on a
competitive basis, to Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the freely associated
States to carry out the purposes of this part.
[[Page
H2502]]
``(B) Award basis.--The Secretary shall award grants under
subparagraph (A) on a competitive basis, pursuant to the
recommendations of the Pacific Region Educational Laboratory
in Honolulu, Hawaii. Those recommendations shall be made by
experts in the field of special education and related
services.
``(C) Assistance requirements.--Any freely associated State
that wishes to receive funds under this part shall include,
in its application for assistance--
``(i) information demonstrating that it will meet all
conditions that apply to States under this part;
``(ii) an assurance that, notwithstanding any other
provision of this part, it will use those funds only for the
direct provision of special education and related services to
children with disabilities and to enhance its capacity to
make a free appropriate public education available to all
children with disabilities;
``(iii) the identity of the source and amount of funds, in
addition to funds under this part, that it will make
available to ensure that a free appropriate public education
is available to all children with disabilities within its
jurisdiction; and
``(iv) such other information and assurances as the
Secretary may require.
``(D) Termination of eligibility.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the freely associated States shall
not receive any funds under this part for any program year
that begins after September 30, 2001.
``(E) Administrative costs.--The Secretary may provide not
more than five percent of the amount reserved for grants
under this paragraph to pay the administrative costs of the
Pacific Region Educational Laboratory under subparagraph (B).
``(3) Limitation.--An outlying area is not eligible for a
competitive award under paragraph (2) unless it receives
assistance under paragraph (1)(A).
``(4) Special rule.--The provisions of Public Law 95-134,
permitting the consolidation of grants by the outlying areas,
shall not apply to funds provided to those areas or to the
freely associated States under this section.
``(5) Eligibility for discretionary programs.--The freely
associated States shall be eligible to receive assistance
under subpart 2 of part D of this Act until September 30,
2001.
``(6) Definition.--As used in this subsection, the term
`freely associated States' means the Republic of the Marshall
Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic
of Palau.
``(c) Secretary of the Interior.--From the amount
appropriated for any fiscal year under subsection (j), the
Secretary shall reserve 1.226 percent to provide assistance
to the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with
subsection (i).
``(d) Allocations to States.--
``(1) In general.--After reserving funds for studies and
evaluations under section 674(e), and for payments to the
outlying areas and the Secretary of the Interior under
subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary shall allocate the
remaining amount among the States in accordance with
paragraph (2) or subsection (e), as the case may be.
``(2) Interim formula.--Except as provided in subsection
(e), the Secretary shall allocate the amount described in
paragraph (1) among the States in accordance with section
611(a)(3), (4), and (5) and (b)(1), (2), and (3) of this Act,
as in effect prior to the enactment of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997, except that
the determination of the number of children with disabilities
receiving special education and related services under such
section 611(a)(3) may, at the State's discretion, be
calculated as of the last Friday in October or as of December
1 of the fiscal year for which the funds are appropriated.
``(e) Permanent Formula.--
``(1) Establishment of base year.--The Secretary shall
allocate the amount described in subsection (d)(1) among the
States in accordance with this subsection for each fiscal
year beginning with the first fiscal year for which the
amount appropriated under subsection (j) is more than
$4,924,672,200.
``(2) Use of base year.--
``(A) Definition.--As used in this subsection, the term
`base year' means the fiscal year preceding the first fiscal
year in which this subsection applies.
``(B) Special rule for use of base year amount.--If a State
received any funds under this section for the base year on
the basis of children aged three through five, but does not
make a free appropriate public education available to all
children with disabilities aged three through five in the
State in any subsequent fiscal year, the Secretary shall
compute the State's base year amount, solely for the purpose
of calculating the State's allocation in that subsequent year
under paragraph (3) or (4), by subtracting the amount
allocated to the State for the base year on the basis of
those children.
``(3) Increase in funds.--If the amount available for
allocations to States under paragraph (1) is equal to or
greater than the amount allocated to the States under this
paragraph for the preceding fiscal year, those allocations
shall be calculated as follows:
``(A)(i) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the
Secretary shall--
``(I) allocate to each State the amount it received for the
base year;
``(II) allocate 85 percent of any remaining funds to States
on the basis of their relative populations of children aged 3
through 21 who are of the same age as children with
disabilities for whom the State ensures the availability of a
free appropriate public education under this part; and
``(III) allocate 15 percent of those remaining funds to
States on the basis of their relative populations of children
described in subclause (II) who are living in poverty.
``(ii) For the purpose of making grants under this
paragraph, the Secretary shall use the most recent population
data, including data on children living in poverty, that are
available and satisfactory to the Secretary.
``(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), allocations under
this paragraph shall be subject to the following:
``(i) No State's allocation shall be less than its
allocation for the preceding fiscal year.
``(ii) No State's allocation shall be less than the
greatest of--
``(I) the sum of--
``(aa) the amount it received for the base year; and
``(bb) one third of one percent of the amount by which the
amount appropriated under subsection (j) exceeds the amount
appropriated under this section for the base year;
``(II) the sum of--
``(aa) the amount it received for the preceding fiscal
year; and
``(bb) that amount multiplied by the percentage by which
the increase in the funds appropriated from the preceding
fiscal year exceeds 1.5 percent; or
``(III) the sum of--
``(aa) the amount it received for the preceding fiscal
year; and
``(bb) that amount multiplied by 90 percent of the
percentage increase in the amount appropriated from the
preceding fiscal year.
``(iii) Notwithstanding clause (ii), no State's allocation
under this paragraph shall exceed the sum of--
``(I) the amount it received for the preceding fiscal year;
and
``(II) that amount multiplied by the sum of 1.5 percent and
the percentage increase in the amount appropriated.
``(C) If the amount available for allocations under this
paragraph is insufficient to pay those allocations in full,
those allocations shall be ratably reduced, subject to
subparagraph (B)(i).
``(4) Decrease in funds.--If the amount available for
allocations to States under paragraph (1) is less than the
amount allocated to the States under this section for the
preceding fiscal year, those allocations shall be calculated
as follows:
``(A) If the amount available for allocations is greater
than the amount allocated to the States for the base year,
each State shall be allocated the sum of--
``(i) the amount it received for the base year; and
``(ii) an amount that bears the same relation to any
remaining funds as the increase the State received for the
preceding fiscal year over the base year bears to the total
of all such increases for all States.
``(B)(i) If the amount available for allocations is equal
to or less than the amount allocated to the States for the
base year, each State shall be allocated the amount it
received for the base year.
``(ii) If the amount available is insufficient to make the
allocations described in clause (i), those allocations shall
be ratably reduced.
``(f) State-Level Activities.--
``(1) General.--
``(A) Each State may retain not more than the amount
described in subparagraph (B) for administration and other
State-level activities in accordance with paragraphs (2) and
(3).
``(B) For each fiscal year, the Secretary shall determine
and report to the State educational agency an amount that is
25 percent of the amount the State received under this
section for fiscal year 1997, cumulatively adjusted by the
Secretary for each succeeding fiscal year by the lesser of--
``(i) the percentage increase, if any, from the preceding
fiscal year in the State's allocation under this section; or
``(ii) the rate of inflation, as measured by the percentage
increase, if any, from the preceding fiscal year in the
Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers, published by
the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.
``(C) A State may use funds it retains under subparagraph
(A) without regard to--
``(i) the prohibition on commingling of funds in section
612(a)(18)(B); and
``(ii) the prohibition on supplanting other funds in
section 612(a)(18)(C).
``(2) State administration.--
``(A) For the purpose of administering this part, including
section 619 (including the coordination of activities under
this part with, and providing technical assistance to, other
programs that provide services to children with
disabilities)--
``(i) each State may use not more than twenty percent of
the maximum amount it may retain under paragraph (1)(A) for
any fiscal year or $500,000 (adjusted by the cumulative rate
of inflation since fiscal year 1998, as measured by the
percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index For
All Urban Consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the Department of Labor), whichever is greater;
and
``(ii) each outlying area may use up to five percent of the
amount it receives under this
[[Page
H2503]]
section for any fiscal year or $35,000, whichever is greater.
``(B) Funds described in subparagraph (A) may also be used
for the administration of part C of this Act, if the State
educational agency is the lead agency for the State under
that part.
``(3) Other state-level activities.--Each State shall use
any funds it retains under paragraph (1) and does not use for
administration under paragraph (2) for any of the following:
``(A) Support and direct services, including technical
assistance and personnel development and training.
``(B) Administrative costs of monitoring and complaint
investigation, but only to the extent that those costs exceed
the costs incurred for those activities during fiscal year
1985.
``(C) To establish and implement the mediation process
required by section 615(e), including providing for the costs
of mediators and support personnel.
``(D) To assist local educational agencies in meeting
personnel shortages.
``(E) To develop a State Improvement Plan under subpart 1
of part D.
``(F) Activities at the State and local levels to meet the
performance goals established by the State under section
612(a)(16) and to support implementation of the State
Improvement Plan under subpart 1 of part D if the State
receives funds under that subpart.
``(G) To supplement other amounts used to develop and
implement a Statewide coordinated services system designed to
improve results for children and families, including children
with disabilities and their families, but not to exceed one
percent of the amount received by the State under this
section. This system shall be coordinated with and, to the
extent appropriate, build on the system of coordinated
services developed by the State under part C of this Act.
``(H) For subgrants to local educational agencies for the
purposes described in paragraph (4)(A).
``(4)(A) Subgrants to Local Educational Agencies for
Capacity-Building and Improvement.--In any fiscal year in
which the percentage increase in the State's allocation under
this section exceeds the rate of inflation (as measured by
the percentage increase, if any, from the preceding fiscal
year in the Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers,
published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department
of Labor), each State shall reserve, from its allocation
under this section, the amount described in subparagraph (B)
to make subgrants to local educational agencies, unless that
amount is less than $100,000, to assist them in providing
direct services and in making systemic change to improve
results for children with disabilities through one or more of
the following:
``(i) Direct services, including alternative programming
for children who have been expelled from school, and services
for children in correctional facilities, children enrolled in
State-operated or State-supported schools, and children in
charter schools.
``(ii) Addressing needs or carrying out improvement
strategies identified in the State's Improvement Plan under
subpart 1 of part D.
``(iii) Adopting promising practices, materials, and
technology, based on knowledge derived from education
research and other sources.
``(iv) Establishing, expanding, or implementing interagency
agreements and arrangements between local educational
agencies and other agencies or organizations concerning the
provision of services to children with disabilities and their
families.
``(v) Increasing cooperative problem-solving between
parents and school personnel and promoting the use of
alternative dispute resolution.
``(B) Maximum subgrant.--For each fiscal year, the amount
referred to in subparagraph (A) is--
``(i) the maximum amount the State was allowed to retain
under paragraph (1)(A) for the prior fiscal year, or for
fiscal year 1998, 25 percent of the State's allocation for
fiscal year 1997 under this section; multiplied by
``(ii) the difference between the percentage increase in
the State's allocation under this section and the rate of
inflation, as measured by the percentage increase, if any,
from the preceding fiscal year in the Consumer Price Index
For All Urban Consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the Department of Labor.
``(5) Report on Use of Funds.--As part of the information
required to be submitted to the Secretary under section 612,
each State shall annually describe--
``(A) how amounts retained under paragraph (1) will be used
to meet the requirements of this part;
``(B) how those amounts will be allocated among the
activities described in paragraphs (2) and (3) to meet State
priorities based on input from local educational agencies;
and
``(C) the percentage of those amounts, if any, that will be
distributed to local educational agencies by formula.
``(g) Subgrants to Local Educational Agencies.--
``(1) Subgrants required.--Each State that receives a grant
under this section for any fiscal year shall distribute any
funds it does not retain under subsection (f) (at least 75
percent of the grant funds) to local educational agencies in
the State that have established their eligibility under
section 613, and to State agencies that received funds under
section 614A(a) of this Act for fiscal year 1997, as then in
effect, and have established their eligibility under section
613, for use in accordance with this part.
``(2) Allocations to local educational agencies.--
``(A) Interim procedure.--For each fiscal year for which
funds are allocated to States under subsection (d)(2), each
State shall allocate funds under paragraph (1) in accordance
with section 611(d) of this Act, as in effect prior to the
enactment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Amendments of 1997.
``(B) Permanent procedure.--For each fiscal year for which
funds are allocated to States under subsection (e), each
State shall allocate funds under paragraph (1) as follows:
``(i) Base payments.--The State shall first award each
agency described in paragraph (1) the amount that agency
would have received under this section for the base year, as
defined in subsection (e)(2)(A), if the State had distributed
75 percent of its grant for that year under section 611(d),
as then in effect.
``(ii) Allocation of remaining funds.--After making
allocations under clause (i), the State shall--
``(I) allocate 85 percent of any remaining funds to those
agencies on the basis of the relative numbers of children
enrolled in public and private elementary and secondary
schools within the agency's jurisdiction; and
``(II) allocate 15 percent of those remaining funds to
those agencies in accordance with their relative numbers of
children living in poverty, as determined by the State
educational agency.
``(3) Former chapter 1 state agencies.--
``(A) To the extent necessary, the State--
``(i) shall use funds that are available under subsection
(f)(1)(A) to ensure that each State agency that received
fiscal year 1994 funds under subpart 2 of part D of chapter 1
of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 receives, from the combination of funds under subsection
(f)(1)(A) and funds provided under paragraph (1) of this
subsection, an amount equal to--
``(I) the number of children with disabilities, aged 6
through 21, to whom the agency was providing special
education and related services on December 1 of the fiscal
year for which the funds were appropriated, subject to the
limitation in subparagraph (B); multiplied by
``(II) the per-child amount provided under such subpart for
fiscal year 1994; and
``(ii) may use those funds to ensure that each local
educational agency that received fiscal year 1994 funds under
that subpart for children who had transferred from a State-
operated or State-supported school or program assisted under
that subpart receives, from the combination of funds
available under subsection (f)(1)(A) and funds provided under
paragraph (1) of this subsection, an amount for each such
child, aged 3 through 21 to whom the agency was providing
special education and related services on December 1 of the
fiscal year for which the funds were appropriated, equal to
the per-child amount the agency received under that subpart
for fiscal year 1994.
``(B) The number of children counted under subparagraph
(A)(i)(I) shall not exceed the number of children aged 3
through 21 for whom the agency received fiscal year 1994
funds under subpart 2 of part D of chapter 1 of title I of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
``(4) Reallocation of funds.--If a State educational agency
determines that a local educational agency is adequately
providing a free appropriate public education to all children
with disabilities residing in the area served by that agency
with State and local funds, the State educational agency may
reallocate any portion of the funds under this part that are
not needed by that local agency to provide a free appropriate
public education to other local educational agencies in the
State that are not adequately providing special education and
related services to all children with disabilities residing
in the areas they serve.
``(h) Definitions.--For the purpose of this section--
``(1) the term `average per-pupil expenditure in public
elementary and secondary schools in the United States'
means--
``(A) without regard to the source of funds--
``(i) the aggregate current expenditures, during the second
fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the
determination is made (or, if satisfactory data for that year
are not available, during the most recent preceding fiscal
year for which satisfactory data are available) of all local
educational agencies in the 50 States and the District of
Columbia); plus
``(ii) any direct expenditures by the State for the
operation of those agencies; divided by
``(B) the aggregate number of children in average daily
attendance to whom those agencies provided free public
education during that preceding year; and
``(2) the term `State' means each of the 50 States, the
District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
``(i) Use of Amounts by Secretary of the Interior.--
``(1) Provision of amounts for assistance.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary of Education shall provide
amounts to the Secretary of the Interior to meet the need for
assist
Major Actions:
All articles in House section
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1997
(House of Representatives - May 13, 1997)
Text of this article available as:
TXT
PDF
[Pages
H2498-H2541]
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1997
Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (
H.R. 5) to amend the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act,
to reauthorize and make improvements to that act, and for other
purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 5
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997''.
TITLE I--AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT
SEC. 101. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES
EDUCATION ACT.
Parts A through D of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) are amended to read as
follows:
``PART A--GENERAL PROVISIONS
``SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; FINDINGS;
PURPOSES.
``(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the
`Individuals with Disabilities Education Act'.
``(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this
Act is as follows:
``Part A--General Provisions
``Sec. 601. Short title; table of contents; findings; purposes.
``Sec. 602. Definitions.
``Sec. 603. Office of Special Education Programs.
``Sec. 604. Abrogation of State sovereign immunity.
``Sec. 605. Acquisition of equipment; construction or alteration of
facilities.
``Sec. 606. Employment of individuals with disabilities.
``Sec. 607. Requirements for prescribing regulations.
``Part B--Assistance for Education of All Children with Disabilities
``Sec. 611. Authorization; allotment; use of funds; authorization of
appropriations.
``Sec. 612. State eligibility.
``Sec. 613. Local educational agency eligibility.
``Sec. 614. Evaluations, eligibility determinations, individualized
education programs, and educational placements.
``Sec. 615. Procedural safeguards.
``Sec. 616. Withholding and judicial review.
``Sec. 617. Administration.
``Sec. 618. Program information.
``Sec. 619. Preschool grants.
``Part C--Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities
``Sec. 631. Findings and policy.
``Sec. 632. Definitions.
``Sec. 633. General authority.
``Sec. 634. Eligibility.
``Sec. 635. Requirements for statewide system.
``Sec. 636. Individualized family service plan.
``Sec. 637. State application and assurances.
``Sec. 638. Uses of funds.
``Sec. 639. Procedural safeguards.
``Sec. 640. Payor of last resort.
``Sec. 641. State Interagency Coordinating Council.
``Sec. 642. Federal administration.
``Sec. 643. Allocation of funds.
``Sec. 644. Federal Interagency Coordinating Council.
``Sec. 645. Authorization of appropriations.
``Part D--National Activities to Improve Education of Children with
Disabilities
``subpart 1--state program improvement grants for children with
disabilities
``Sec. 651. Findings and purpose.
``Sec. 652. Eligibility and collaborative process.
``Sec. 653. Applications.
``Sec. 654. Use of funds.
``Sec. 655. Minimum State grant amounts.
``Sec. 656. Authorization of appropriations.
``subpart 2--coordinated research, personnel preparation, technical
assistance, support, and dissemination of information
``Sec. 661. Administrative provisions.
``chapter 1--improving early intervention, educational, and
transitional services and results for children with disabilities
through coordinated research and personnel preparation
``Sec. 671. Findings and purpose.
``Sec. 672. Research and innovation to improve services and results for
children with disabilities.
``Sec. 673. Personnel preparation to improve services and results for
children with disabilities.
``Sec. 674. Studies and evaluations.
``chapter 2--improving early intervention, educational, and
transitional services and results for children with disabilities
through coordinated technical assistance, support, and dissemination of
information
``Sec. 681. Findings and purposes.
``Sec. 682. Parent training and information centers.
``Sec. 683. Community parent resource centers.
``Sec. 684. Technical assistance for parent training and information
centers.
``Sec. 685. Coordinated technical assistance and dissemination.
``Sec. 686. Authorization of appropriations.
``Sec. 687. Technology development, demonstration, and utilization, and
media services.
``(c) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
``(1) Disability is a natural part of the human experience
and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to
participate in or contribute to society. Improving
educational results for children with disabilities is an
essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality
of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and
economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.
``(2) Before the date of the enactment of the Education for
All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-142)--
``(A) the special educational needs of children with
disabilities were not being fully met;
``(B) more than one-half of the children with disabilities
in the United States did not receive appropriate educational
services that would enable such children to have full
equality of opportunity;
``(C) 1,000,000 of the children with disabilities in the
United States were excluded entirely from the public school
system and did not go through the educational process with
their peers;
``(D) there were many children with disabilities throughout
the United States participating in regular school programs
whose disabilities prevented such children from
[[Page
H2499]]
having a successful educational experience because their
disabilities were undetected; and
``(E) because of the lack of adequate services within the
public school system, families were often forced to find
services outside the public school system, often at great
distance from their residence and at their own expense.
``(3) Since the enactment and implementation of the
Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, this Act
has been successful in ensuring children with disabilities
and the families of such children access to a free
appropriate public education and in improving educational
results for children with disabilities.
``(4) However, the implementation of this Act has been
impeded by low expectations, and an insufficient focus on
applying replicable research on proven methods of teaching
and learning for children with disabilities.
``(5) Over 20 years of research and experience has
demonstrated that the education of children with disabilities
can be made more effective by--
``(A) having high expectations for such children and
ensuring their access in the general curriculum to the
maximum extent possible;
``(B) strengthening the role of parents and ensuring that
families of such children have meaningful opportunities to
participate in the education of their children at school and
at home;
``(C) coordinating this Act with other local, educational
service agency, State, and Federal school improvement efforts
in order to ensure that such children benefit from such
efforts and that special education can become a service for
such children rather than a place where they are sent;
``(D) providing appropriate special education and related
services and aids and supports in the regular classroom to
such children, whenever appropriate;
``(E) supporting high-quality, intensive professional
development for all personnel who work with such children in
order to ensure that they have the skills and knowledge
necessary to enable them--
``(i) to meet developmental goals and, to the maximum
extent possible, those challenging expectations that have
been established for all children; and
``(ii) to be prepared to lead productive, independent,
adult lives, to the maximum extent possible;
``(F) providing incentives for whole-school approaches and
pre-referral intervention to reduce the need to label
children as disabled in order to address their learning
needs; and
``(G) focusing resources on teaching and learning while
reducing paperwork and requirements that do not assist in
improving educational results.
``(6) While States, local educational agencies, and
educational service agencies are responsible for providing an
education for all children with disabilities, it is in the
national interest that the Federal Government have a role in
assisting State and local efforts to educate children with
disabilities in order to improve results for such children
and to ensure equal protection of the law.
``(7)(A) The Federal Government must be responsive to the
growing needs of an increasingly more diverse society. A more
equitable allocation of resources is essential for the
Federal Government to meet its responsibility to provide an
equal educational opportunity for all individuals.
``(B) America's racial profile is rapidly changing. Between
1980 and 1990, the rate of increase in the population for
white Americans was 6 percent, while the rate of increase for
racial and ethnic minorities was much higher: 53 percent for
Hispanics, 13.2 percent for African-Americans, and 107.8
percent for Asians.
``(C) By the year 2000, this Nation will have 275,000,000
people, nearly one of every three of whom will be either
African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, or American
Indian.
``(D) Taken together as a group, minority children are
comprising an ever larger percentage of public school
students. Large-city school populations are overwhelmingly
minority, for example: for fall 1993, the figure for Miami
was 84 percent; Chicago, 89 percent; Philadelphia, 78
percent; Baltimore, 84 percent; Houston, 88 percent; and Los
Angeles, 88 percent.
``(E) Recruitment efforts within special education must
focus on bringing larger numbers of minorities into the
profession in order to provide appropriate practitioner
knowledge, role models, and sufficient manpower to address
the clearly changing demography of special education.
``(F) The limited English proficient population is the
fastest growing in our Nation, and the growth is occurring in
many parts of our Nation. In the Nation'
s 2 largest school
districts, limited English students make up almost half of
all students initially entering school at the kindergarten
level. Studies have documented apparent discrepancies in the
levels of referral and placement of limited English
proficient children in special education. The Department of
Education has found that services provided to limited English
proficient students often do not respond primarily to the
pupil's academic needs. These trends pose special challenges
for special education in the referral, assessment, and
services for our Nation's students from non-English language
backgrounds.
``(8)(A) Greater efforts are needed to prevent the
intensification of problems connected with mislabeling and
high dropout rates among minority children with disabilities.
``(B) More minority children continue to be served in
special education than would be expected from the percentage
of minority students in the general school population.
``(C) Poor African-American children are 2.3 times more
likely to be identified by their teacher as having mental
retardation than their white counterpart.
``(D) Although African-Americans represent 16 percent of
elementary and secondary enrollments, they constitute 21
percent of total enrollments in special education.
``(E) The drop-out rate is 68 percent higher for minorities
than for whites.
``(F) More than 50 percent of minority students in large
cities drop out of school.
``(9)(A) The opportunity for full participation in awards
for grants and contracts; boards of organizations receiving
funds under this Act; and peer review panels; and training of
professionals in the area of special education by minority
individuals, organizations, and historically black colleges
and universities is essential if we are to obtain greater
success in the education of minority children with
disabilities.
``(B) In 1993, of the 915,000 college and university
professors, 4.9 percent were African-American and 2.4 percent
were Hispanic. Of the 2,940,000 teachers, prekindergarten
through high school, 6.8 percent were African-American and
4.1 percent were Hispanic.
``(C) Students from minority groups comprise more than 50
percent of K-12 public school enrollment in seven States yet
minority enrollment in teacher training programs is less than
15 percent in all but six States.
``(D) As the number of African-American and Hispanic
students in special education increases, the number of
minority teachers and related service personnel produced in
our colleges and universities continues to decrease.
``(E) Ten years ago, 12 percent of the United States
teaching force in public elementary and secondary schools
were members of a minority group. Minorities comprised 21
percent of the national population at that time and were
clearly underrepresented then among employed teachers. Today,
the elementary and secondary teaching force is 13 percent
minority, while one-third of the students in public schools
are minority children.
``(F) As recently as 1991, historically black colleges and
universities enrolled 44 percent of the African-American
teacher trainees in the Nation. However, in 1993,
historically black colleges and universities received only 4
percent of the discretionary funds for special education and
related services personnel training under this Act.
``(G) While African-American students constitute 28 percent
of total enrollment in special education, only 11.2 percent
of individuals enrolled in preservice training programs for
special education are African-American.
``(H) In 1986-87, of the degrees conferred in education at
the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D levels, only 6, 8, and 8 percent,
respectively, were awarded to African-American or Hispanic
students.
``(10) Minorities and underserved persons are socially
disadvantaged because of the lack of opportunities in
training and educational programs, undergirded by the
practices in the private sector that impede their full
participation in the mainstream of society.
``(d) Purposes.--The purposes of this title are--
``(1)(A) to ensure that all children with disabilities have
available to them a free appropriate public education that
emphasizes special education and related services designed to
meet their unique needs and prepare them for employment and
independent living;
``(B) to ensure that the rights of children with
disabilities and parents of such children are protected; and
``(C) to assist States, localities, educational service
agencies, and Federal agencies to provide for the education
of all children with disabilities;
``(2) to assist States in the implementation of a
statewide, comprehensive, coordinated, multidisciplinary,
interagency system of early intervention services for infants
and toddlers with disabilities and their families;
``(3) to ensure that educators and parents have the
necessary tools to improve educational results for children
with disabilities by supporting systemic-change activities;
coordinated research and personnel preparation; coordinated
technical assistance, dissemination, and support; and
technology development and media services; and
``(4) to assess, and ensure the effectiveness of, efforts
to educate children with disabilities.
``SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS.
``Except as otherwise provided, as used in this Act:
``(1) Assistive technology device.--The term `assistive
technology device' means any item, piece of equipment, or
product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf,
modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain,
or improve functional capabilities of a child with a
disability.
``(2) Assistive technology service.--The term `assistive
technology service' means any service that directly assists a
child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use
of an assistive technology device. Such term includes--
``(A) the evaluation of the needs of such child, including
a functional evaluation of
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the child in the child's customary environment;
``(B) purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing for the
acquisition of assistive technology devices by such child;
``(C) selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting,
applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing of assistive
technology devices;
``(D) coordinating and using other therapies,
interventions, or services with assistive technology devices,
such as those associated with existing education and
rehabilitation plans and programs;
``(E) training or technical assistance for such child, or,
where appropriate, the family of such child; and
``(F) training or technical assistance for professionals
(including individuals providing education and rehabilitation
services), employers, or other individuals who provide
services to, employ, or are otherwise substantially involved
in the major life functions of such child.
``(3) Child with a disability.--
``(A) In general.--The term `child with a disability' means
a child--
``(i) with mental retardation, hearing impairments
(including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual
impairments (including blindness), serious emotional
disturbance (hereinafter referred to as `emotional
disturbance'), orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic
brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning
disabilities; and
``(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and
related services.
``(B) Child aged 3 through 9.--The term `child with a
disability' for a child aged 3 through 9 may, at the
discretion of the State and the local educational agency,
include a child--
``(i) experiencing developmental delays, as defined by the
State and as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments
and procedures, in one or more of the following areas:
physical development, cognitive development, communication
development, social or emotional development, or adaptive
development; and
``(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and
related services.
``(4) Educational service agency.--The term `educational
service agency'--
``(A) means a regional public multiservice agency--
``(i) authorized by State law to develop, manage, and
provide services or programs to local educational agencies;
and
``(ii) recognized as an administrative agency for purposes
of the provision of special education and related services
provided within public elementary and secondary schools of
the State; and
``(B) includes any other public institution or agency
having administrative control and direction over a public
elementary or secondary school.
``(5) Elementary school.--The term `elementary school'
means a nonprofit institutional day or residential school
that provides elementary education, as determined under State
law.
``(6) Equipment.--The term `equipment' includes--
``(A) machinery, utilities, and built-in equipment and any
necessary enclosures or structures to house such machinery,
utilities, or equipment; and
``(B) all other items necessary for the functioning of a
particular facility as a facility for the provision of
educational services, including items such as instructional
equipment and necessary furniture; printed, published, and
audio-visual instructional materials; telecommunications,
sensory, and other technological aids and devices; and books,
periodicals, documents, and other related materials.
``(7) Excess costs.--The term `excess costs' means those
costs that are in excess of the average annual per-student
expenditure in a local educational agency during the
preceding school year for an elementary or secondary school
student, as may be appropriate, and which shall be computed
after deducting--
``(A) amounts received--
``(i) under part B of this title;
``(ii) under part A of title I of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965; or
``(iii) under part A of title VII of that Act; and
``(B) any State or local funds expended for programs that
would qualify for assistance under any of those parts.
``(8) Free appropriate public education.--The term `free
appropriate public education' means special education and
related services that--
``(A) have been provided at public expense, under public
supervision and direction, and without charge;
``(B) meet the standards of the State educational agency;
``(C) include an appropriate preschool, elementary, or
secondary school education in the State involved; and
``(D) are provided in conformity with the individualized
education program required under section 614(d).
``(9) Indian.--The term `Indian' means an individual who is
a member of an Indian tribe.
``(10) Indian tribe.--The term `Indian tribe' means any
Federal or State Indian tribe, band, rancheria, pueblo,
colony, or community, including any Alaska Native village or
regional village corporation (as defined in or established
under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act).
``(11) Individualized education program.--The term
`individualized education program' or `IEP' means a written
statement for each child with a disability that is developed,
reviewed, and revised in accordance with section 614(d).
``(12) Individualized family service plan.--The term
`individualized family service plan' has the meaning given
such term in section 636.
``(13) Infant or toddler with a disability.--The term
`infant or toddler with a disability' has the meaning given
such term in section 632.
``(14) Institution of higher education.--The term
`institution of higher education'--
``(A) has the meaning given that term in section 1201(a) of
the Higher Education Act of 1965; and
``(B) also includes any community college receiving funding
from the Secretary of the Interior under the Tribally
Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978.
``(15) Local educational agency.--
``(A) The term `local educational agency' means a public
board of education or other public authority legally
constituted within a State for either administrative control
or direction of, or to perform a service function for, public
elementary or secondary schools in a city, county, township,
school district, or other political subdivision of a State,
or for such combination of school districts or counties as
are recognized in a State as an administrative agency for its
public elementary or secondary schools.
``(B) The term includes--
``(i) an educational service agency, as defined in
paragraph (4); and
``(ii) any other public institution or agency having
administrative control and direction of a public elementary
or secondary school.
``(C) The term includes an elementary or secondary school
funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but only to the
extent that such inclusion makes the school eligible for
programs for which specific eligibility is not provided to
the school in another provision of law and the school does
not have a student population that is smaller than the
student population of the local educational agency receiving
assistance under this Act with the smallest student
population, except that the school shall not be subject to
the jurisdiction of any State educational agency other than
the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
``(16) Native language.--The term `native language', when
used with reference to an individual of limited English
proficiency, means the language normally used by the
individual, or in the case of a child, the language normally
used by the parents of the child.
``(17) Nonprofit.--The term `nonprofit', as applied to a
school, agency, organization, or institution, means a school,
agency, organization, or institution owned and operated by
one or more nonprofit corporations or associations no part of
the net earnings of which inures, or may lawfully inure, to
the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.
``(18) Outlying area.--The term `outlying area' means the
United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
``(19) Parent.--The term `parent'--
``(A) includes a legal guardian; and
``(B) except as used in sections 615(b)(2) and 639(a)(5),
includes an individual assigned under either of those
sections to be a surrogate parent.
``(20) Parent organization.--The term `parent organization'
has the meaning given that term in section 682(g).
``(21) Parent training and information center.--The term
`parent training and information center' means a center
assisted under section 682 or 683.
``(22) Related services.--The term `related services' means
transportation, and such developmental, corrective, and other
supportive services (including speech-language pathology and
audiology services, psychological services, physical and
occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic
recreation, social work services, counseling services,
including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility
services, and medical services, except that such medical
services shall be for diagnostic and evaluation purposes
only) as may be required to assist a child with a disability
to benefit from special education, and includes the early
identification and assessment of disabling conditions in
children.
``(23) Secondary school.--The term `secondary school' means
a nonprofit institutional day or residential school that
provides secondary education, as determined under State law,
except that it does not include any education beyond grade
12.
``(24) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary
of Education.
``(25) Special education.--The term `special education'
means specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents,
to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability,
including--
``(A) instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home,
in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings; and
``(B) instruction in physical education.
``(26) Specific learning disability.--
``(A) In general.--The term `specific learning disability'
means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological
processes involved in understanding or in using language,
spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in
imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write,
spell, or do mathematical calculations.
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``(B) Disorders included.--Such term includes such
conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal
brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.
``(C) Disorders not included.--Such term does not include a
learning problem that is primarily the result of visual,
hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of
emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or
economic disadvantage.
``(27) State.--The term `State' means each of the 50
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, and each of the outlying areas.
``(28) State educational agency.--The term `State
educational agency' means the State board of education or
other agency or officer primarily responsible for the State
supervision of public elementary and secondary schools, or,
if there is no such officer or agency, an officer or agency
designated by the Governor or by State law.
``(29) Supplementary aids and services.--The term
`supplementary aids and services' means, aids, services, and
other supports that are provided in regular education classes
or other education-related settings to enable children with
disabilities to be educated with nondisabled children to the
maximum extent appropriate in accordance with section
612(a)(5).
``(30) Transition services.--The term `transition services'
means a coordinated set of activities for a student with a
disability that--
``(A) is designed within an outcome-oriented process, which
promotes movement from school to post-school activities,
including post-secondary education, vocational training,
integrated employment (including supported employment),
continuing and adult education, adult services, independent
living, or community participation;
``(B) is based upon the individual student's needs, taking
into account the student's preferences and interests; and
``(C) includes instruction, related services, community
experiences, the development of employment and other post-
school adult living objectives, and, when appropriate,
acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational
evaluation.
``SEC. 603. OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS.
``(a) Establishment.--There shall be, within the Office of
Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the
Department of Education, an Office of Special Education
Programs, which shall be the principal agency in such
Department for administering and carrying out this Act and
other programs and activities concerning the education of
children with disabilities.
``(b) Director.--The Office established under subsection
(a) shall be headed by a Director who shall be selected by
the Secretary and shall report directly to the Assistant
Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
``(c) Voluntary and Uncompensated Services.--
Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United States Code,
the Secretary is authorized to accept voluntary and
uncompensated services in furtherance of the purposes of this
Act.
``SEC. 604. ABROGATION OF STATE SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.
``(a) In General.--A State shall not be immune under the
eleventh amendment to the Constitution of the United States
from suit in Federal court for a violation of this Act.
``(b) Remedies.--In a suit against a State for a violation
of this Act, remedies (including remedies both at law and in
equity) are available for such a violation to the same extent
as those remedies are available for such a violation in the
suit against any public entity other than a State.
``(c) Effective Date.--Subsections (a) and (b) apply with
respect to violations that occur in whole or part after the
date of the enactment of the Education of the Handicapped Act
Amendments of 1990.
``SEC. 605. ACQUISITION OF EQUIPMENT; CONSTRUCTION OR
ALTERATION OF FACILITIES.
``(a) In General.--If the Secretary determines that a
program authorized under this Act would be improved by
permitting program funds to be used to acquire appropriate
equipment, or to construct new facilities or alter existing
facilities, the Secretary is authorized to allow the use of
those funds for those purposes.
``(b) Compliance With Certain Regulations.--Any
construction of new facilities or alteration of existing
facilities under subsection (a) shall comply with the
requirements of--
``(1) appendix A of part 36 of title 28, Code of Federal
Regulations (commonly known as the `Americans with
Disabilities Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and
Facilities'); or
``(2) appendix A of part 101-19.6 of title 41, Code of
Federal Regulations (commonly known as the `Uniform Federal
Accessibility Standards').
``SEC. 606. EMPLOYMENT OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.
``The Secretary shall ensure that each recipient of
assistance under this Act makes positive efforts to employ
and advance in employment qualified individuals with
disabilities in programs assisted under this Act.
``SEC. 607. REQUIREMENTS FOR PRESCRIBING REGULATIONS.
``(a) Public Comment Period.--The Secretary shall provide a
public comment period of at least 90 days on any regulation
proposed under part B or part C of this Act on which an
opportunity for public comment is otherwise required by law.
``(b) Protections Provided to Children.--The Secretary may
not implement, or publish in final form, any regulation
prescribed pursuant to this Act that would procedurally or
substantively lessen the protections provided to children
with disabilities under this Act, as embodied in regulations
in effect on July 20, 1983 (particularly as such protections
relate to parental consent to initial evaluation or initial
placement in special education, least restrictive
environment, related services, timelines, attendance of
evaluation personnel at individualized education program
meetings, or qualifications of personnel), except to the
extent that such regulation reflects the clear and
unequivocal intent of the Congress in legislation.
``(c) Policy Letters and Statements.--The Secretary may
not, through policy letters or other statements, establish a
rule that is required for compliance with, and eligibility
under, this part without following the requirements of
section 553 of title 5, United States Code.
``(d) Correspondence From Department of Education
Describing Interpretations of This Part.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall, on a quarterly
basis, publish in the Federal Register, and widely
disseminate to interested entities through various additional
forms of communication, a list of correspondence from the
Department of Education received by individuals during the
previous quarter that describes the interpretations of the
Department of Education of this Act or the regulations
implemented pursuant to this Act.
``(2) Additional information.--For each item of
correspondence published in a list under paragraph (1), the
Secretary shall identify the topic addressed by the
correspondence and shall include such other summary
information as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
``(e) Issues of National Significance.--If the Secretary
receives a written request regarding a policy, question, or
interpretation under part B of this Act, and determines that
it raises an issue of general interest or applicability of
national significance to the implementation of part B, the
Secretary shall--
``(1) include a statement to that effect in any written
response;
``(2) widely disseminate that response to State educational
agencies, local educational agencies, parent and advocacy
organizations, and other interested organizations, subject to
applicable laws relating to confidentiality of information;
and
``(3) not later than one year after the date on which the
Secretary responds to the written request, issue written
guidance on such policy, question, or interpretation through
such means as the Secretary determines to be appropriate and
consistent with law, such as a policy memorandum, notice of
interpretation, or notice of proposed rulemaking.
``(f) Explanation.--Any written response by the Secretary
under subsection (e) regarding a policy, question, or
interpretation under part B of this Act shall include an
explanation that the written response--
``(1) is provided as informal guidance and is not legally
binding; and
``(2) represents the interpretation by the Department of
Education of the applicable statutory or regulatory
requirements in the context of the specific facts presented.
``PART B--ASSISTANCE FOR EDUCATION OF ALL CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
``SEC. 611. AUTHORIZATION; ALLOTMENT; USE OF FUNDS;
AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``(a) Grants to States.--
``(1) Purpose of grants.--The Secretary shall make grants
to States and the outlying areas, and provide funds to the
Secretary of the Interior, to assist them to provide special
education and related services to children with disabilities
in accordance with this part.
``(2) Maximum amounts.--The maximum amount of the grant a
State may receive under this section for any fiscal year is--
``(A) the number of children with disabilities in the State
who are receiving special education and related services--
``(i) aged three through five if the State is eligible for
a grant under section 619; and
``(ii) aged six through 21; multiplied by
``(B) 40 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure in
public elementary and secondary schools in the United States.
``(b) Outlying Areas and Freely Associated States.--
``(1) Funds reserved.--From the amount appropriated for any
fiscal year under subsection (j), the Secretary shall reserve
not more than one percent, which shall be used--
``(A) to provide assistance to the outlying areas in
accordance with their respective populations of individuals
aged three through 21; and
``(B) for fiscal years 1998 through 2001, to carry out the
competition described in paragraph (2), except that the
amount reserved to carry out that competition shall not
exceed the amount reserved for fiscal year 1996 for the
competition under part B of this Act described under the
heading ``SPECIAL EDUCATION'' in Public Law 104-134.
``(2) Limitation for freely associated states.--
``(A) Competitive grants.--The Secretary shall use funds
described in paragraph (1)(B) to award grants, on a
competitive basis, to Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the freely associated
States to carry out the purposes of this part.
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``(B) Award basis.--The Secretary shall award grants under
subparagraph (A) on a competitive basis, pursuant to the
recommendations of the Pacific Region Educational Laboratory
in Honolulu, Hawaii. Those recommendations shall be made by
experts in the field of special education and related
services.
``(C) Assistance requirements.--Any freely associated State
that wishes to receive funds under this part shall include,
in its application for assistance--
``(i) information demonstrating that it will meet all
conditions that apply to States under this part;
``(ii) an assurance that, notwithstanding any other
provision of this part, it will use those funds only for the
direct provision of special education and related services to
children with disabilities and to enhance its capacity to
make a free appropriate public education available to all
children with disabilities;
``(iii) the identity of the source and amount of funds, in
addition to funds under this part, that it will make
available to ensure that a free appropriate public education
is available to all children with disabilities within its
jurisdiction; and
``(iv) such other information and assurances as the
Secretary may require.
``(D) Termination of eligibility.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the freely associated States shall
not receive any funds under this part for any program year
that begins after September 30, 2001.
``(E) Administrative costs.--The Secretary may provide not
more than five percent of the amount reserved for grants
under this paragraph to pay the administrative costs of the
Pacific Region Educational Laboratory under subparagraph (B).
``(3) Limitation.--An outlying area is not eligible for a
competitive award under paragraph (2) unless it receives
assistance under paragraph (1)(A).
``(4) Special rule.--The provisions of Public Law 95-134,
permitting the consolidation of grants by the outlying areas,
shall not apply to funds provided to those areas or to the
freely associated States under this section.
``(5) Eligibility for discretionary programs.--The freely
associated States shall be eligible to receive assistance
under subpart 2 of part D of this Act until September 30,
2001.
``(6) Definition.--As used in this subsection, the term
`freely associated States' means the Republic of the Marshall
Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic
of Palau.
``(c) Secretary of the Interior.--From the amount
appropriated for any fiscal year under subsection (j), the
Secretary shall reserve 1.226 percent to provide assistance
to the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with
subsection (i).
``(d) Allocations to States.--
``(1) In general.--After reserving funds for studies and
evaluations under section 674(e), and for payments to the
outlying areas and the Secretary of the Interior under
subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary shall allocate the
remaining amount among the States in accordance with
paragraph (2) or subsection (e), as the case may be.
``(2) Interim formula.--Except as provided in subsection
(e), the Secretary shall allocate the amount described in
paragraph (1) among the States in accordance with section
611(a)(3), (4), and (5) and (b)(1), (2), and (3) of this Act,
as in effect prior to the enactment of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997, except that
the determination of the number of children with disabilities
receiving special education and related services under such
section 611(a)(3) may, at the State's discretion, be
calculated as of the last Friday in October or as of December
1 of the fiscal year for which the funds are appropriated.
``(e) Permanent Formula.--
``(1) Establishment of base year.--The Secretary shall
allocate the amount described in subsection (d)(1) among the
States in accordance with this subsection for each fiscal
year beginning with the first fiscal year for which the
amount appropriated under subsection (j) is more than
$4,924,672,200.
``(2) Use of base year.--
``(A) Definition.--As used in this subsection, the term
`base year' means the fiscal year preceding the first fiscal
year in which this subsection applies.
``(B) Special rule for use of base year amount.--If a State
received any funds under this section for the base year on
the basis of children aged three through five, but does not
make a free appropriate public education available to all
children with disabilities aged three through five in the
State in any subsequent fiscal year, the Secretary shall
compute the State's base year amount, solely for the purpose
of calculating the State's allocation in that subsequent year
under paragraph (3) or (4), by subtracting the amount
allocated to the State for the base year on the basis of
those children.
``(3) Increase in funds.--If the amount available for
allocations to States under paragraph (1) is equal to or
greater than the amount allocated to the States under this
paragraph for the preceding fiscal year, those allocations
shall be calculated as follows:
``(A)(i) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the
Secretary shall--
``(I) allocate to each State the amount it received for the
base year;
``(II) allocate 85 percent of any remaining funds to States
on the basis of their relative populations of children aged 3
through 21 who are of the same age as children with
disabilities for whom the State ensures the availability of a
free appropriate public education under this part; and
``(III) allocate 15 percent of those remaining funds to
States on the basis of their relative populations of children
described in subclause (II) who are living in poverty.
``(ii) For the purpose of making grants under this
paragraph, the Secretary shall use the most recent population
data, including data on children living in poverty, that are
available and satisfactory to the Secretary.
``(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), allocations under
this paragraph shall be subject to the following:
``(i) No State's allocation shall be less than its
allocation for the preceding fiscal year.
``(ii) No State's allocation shall be less than the
greatest of--
``(I) the sum of--
``(aa) the amount it received for the base year; and
``(bb) one third of one percent of the amount by which the
amount appropriated under subsection (j) exceeds the amount
appropriated under this section for the base year;
``(II) the sum of--
``(aa) the amount it received for the preceding fiscal
year; and
``(bb) that amount multiplied by the percentage by which
the increase in the funds appropriated from the preceding
fiscal year exceeds 1.5 percent; or
``(III) the sum of--
``(aa) the amount it received for the preceding fiscal
year; and
``(bb) that amount multiplied by 90 percent of the
percentage increase in the amount appropriated from the
preceding fiscal year.
``(iii) Notwithstanding clause (ii), no State's allocation
under this paragraph shall exceed the sum of--
``(I) the amount it received for the preceding fiscal year;
and
``(II) that amount multiplied by the sum of 1.5 percent and
the percentage increase in the amount appropriated.
``(C) If the amount available for allocations under this
paragraph is insufficient to pay those allocations in full,
those allocations shall be ratably reduced, subject to
subparagraph (B)(i).
``(4) Decrease in funds.--If the amount available for
allocations to States under paragraph (1) is less than the
amount allocated to the States under this section for the
preceding fiscal year, those allocations shall be calculated
as follows:
``(A) If the amount available for allocations is greater
than the amount allocated to the States for the base year,
each State shall be allocated the sum of--
``(i) the amount it received for the base year; and
``(ii) an amount that bears the same relation to any
remaining funds as the increase the State received for the
preceding fiscal year over the base year bears to the total
of all such increases for all States.
``(B)(i) If the amount available for allocations is equal
to or less than the amount allocated to the States for the
base year, each State shall be allocated the amount it
received for the base year.
``(ii) If the amount available is insufficient to make the
allocations described in clause (i), those allocations shall
be ratably reduced.
``(f) State-Level Activities.--
``(1) General.--
``(A) Each State may retain not more than the amount
described in subparagraph (B) for administration and other
State-level activities in accordance with paragraphs (2) and
(3).
``(B) For each fiscal year, the Secretary shall determine
and report to the State educational agency an amount that is
25 percent of the amount the State received under this
section for fiscal year 1997, cumulatively adjusted by the
Secretary for each succeeding fiscal year by the lesser of--
``(i) the percentage increase, if any, from the preceding
fiscal year in the State's allocation under this section; or
``(ii) the rate of inflation, as measured by the percentage
increase, if any, from the preceding fiscal year in the
Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers, published by
the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.
``(C) A State may use funds it retains under subparagraph
(A) without regard to--
``(i) the prohibition on commingling of funds in section
612(a)(18)(B); and
``(ii) the prohibition on supplanting other funds in
section 612(a)(18)(C).
``(2) State administration.--
``(A) For the purpose of administering this part, including
section 619 (including the coordination of activities under
this part with, and providing technical assistance to, other
programs that provide services to children with
disabilities)--
``(i) each State may use not more than twenty percent of
the maximum amount it may retain under paragraph (1)(A) for
any fiscal year or $500,000 (adjusted by the cumulative rate
of inflation since fiscal year 1998, as measured by the
percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index For
All Urban Consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the Department of Labor), whichever is greater;
and
``(ii) each outlying area may use up to five percent of the
amount it receives under this
[[Page
H2503]]
section for any fiscal year or $35,000, whichever is greater.
``(B) Funds described in subparagraph (A) may also be used
for the administration of part C of this Act, if the State
educational agency is the lead agency for the State under
that part.
``(3) Other state-level activities.--Each State shall use
any funds it retains under paragraph (1) and does not use for
administration under paragraph (2) for any of the following:
``(A) Support and direct services, including technical
assistance and personnel development and training.
``(B) Administrative costs of monitoring and complaint
investigation, but only to the extent that those costs exceed
the costs incurred for those activities during fiscal year
1985.
``(C) To establish and implement the mediation process
required by section 615(e), including providing for the costs
of mediators and support personnel.
``(D) To assist local educational agencies in meeting
personnel shortages.
``(E) To develop a State Improvement Plan under subpart 1
of part D.
``(F) Activities at the State and local levels to meet the
performance goals established by the State under section
612(a)(16) and to support implementation of the State
Improvement Plan under subpart 1 of part D if the State
receives funds under that subpart.
``(G) To supplement other amounts used to develop and
implement a Statewide coordinated services system designed to
improve results for children and families, including children
with disabilities and their families, but not to exceed one
percent of the amount received by the State under this
section. This system shall be coordinated with and, to the
extent appropriate, build on the system of coordinated
services developed by the State under part C of this Act.
``(H) For subgrants to local educational agencies for the
purposes described in paragraph (4)(A).
``(4)(A) Subgrants to Local Educational Agencies for
Capacity-Building and Improvement.--In any fiscal year in
which the percentage increase in the State's allocation under
this section exceeds the rate of inflation (as measured by
the percentage increase, if any, from the preceding fiscal
year in the Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers,
published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department
of Labor), each State shall reserve, from its allocation
under this section, the amount described in subparagraph (B)
to make subgrants to local educational agencies, unless that
amount is less than $100,000, to assist them in providing
direct services and in making systemic change to improve
results for children with disabilities through one or more of
the following:
``(i) Direct services, including alternative programming
for children who have been expelled from school, and services
for children in correctional facilities, children enrolled in
State-operated or State-supported schools, and children in
charter schools.
``(ii) Addressing needs or carrying out improvement
strategies identified in the State's Improvement Plan under
subpart 1 of part D.
``(iii) Adopting promising practices, materials, and
technology, based on knowledge derived from education
research and other sources.
``(iv) Establishing, expanding, or implementing interagency
agreements and arrangements between local educational
agencies and other agencies or organizations concerning the
provision of services to children with disabilities and their
families.
``(v) Increasing cooperative problem-solving between
parents and school personnel and promoting the use of
alternative dispute resolution.
``(B) Maximum subgrant.--For each fiscal year, the amount
referred to in subparagraph (A) is--
``(i) the maximum amount the State was allowed to retain
under paragraph (1)(A) for the prior fiscal year, or for
fiscal year 1998, 25 percent of the State's allocation for
fiscal year 1997 under this section; multiplied by
``(ii) the difference between the percentage increase in
the State's allocation under this section and the rate of
inflation, as measured by the percentage increase, if any,
from the preceding fiscal year in the Consumer Price Index
For All Urban Consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the Department of Labor.
``(5) Report on Use of Funds.--As part of the information
required to be submitted to the Secretary under section 612,
each State shall annually describe--
``(A) how amounts retained under paragraph (1) will be used
to meet the requirements of this part;
``(B) how those amounts will be allocated among the
activities described in paragraphs (2) and (3) to meet State
priorities based on input from local educational agencies;
and
``(C) the percentage of those amounts, if any, that will be
distributed to local educational agencies by formula.
``(g) Subgrants to Local Educational Agencies.--
``(1) Subgrants required.--Each State that receives a grant
under this section for any fiscal year shall distribute any
funds it does not retain under subsection (f) (at least 75
percent of the grant funds) to local educational agencies in
the State that have established their eligibility under
section 613, and to State agencies that received funds under
section 614A(a) of this Act for fiscal year 1997, as then in
effect, and have established their eligibility under section
613, for use in accordance with this part.
``(2) Allocations to local educational agencies.--
``(A) Interim procedure.--For each fiscal year for which
funds are allocated to States under subsection (d)(2), each
State shall allocate funds under paragraph (1) in accordance
with section 611(d) of this Act, as in effect prior to the
enactment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Amendments of 1997.
``(B) Permanent procedure.--For each fiscal year for which
funds are allocated to States under subsection (e), each
State shall allocate funds under paragraph (1) as follows:
``(i) Base payments.--The State shall first award each
agency described in paragraph (1) the amount that agency
would have received under this section for the base year, as
defined in subsection (e)(2)(A), if the State had distributed
75 percent of its grant for that year under section 611(d),
as then in effect.
``(ii) Allocation of remaining funds.--After making
allocations under clause (i), the State shall--
``(I) allocate 85 percent of any remaining funds to those
agencies on the basis of the relative numbers of children
enrolled in public and private elementary and secondary
schools within the agency's jurisdiction; and
``(II) allocate 15 percent of those remaining funds to
those agencies in accordance with their relative numbers of
children living in poverty, as determined by the State
educational agency.
``(3) Former chapter 1 state agencies.--
``(A) To the extent necessary, the State--
``(i) shall use funds that are available under subsection
(f)(1)(A) to ensure that each State agency that received
fiscal year 1994 funds under subpart 2 of part D of chapter 1
of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 receives, from the combination of funds under subsection
(f)(1)(A) and funds provided under paragraph (1) of this
subsection, an amount equal to--
``(I) the number of children with disabilities, aged 6
through 21, to whom the agency was providing special
education and related services on December 1 of the fiscal
year for which the funds were appropriated, subject to the
limitation in subparagraph (B); multiplied by
``(II) the per-child amount provided under such subpart for
fiscal year 1994; and
``(ii) may use those funds to ensure that each local
educational agency that received fiscal year 1994 funds under
that subpart for children who had transferred from a State-
operated or State-supported school or program assisted under
that subpart receives, from the combination of funds
available under subsection (f)(1)(A) and funds provided under
paragraph (1) of this subsection, an amount for each such
child, aged 3 through 21 to whom the agency was providing
special education and related services on December 1 of the
fiscal year for which the funds were appropriated, equal to
the per-child amount the agency received under that subpart
for fiscal year 1994.
``(B) The number of children counted under subparagraph
(A)(i)(I) shall not exceed the number of children aged 3
through 21 for whom the agency received fiscal year 1994
funds under subpart 2 of part D of chapter 1 of title I of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
``(4) Reallocation of funds.--If a State educational agency
determines that a local educational agency is adequately
providing a free appropriate public education to all children
with disabilities residing in the area served by that agency
with State and local funds, the State educational agency may
reallocate any portion of the funds under this part that are
not needed by that local agency to provide a free appropriate
public education to other local educational agencies in the
State that are not adequately providing special education and
related services to all children with disabilities residing
in the areas they serve.
``(h) Definitions.--For the purpose of this section--
``(1) the term `average per-pupil expenditure in public
elementary and secondary schools in the United States'
means--
``(A) without regard to the source of funds--
``(i) the aggregate current expenditures, during the second
fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the
determination is made (or, if satisfactory data for that year
are not available, during the most recent preceding fiscal
year for which satisfactory data are available) of all local
educational agencies in the 50 States and the District of
Columbia); plus
``(ii) any direct expenditures by the State for the
operation of those agencies; divided by
``(B) the aggregate number of children in average daily
attendance to whom those agencies provided free public
education during that preceding year; and
``(2) the term `State' means each of the 50 States, the
District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
``(i) Use of Amounts by Secretary of the Interior.--
``(1) Provision of amounts for assistance.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary of Education shall provide
amounts to the Secretary of the Interior to meet the need for
Amendments:
Cosponsors:
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1997
Sponsor:
Summary:
All articles in House section
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1997
(House of Representatives - May 13, 1997)
Text of this article available as:
TXT
PDF
[Pages
H2498-H2541]
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1997
Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (
H.R. 5) to amend the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act,
to reauthorize and make improvements to that act, and for other
purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 5
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997''.
TITLE I--AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT
SEC. 101. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES
EDUCATION ACT.
Parts A through D of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) are amended to read as
follows:
``PART A--GENERAL PROVISIONS
``SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; FINDINGS;
PURPOSES.
``(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the
`Individuals with Disabilities Education Act'.
``(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this
Act is as follows:
``Part A--General Provisions
``Sec. 601. Short title; table of contents; findings; purposes.
``Sec. 602. Definitions.
``Sec. 603. Office of Special Education Programs.
``Sec. 604. Abrogation of State sovereign immunity.
``Sec. 605. Acquisition of equipment; construction or alteration of
facilities.
``Sec. 606. Employment of individuals with disabilities.
``Sec. 607. Requirements for prescribing regulations.
``Part B--Assistance for Education of All Children with Disabilities
``Sec. 611. Authorization; allotment; use of funds; authorization of
appropriations.
``Sec. 612. State eligibility.
``Sec. 613. Local educational agency eligibility.
``Sec. 614. Evaluations, eligibility determinations, individualized
education programs, and educational placements.
``Sec. 615. Procedural safeguards.
``Sec. 616. Withholding and judicial review.
``Sec. 617. Administration.
``Sec. 618. Program information.
``Sec. 619. Preschool grants.
``Part C--Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities
``Sec. 631. Findings and policy.
``Sec. 632. Definitions.
``Sec. 633. General authority.
``Sec. 634. Eligibility.
``Sec. 635. Requirements for statewide system.
``Sec. 636. Individualized family service plan.
``Sec. 637. State application and assurances.
``Sec. 638. Uses of funds.
``Sec. 639. Procedural safeguards.
``Sec. 640. Payor of last resort.
``Sec. 641. State Interagency Coordinating Council.
``Sec. 642. Federal administration.
``Sec. 643. Allocation of funds.
``Sec. 644. Federal Interagency Coordinating Council.
``Sec. 645. Authorization of appropriations.
``Part D--National Activities to Improve Education of Children with
Disabilities
``subpart 1--state program improvement grants for children with
disabilities
``Sec. 651. Findings and purpose.
``Sec. 652. Eligibility and collaborative process.
``Sec. 653. Applications.
``Sec. 654. Use of funds.
``Sec. 655. Minimum State grant amounts.
``Sec. 656. Authorization of appropriations.
``subpart 2--coordinated research, personnel preparation, technical
assistance, support, and dissemination of information
``Sec. 661. Administrative provisions.
``chapter 1--improving early intervention, educational, and
transitional services and results for children with disabilities
through coordinated research and personnel preparation
``Sec. 671. Findings and purpose.
``Sec. 672. Research and innovation to improve services and results for
children with disabilities.
``Sec. 673. Personnel preparation to improve services and results for
children with disabilities.
``Sec. 674. Studies and evaluations.
``chapter 2--improving early intervention, educational, and
transitional services and results for children with disabilities
through coordinated technical assistance, support, and dissemination of
information
``Sec. 681. Findings and purposes.
``Sec. 682. Parent training and information centers.
``Sec. 683. Community parent resource centers.
``Sec. 684. Technical assistance for parent training and information
centers.
``Sec. 685. Coordinated technical assistance and dissemination.
``Sec. 686. Authorization of appropriations.
``Sec. 687. Technology development, demonstration, and utilization, and
media services.
``(c) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
``(1) Disability is a natural part of the human experience
and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to
participate in or contribute to society. Improving
educational results for children with disabilities is an
essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality
of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and
economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.
``(2) Before the date of the enactment of the Education for
All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-142)--
``(A) the special educational needs of children with
disabilities were not being fully met;
``(B) more than one-half of the children with disabilities
in the United States did not receive appropriate educational
services that would enable such children to have full
equality of opportunity;
``(C) 1,000,000 of the children with disabilities in the
United States were excluded entirely from the public school
system and did not go through the educational process with
their peers;
``(D) there were many children with disabilities throughout
the United States participating in regular school programs
whose disabilities prevented such children from
[[Page
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having a successful educational experience because their
disabilities were undetected; and
``(E) because of the lack of adequate services within the
public school system, families were often forced to find
services outside the public school system, often at great
distance from their residence and at their own expense.
``(3) Since the enactment and implementation of the
Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, this Act
has been successful in ensuring children with disabilities
and the families of such children access to a free
appropriate public education and in improving educational
results for children with disabilities.
``(4) However, the implementation of this Act has been
impeded by low expectations, and an insufficient focus on
applying replicable research on proven methods of teaching
and learning for children with disabilities.
``(5) Over 20 years of research and experience has
demonstrated that the education of children with disabilities
can be made more effective by--
``(A) having high expectations for such children and
ensuring their access in the general curriculum to the
maximum extent possible;
``(B) strengthening the role of parents and ensuring that
families of such children have meaningful opportunities to
participate in the education of their children at school and
at home;
``(C) coordinating this Act with other local, educational
service agency, State, and Federal school improvement efforts
in order to ensure that such children benefit from such
efforts and that special education can become a service for
such children rather than a place where they are sent;
``(D) providing appropriate special education and related
services and aids and supports in the regular classroom to
such children, whenever appropriate;
``(E) supporting high-quality, intensive professional
development for all personnel who work with such children in
order to ensure that they have the skills and knowledge
necessary to enable them--
``(i) to meet developmental goals and, to the maximum
extent possible, those challenging expectations that have
been established for all children; and
``(ii) to be prepared to lead productive, independent,
adult lives, to the maximum extent possible;
``(F) providing incentives for whole-school approaches and
pre-referral intervention to reduce the need to label
children as disabled in order to address their learning
needs; and
``(G) focusing resources on teaching and learning while
reducing paperwork and requirements that do not assist in
improving educational results.
``(6) While States, local educational agencies, and
educational service agencies are responsible for providing an
education for all children with disabilities, it is in the
national interest that the Federal Government have a role in
assisting State and local efforts to educate children with
disabilities in order to improve results for such children
and to ensure equal protection of the law.
``(7)(A) The Federal Government must be responsive to the
growing needs of an increasingly more diverse society. A more
equitable allocation of resources is essential for the
Federal Government to meet its responsibility to provide an
equal educational opportunity for all individuals.
``(B) America's racial profile is rapidly changing. Between
1980 and 1990, the rate of increase in the population for
white Americans was 6 percent, while the rate of increase for
racial and ethnic minorities was much higher: 53 percent for
Hispanics, 13.2 percent for African-Americans, and 107.8
percent for Asians.
``(C) By the year 2000, this Nation will have 275,000,000
people, nearly one of every three of whom will be either
African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, or American
Indian.
``(D) Taken together as a group, minority children are
comprising an ever larger percentage of public school
students. Large-city school populations are overwhelmingly
minority, for example: for fall 1993, the figure for Miami
was 84 percent; Chicago, 89 percent; Philadelphia, 78
percent; Baltimore, 84 percent; Houston, 88 percent; and Los
Angeles, 88 percent.
``(E) Recruitment efforts within special education must
focus on bringing larger numbers of minorities into the
profession in order to provide appropriate practitioner
knowledge, role models, and sufficient manpower to address
the clearly changing demography of special education.
``(F) The limited English proficient population is the
fastest growing in our Nation, and the growth is occurring in
many parts of our Nation. In the Nation'
s 2 largest school
districts, limited English students make up almost half of
all students initially entering school at the kindergarten
level. Studies have documented apparent discrepancies in the
levels of referral and placement of limited English
proficient children in special education. The Department of
Education has found that services provided to limited English
proficient students often do not respond primarily to the
pupil's academic needs. These trends pose special challenges
for special education in the referral, assessment, and
services for our Nation's students from non-English language
backgrounds.
``(8)(A) Greater efforts are needed to prevent the
intensification of problems connected with mislabeling and
high dropout rates among minority children with disabilities.
``(B) More minority children continue to be served in
special education than would be expected from the percentage
of minority students in the general school population.
``(C) Poor African-American children are 2.3 times more
likely to be identified by their teacher as having mental
retardation than their white counterpart.
``(D) Although African-Americans represent 16 percent of
elementary and secondary enrollments, they constitute 21
percent of total enrollments in special education.
``(E) The drop-out rate is 68 percent higher for minorities
than for whites.
``(F) More than 50 percent of minority students in large
cities drop out of school.
``(9)(A) The opportunity for full participation in awards
for grants and contracts; boards of organizations receiving
funds under this Act; and peer review panels; and training of
professionals in the area of special education by minority
individuals, organizations, and historically black colleges
and universities is essential if we are to obtain greater
success in the education of minority children with
disabilities.
``(B) In 1993, of the 915,000 college and university
professors, 4.9 percent were African-American and 2.4 percent
were Hispanic. Of the 2,940,000 teachers, prekindergarten
through high school, 6.8 percent were African-American and
4.1 percent were Hispanic.
``(C) Students from minority groups comprise more than 50
percent of K-12 public school enrollment in seven States yet
minority enrollment in teacher training programs is less than
15 percent in all but six States.
``(D) As the number of African-American and Hispanic
students in special education increases, the number of
minority teachers and related service personnel produced in
our colleges and universities continues to decrease.
``(E) Ten years ago, 12 percent of the United States
teaching force in public elementary and secondary schools
were members of a minority group. Minorities comprised 21
percent of the national population at that time and were
clearly underrepresented then among employed teachers. Today,
the elementary and secondary teaching force is 13 percent
minority, while one-third of the students in public schools
are minority children.
``(F) As recently as 1991, historically black colleges and
universities enrolled 44 percent of the African-American
teacher trainees in the Nation. However, in 1993,
historically black colleges and universities received only 4
percent of the discretionary funds for special education and
related services personnel training under this Act.
``(G) While African-American students constitute 28 percent
of total enrollment in special education, only 11.2 percent
of individuals enrolled in preservice training programs for
special education are African-American.
``(H) In 1986-87, of the degrees conferred in education at
the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D levels, only 6, 8, and 8 percent,
respectively, were awarded to African-American or Hispanic
students.
``(10) Minorities and underserved persons are socially
disadvantaged because of the lack of opportunities in
training and educational programs, undergirded by the
practices in the private sector that impede their full
participation in the mainstream of society.
``(d) Purposes.--The purposes of this title are--
``(1)(A) to ensure that all children with disabilities have
available to them a free appropriate public education that
emphasizes special education and related services designed to
meet their unique needs and prepare them for employment and
independent living;
``(B) to ensure that the rights of children with
disabilities and parents of such children are protected; and
``(C) to assist States, localities, educational service
agencies, and Federal agencies to provide for the education
of all children with disabilities;
``(2) to assist States in the implementation of a
statewide, comprehensive, coordinated, multidisciplinary,
interagency system of early intervention services for infants
and toddlers with disabilities and their families;
``(3) to ensure that educators and parents have the
necessary tools to improve educational results for children
with disabilities by supporting systemic-change activities;
coordinated research and personnel preparation; coordinated
technical assistance, dissemination, and support; and
technology development and media services; and
``(4) to assess, and ensure the effectiveness of, efforts
to educate children with disabilities.
``SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS.
``Except as otherwise provided, as used in this Act:
``(1) Assistive technology device.--The term `assistive
technology device' means any item, piece of equipment, or
product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf,
modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain,
or improve functional capabilities of a child with a
disability.
``(2) Assistive technology service.--The term `assistive
technology service' means any service that directly assists a
child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use
of an assistive technology device. Such term includes--
``(A) the evaluation of the needs of such child, including
a functional evaluation of
[[Page
H2500]]
the child in the child's customary environment;
``(B) purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing for the
acquisition of assistive technology devices by such child;
``(C) selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting,
applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing of assistive
technology devices;
``(D) coordinating and using other therapies,
interventions, or services with assistive technology devices,
such as those associated with existing education and
rehabilitation plans and programs;
``(E) training or technical assistance for such child, or,
where appropriate, the family of such child; and
``(F) training or technical assistance for professionals
(including individuals providing education and rehabilitation
services), employers, or other individuals who provide
services to, employ, or are otherwise substantially involved
in the major life functions of such child.
``(3) Child with a disability.--
``(A) In general.--The term `child with a disability' means
a child--
``(i) with mental retardation, hearing impairments
(including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual
impairments (including blindness), serious emotional
disturbance (hereinafter referred to as `emotional
disturbance'), orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic
brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning
disabilities; and
``(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and
related services.
``(B) Child aged 3 through 9.--The term `child with a
disability' for a child aged 3 through 9 may, at the
discretion of the State and the local educational agency,
include a child--
``(i) experiencing developmental delays, as defined by the
State and as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments
and procedures, in one or more of the following areas:
physical development, cognitive development, communication
development, social or emotional development, or adaptive
development; and
``(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and
related services.
``(4) Educational service agency.--The term `educational
service agency'--
``(A) means a regional public multiservice agency--
``(i) authorized by State law to develop, manage, and
provide services or programs to local educational agencies;
and
``(ii) recognized as an administrative agency for purposes
of the provision of special education and related services
provided within public elementary and secondary schools of
the State; and
``(B) includes any other public institution or agency
having administrative control and direction over a public
elementary or secondary school.
``(5) Elementary school.--The term `elementary school'
means a nonprofit institutional day or residential school
that provides elementary education, as determined under State
law.
``(6) Equipment.--The term `equipment' includes--
``(A) machinery, utilities, and built-in equipment and any
necessary enclosures or structures to house such machinery,
utilities, or equipment; and
``(B) all other items necessary for the functioning of a
particular facility as a facility for the provision of
educational services, including items such as instructional
equipment and necessary furniture; printed, published, and
audio-visual instructional materials; telecommunications,
sensory, and other technological aids and devices; and books,
periodicals, documents, and other related materials.
``(7) Excess costs.--The term `excess costs' means those
costs that are in excess of the average annual per-student
expenditure in a local educational agency during the
preceding school year for an elementary or secondary school
student, as may be appropriate, and which shall be computed
after deducting--
``(A) amounts received--
``(i) under part B of this title;
``(ii) under part A of title I of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965; or
``(iii) under part A of title VII of that Act; and
``(B) any State or local funds expended for programs that
would qualify for assistance under any of those parts.
``(8) Free appropriate public education.--The term `free
appropriate public education' means special education and
related services that--
``(A) have been provided at public expense, under public
supervision and direction, and without charge;
``(B) meet the standards of the State educational agency;
``(C) include an appropriate preschool, elementary, or
secondary school education in the State involved; and
``(D) are provided in conformity with the individualized
education program required under section 614(d).
``(9) Indian.--The term `Indian' means an individual who is
a member of an Indian tribe.
``(10) Indian tribe.--The term `Indian tribe' means any
Federal or State Indian tribe, band, rancheria, pueblo,
colony, or community, including any Alaska Native village or
regional village corporation (as defined in or established
under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act).
``(11) Individualized education program.--The term
`individualized education program' or `IEP' means a written
statement for each child with a disability that is developed,
reviewed, and revised in accordance with section 614(d).
``(12) Individualized family service plan.--The term
`individualized family service plan' has the meaning given
such term in section 636.
``(13) Infant or toddler with a disability.--The term
`infant or toddler with a disability' has the meaning given
such term in section 632.
``(14) Institution of higher education.--The term
`institution of higher education'--
``(A) has the meaning given that term in section 1201(a) of
the Higher Education Act of 1965; and
``(B) also includes any community college receiving funding
from the Secretary of the Interior under the Tribally
Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978.
``(15) Local educational agency.--
``(A) The term `local educational agency' means a public
board of education or other public authority legally
constituted within a State for either administrative control
or direction of, or to perform a service function for, public
elementary or secondary schools in a city, county, township,
school district, or other political subdivision of a State,
or for such combination of school districts or counties as
are recognized in a State as an administrative agency for its
public elementary or secondary schools.
``(B) The term includes--
``(i) an educational service agency, as defined in
paragraph (4); and
``(ii) any other public institution or agency having
administrative control and direction of a public elementary
or secondary school.
``(C) The term includes an elementary or secondary school
funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but only to the
extent that such inclusion makes the school eligible for
programs for which specific eligibility is not provided to
the school in another provision of law and the school does
not have a student population that is smaller than the
student population of the local educational agency receiving
assistance under this Act with the smallest student
population, except that the school shall not be subject to
the jurisdiction of any State educational agency other than
the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
``(16) Native language.--The term `native language', when
used with reference to an individual of limited English
proficiency, means the language normally used by the
individual, or in the case of a child, the language normally
used by the parents of the child.
``(17) Nonprofit.--The term `nonprofit', as applied to a
school, agency, organization, or institution, means a school,
agency, organization, or institution owned and operated by
one or more nonprofit corporations or associations no part of
the net earnings of which inures, or may lawfully inure, to
the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.
``(18) Outlying area.--The term `outlying area' means the
United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
``(19) Parent.--The term `parent'--
``(A) includes a legal guardian; and
``(B) except as used in sections 615(b)(2) and 639(a)(5),
includes an individual assigned under either of those
sections to be a surrogate parent.
``(20) Parent organization.--The term `parent organization'
has the meaning given that term in section 682(g).
``(21) Parent training and information center.--The term
`parent training and information center' means a center
assisted under section 682 or 683.
``(22) Related services.--The term `related services' means
transportation, and such developmental, corrective, and other
supportive services (including speech-language pathology and
audiology services, psychological services, physical and
occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic
recreation, social work services, counseling services,
including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility
services, and medical services, except that such medical
services shall be for diagnostic and evaluation purposes
only) as may be required to assist a child with a disability
to benefit from special education, and includes the early
identification and assessment of disabling conditions in
children.
``(23) Secondary school.--The term `secondary school' means
a nonprofit institutional day or residential school that
provides secondary education, as determined under State law,
except that it does not include any education beyond grade
12.
``(24) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary
of Education.
``(25) Special education.--The term `special education'
means specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents,
to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability,
including--
``(A) instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home,
in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings; and
``(B) instruction in physical education.
``(26) Specific learning disability.--
``(A) In general.--The term `specific learning disability'
means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological
processes involved in understanding or in using language,
spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in
imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write,
spell, or do mathematical calculations.
[[Page
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``(B) Disorders included.--Such term includes such
conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal
brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.
``(C) Disorders not included.--Such term does not include a
learning problem that is primarily the result of visual,
hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of
emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or
economic disadvantage.
``(27) State.--The term `State' means each of the 50
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, and each of the outlying areas.
``(28) State educational agency.--The term `State
educational agency' means the State board of education or
other agency or officer primarily responsible for the State
supervision of public elementary and secondary schools, or,
if there is no such officer or agency, an officer or agency
designated by the Governor or by State law.
``(29) Supplementary aids and services.--The term
`supplementary aids and services' means, aids, services, and
other supports that are provided in regular education classes
or other education-related settings to enable children with
disabilities to be educated with nondisabled children to the
maximum extent appropriate in accordance with section
612(a)(5).
``(30) Transition services.--The term `transition services'
means a coordinated set of activities for a student with a
disability that--
``(A) is designed within an outcome-oriented process, which
promotes movement from school to post-school activities,
including post-secondary education, vocational training,
integrated employment (including supported employment),
continuing and adult education, adult services, independent
living, or community participation;
``(B) is based upon the individual student's needs, taking
into account the student's preferences and interests; and
``(C) includes instruction, related services, community
experiences, the development of employment and other post-
school adult living objectives, and, when appropriate,
acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational
evaluation.
``SEC. 603. OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS.
``(a) Establishment.--There shall be, within the Office of
Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the
Department of Education, an Office of Special Education
Programs, which shall be the principal agency in such
Department for administering and carrying out this Act and
other programs and activities concerning the education of
children with disabilities.
``(b) Director.--The Office established under subsection
(a) shall be headed by a Director who shall be selected by
the Secretary and shall report directly to the Assistant
Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
``(c) Voluntary and Uncompensated Services.--
Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United States Code,
the Secretary is authorized to accept voluntary and
uncompensated services in furtherance of the purposes of this
Act.
``SEC. 604. ABROGATION OF STATE SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.
``(a) In General.--A State shall not be immune under the
eleventh amendment to the Constitution of the United States
from suit in Federal court for a violation of this Act.
``(b) Remedies.--In a suit against a State for a violation
of this Act, remedies (including remedies both at law and in
equity) are available for such a violation to the same extent
as those remedies are available for such a violation in the
suit against any public entity other than a State.
``(c) Effective Date.--Subsections (a) and (b) apply with
respect to violations that occur in whole or part after the
date of the enactment of the Education of the Handicapped Act
Amendments of 1990.
``SEC. 605. ACQUISITION OF EQUIPMENT; CONSTRUCTION OR
ALTERATION OF FACILITIES.
``(a) In General.--If the Secretary determines that a
program authorized under this Act would be improved by
permitting program funds to be used to acquire appropriate
equipment, or to construct new facilities or alter existing
facilities, the Secretary is authorized to allow the use of
those funds for those purposes.
``(b) Compliance With Certain Regulations.--Any
construction of new facilities or alteration of existing
facilities under subsection (a) shall comply with the
requirements of--
``(1) appendix A of part 36 of title 28, Code of Federal
Regulations (commonly known as the `Americans with
Disabilities Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and
Facilities'); or
``(2) appendix A of part 101-19.6 of title 41, Code of
Federal Regulations (commonly known as the `Uniform Federal
Accessibility Standards').
``SEC. 606. EMPLOYMENT OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.
``The Secretary shall ensure that each recipient of
assistance under this Act makes positive efforts to employ
and advance in employment qualified individuals with
disabilities in programs assisted under this Act.
``SEC. 607. REQUIREMENTS FOR PRESCRIBING REGULATIONS.
``(a) Public Comment Period.--The Secretary shall provide a
public comment period of at least 90 days on any regulation
proposed under part B or part C of this Act on which an
opportunity for public comment is otherwise required by law.
``(b) Protections Provided to Children.--The Secretary may
not implement, or publish in final form, any regulation
prescribed pursuant to this Act that would procedurally or
substantively lessen the protections provided to children
with disabilities under this Act, as embodied in regulations
in effect on July 20, 1983 (particularly as such protections
relate to parental consent to initial evaluation or initial
placement in special education, least restrictive
environment, related services, timelines, attendance of
evaluation personnel at individualized education program
meetings, or qualifications of personnel), except to the
extent that such regulation reflects the clear and
unequivocal intent of the Congress in legislation.
``(c) Policy Letters and Statements.--The Secretary may
not, through policy letters or other statements, establish a
rule that is required for compliance with, and eligibility
under, this part without following the requirements of
section 553 of title 5, United States Code.
``(d) Correspondence From Department of Education
Describing Interpretations of This Part.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall, on a quarterly
basis, publish in the Federal Register, and widely
disseminate to interested entities through various additional
forms of communication, a list of correspondence from the
Department of Education received by individuals during the
previous quarter that describes the interpretations of the
Department of Education of this Act or the regulations
implemented pursuant to this Act.
``(2) Additional information.--For each item of
correspondence published in a list under paragraph (1), the
Secretary shall identify the topic addressed by the
correspondence and shall include such other summary
information as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
``(e) Issues of National Significance.--If the Secretary
receives a written request regarding a policy, question, or
interpretation under part B of this Act, and determines that
it raises an issue of general interest or applicability of
national significance to the implementation of part B, the
Secretary shall--
``(1) include a statement to that effect in any written
response;
``(2) widely disseminate that response to State educational
agencies, local educational agencies, parent and advocacy
organizations, and other interested organizations, subject to
applicable laws relating to confidentiality of information;
and
``(3) not later than one year after the date on which the
Secretary responds to the written request, issue written
guidance on such policy, question, or interpretation through
such means as the Secretary determines to be appropriate and
consistent with law, such as a policy memorandum, notice of
interpretation, or notice of proposed rulemaking.
``(f) Explanation.--Any written response by the Secretary
under subsection (e) regarding a policy, question, or
interpretation under part B of this Act shall include an
explanation that the written response--
``(1) is provided as informal guidance and is not legally
binding; and
``(2) represents the interpretation by the Department of
Education of the applicable statutory or regulatory
requirements in the context of the specific facts presented.
``PART B--ASSISTANCE FOR EDUCATION OF ALL CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
``SEC. 611. AUTHORIZATION; ALLOTMENT; USE OF FUNDS;
AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``(a) Grants to States.--
``(1) Purpose of grants.--The Secretary shall make grants
to States and the outlying areas, and provide funds to the
Secretary of the Interior, to assist them to provide special
education and related services to children with disabilities
in accordance with this part.
``(2) Maximum amounts.--The maximum amount of the grant a
State may receive under this section for any fiscal year is--
``(A) the number of children with disabilities in the State
who are receiving special education and related services--
``(i) aged three through five if the State is eligible for
a grant under section 619; and
``(ii) aged six through 21; multiplied by
``(B) 40 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure in
public elementary and secondary schools in the United States.
``(b) Outlying Areas and Freely Associated States.--
``(1) Funds reserved.--From the amount appropriated for any
fiscal year under subsection (j), the Secretary shall reserve
not more than one percent, which shall be used--
``(A) to provide assistance to the outlying areas in
accordance with their respective populations of individuals
aged three through 21; and
``(B) for fiscal years 1998 through 2001, to carry out the
competition described in paragraph (2), except that the
amount reserved to carry out that competition shall not
exceed the amount reserved for fiscal year 1996 for the
competition under part B of this Act described under the
heading ``SPECIAL EDUCATION'' in Public Law 104-134.
``(2) Limitation for freely associated states.--
``(A) Competitive grants.--The Secretary shall use funds
described in paragraph (1)(B) to award grants, on a
competitive basis, to Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the freely associated
States to carry out the purposes of this part.
[[Page
H2502]]
``(B) Award basis.--The Secretary shall award grants under
subparagraph (A) on a competitive basis, pursuant to the
recommendations of the Pacific Region Educational Laboratory
in Honolulu, Hawaii. Those recommendations shall be made by
experts in the field of special education and related
services.
``(C) Assistance requirements.--Any freely associated State
that wishes to receive funds under this part shall include,
in its application for assistance--
``(i) information demonstrating that it will meet all
conditions that apply to States under this part;
``(ii) an assurance that, notwithstanding any other
provision of this part, it will use those funds only for the
direct provision of special education and related services to
children with disabilities and to enhance its capacity to
make a free appropriate public education available to all
children with disabilities;
``(iii) the identity of the source and amount of funds, in
addition to funds under this part, that it will make
available to ensure that a free appropriate public education
is available to all children with disabilities within its
jurisdiction; and
``(iv) such other information and assurances as the
Secretary may require.
``(D) Termination of eligibility.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the freely associated States shall
not receive any funds under this part for any program year
that begins after September 30, 2001.
``(E) Administrative costs.--The Secretary may provide not
more than five percent of the amount reserved for grants
under this paragraph to pay the administrative costs of the
Pacific Region Educational Laboratory under subparagraph (B).
``(3) Limitation.--An outlying area is not eligible for a
competitive award under paragraph (2) unless it receives
assistance under paragraph (1)(A).
``(4) Special rule.--The provisions of Public Law 95-134,
permitting the consolidation of grants by the outlying areas,
shall not apply to funds provided to those areas or to the
freely associated States under this section.
``(5) Eligibility for discretionary programs.--The freely
associated States shall be eligible to receive assistance
under subpart 2 of part D of this Act until September 30,
2001.
``(6) Definition.--As used in this subsection, the term
`freely associated States' means the Republic of the Marshall
Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic
of Palau.
``(c) Secretary of the Interior.--From the amount
appropriated for any fiscal year under subsection (j), the
Secretary shall reserve 1.226 percent to provide assistance
to the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with
subsection (i).
``(d) Allocations to States.--
``(1) In general.--After reserving funds for studies and
evaluations under section 674(e), and for payments to the
outlying areas and the Secretary of the Interior under
subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary shall allocate the
remaining amount among the States in accordance with
paragraph (2) or subsection (e), as the case may be.
``(2) Interim formula.--Except as provided in subsection
(e), the Secretary shall allocate the amount described in
paragraph (1) among the States in accordance with section
611(a)(3), (4), and (5) and (b)(1), (2), and (3) of this Act,
as in effect prior to the enactment of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997, except that
the determination of the number of children with disabilities
receiving special education and related services under such
section 611(a)(3) may, at the State's discretion, be
calculated as of the last Friday in October or as of December
1 of the fiscal year for which the funds are appropriated.
``(e) Permanent Formula.--
``(1) Establishment of base year.--The Secretary shall
allocate the amount described in subsection (d)(1) among the
States in accordance with this subsection for each fiscal
year beginning with the first fiscal year for which the
amount appropriated under subsection (j) is more than
$4,924,672,200.
``(2) Use of base year.--
``(A) Definition.--As used in this subsection, the term
`base year' means the fiscal year preceding the first fiscal
year in which this subsection applies.
``(B) Special rule for use of base year amount.--If a State
received any funds under this section for the base year on
the basis of children aged three through five, but does not
make a free appropriate public education available to all
children with disabilities aged three through five in the
State in any subsequent fiscal year, the Secretary shall
compute the State's base year amount, solely for the purpose
of calculating the State's allocation in that subsequent year
under paragraph (3) or (4), by subtracting the amount
allocated to the State for the base year on the basis of
those children.
``(3) Increase in funds.--If the amount available for
allocations to States under paragraph (1) is equal to or
greater than the amount allocated to the States under this
paragraph for the preceding fiscal year, those allocations
shall be calculated as follows:
``(A)(i) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the
Secretary shall--
``(I) allocate to each State the amount it received for the
base year;
``(II) allocate 85 percent of any remaining funds to States
on the basis of their relative populations of children aged 3
through 21 who are of the same age as children with
disabilities for whom the State ensures the availability of a
free appropriate public education under this part; and
``(III) allocate 15 percent of those remaining funds to
States on the basis of their relative populations of children
described in subclause (II) who are living in poverty.
``(ii) For the purpose of making grants under this
paragraph, the Secretary shall use the most recent population
data, including data on children living in poverty, that are
available and satisfactory to the Secretary.
``(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), allocations under
this paragraph shall be subject to the following:
``(i) No State's allocation shall be less than its
allocation for the preceding fiscal year.
``(ii) No State's allocation shall be less than the
greatest of--
``(I) the sum of--
``(aa) the amount it received for the base year; and
``(bb) one third of one percent of the amount by which the
amount appropriated under subsection (j) exceeds the amount
appropriated under this section for the base year;
``(II) the sum of--
``(aa) the amount it received for the preceding fiscal
year; and
``(bb) that amount multiplied by the percentage by which
the increase in the funds appropriated from the preceding
fiscal year exceeds 1.5 percent; or
``(III) the sum of--
``(aa) the amount it received for the preceding fiscal
year; and
``(bb) that amount multiplied by 90 percent of the
percentage increase in the amount appropriated from the
preceding fiscal year.
``(iii) Notwithstanding clause (ii), no State's allocation
under this paragraph shall exceed the sum of--
``(I) the amount it received for the preceding fiscal year;
and
``(II) that amount multiplied by the sum of 1.5 percent and
the percentage increase in the amount appropriated.
``(C) If the amount available for allocations under this
paragraph is insufficient to pay those allocations in full,
those allocations shall be ratably reduced, subject to
subparagraph (B)(i).
``(4) Decrease in funds.--If the amount available for
allocations to States under paragraph (1) is less than the
amount allocated to the States under this section for the
preceding fiscal year, those allocations shall be calculated
as follows:
``(A) If the amount available for allocations is greater
than the amount allocated to the States for the base year,
each State shall be allocated the sum of--
``(i) the amount it received for the base year; and
``(ii) an amount that bears the same relation to any
remaining funds as the increase the State received for the
preceding fiscal year over the base year bears to the total
of all such increases for all States.
``(B)(i) If the amount available for allocations is equal
to or less than the amount allocated to the States for the
base year, each State shall be allocated the amount it
received for the base year.
``(ii) If the amount available is insufficient to make the
allocations described in clause (i), those allocations shall
be ratably reduced.
``(f) State-Level Activities.--
``(1) General.--
``(A) Each State may retain not more than the amount
described in subparagraph (B) for administration and other
State-level activities in accordance with paragraphs (2) and
(3).
``(B) For each fiscal year, the Secretary shall determine
and report to the State educational agency an amount that is
25 percent of the amount the State received under this
section for fiscal year 1997, cumulatively adjusted by the
Secretary for each succeeding fiscal year by the lesser of--
``(i) the percentage increase, if any, from the preceding
fiscal year in the State's allocation under this section; or
``(ii) the rate of inflation, as measured by the percentage
increase, if any, from the preceding fiscal year in the
Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers, published by
the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.
``(C) A State may use funds it retains under subparagraph
(A) without regard to--
``(i) the prohibition on commingling of funds in section
612(a)(18)(B); and
``(ii) the prohibition on supplanting other funds in
section 612(a)(18)(C).
``(2) State administration.--
``(A) For the purpose of administering this part, including
section 619 (including the coordination of activities under
this part with, and providing technical assistance to, other
programs that provide services to children with
disabilities)--
``(i) each State may use not more than twenty percent of
the maximum amount it may retain under paragraph (1)(A) for
any fiscal year or $500,000 (adjusted by the cumulative rate
of inflation since fiscal year 1998, as measured by the
percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index For
All Urban Consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the Department of Labor), whichever is greater;
and
``(ii) each outlying area may use up to five percent of the
amount it receives under this
[[Page
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section for any fiscal year or $35,000, whichever is greater.
``(B) Funds described in subparagraph (A) may also be used
for the administration of part C of this Act, if the State
educational agency is the lead agency for the State under
that part.
``(3) Other state-level activities.--Each State shall use
any funds it retains under paragraph (1) and does not use for
administration under paragraph (2) for any of the following:
``(A) Support and direct services, including technical
assistance and personnel development and training.
``(B) Administrative costs of monitoring and complaint
investigation, but only to the extent that those costs exceed
the costs incurred for those activities during fiscal year
1985.
``(C) To establish and implement the mediation process
required by section 615(e), including providing for the costs
of mediators and support personnel.
``(D) To assist local educational agencies in meeting
personnel shortages.
``(E) To develop a State Improvement Plan under subpart 1
of part D.
``(F) Activities at the State and local levels to meet the
performance goals established by the State under section
612(a)(16) and to support implementation of the State
Improvement Plan under subpart 1 of part D if the State
receives funds under that subpart.
``(G) To supplement other amounts used to develop and
implement a Statewide coordinated services system designed to
improve results for children and families, including children
with disabilities and their families, but not to exceed one
percent of the amount received by the State under this
section. This system shall be coordinated with and, to the
extent appropriate, build on the system of coordinated
services developed by the State under part C of this Act.
``(H) For subgrants to local educational agencies for the
purposes described in paragraph (4)(A).
``(4)(A) Subgrants to Local Educational Agencies for
Capacity-Building and Improvement.--In any fiscal year in
which the percentage increase in the State's allocation under
this section exceeds the rate of inflation (as measured by
the percentage increase, if any, from the preceding fiscal
year in the Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers,
published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department
of Labor), each State shall reserve, from its allocation
under this section, the amount described in subparagraph (B)
to make subgrants to local educational agencies, unless that
amount is less than $100,000, to assist them in providing
direct services and in making systemic change to improve
results for children with disabilities through one or more of
the following:
``(i) Direct services, including alternative programming
for children who have been expelled from school, and services
for children in correctional facilities, children enrolled in
State-operated or State-supported schools, and children in
charter schools.
``(ii) Addressing needs or carrying out improvement
strategies identified in the State's Improvement Plan under
subpart 1 of part D.
``(iii) Adopting promising practices, materials, and
technology, based on knowledge derived from education
research and other sources.
``(iv) Establishing, expanding, or implementing interagency
agreements and arrangements between local educational
agencies and other agencies or organizations concerning the
provision of services to children with disabilities and their
families.
``(v) Increasing cooperative problem-solving between
parents and school personnel and promoting the use of
alternative dispute resolution.
``(B) Maximum subgrant.--For each fiscal year, the amount
referred to in subparagraph (A) is--
``(i) the maximum amount the State was allowed to retain
under paragraph (1)(A) for the prior fiscal year, or for
fiscal year 1998, 25 percent of the State's allocation for
fiscal year 1997 under this section; multiplied by
``(ii) the difference between the percentage increase in
the State's allocation under this section and the rate of
inflation, as measured by the percentage increase, if any,
from the preceding fiscal year in the Consumer Price Index
For All Urban Consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the Department of Labor.
``(5) Report on Use of Funds.--As part of the information
required to be submitted to the Secretary under section 612,
each State shall annually describe--
``(A) how amounts retained under paragraph (1) will be used
to meet the requirements of this part;
``(B) how those amounts will be allocated among the
activities described in paragraphs (2) and (3) to meet State
priorities based on input from local educational agencies;
and
``(C) the percentage of those amounts, if any, that will be
distributed to local educational agencies by formula.
``(g) Subgrants to Local Educational Agencies.--
``(1) Subgrants required.--Each State that receives a grant
under this section for any fiscal year shall distribute any
funds it does not retain under subsection (f) (at least 75
percent of the grant funds) to local educational agencies in
the State that have established their eligibility under
section 613, and to State agencies that received funds under
section 614A(a) of this Act for fiscal year 1997, as then in
effect, and have established their eligibility under section
613, for use in accordance with this part.
``(2) Allocations to local educational agencies.--
``(A) Interim procedure.--For each fiscal year for which
funds are allocated to States under subsection (d)(2), each
State shall allocate funds under paragraph (1) in accordance
with section 611(d) of this Act, as in effect prior to the
enactment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Amendments of 1997.
``(B) Permanent procedure.--For each fiscal year for which
funds are allocated to States under subsection (e), each
State shall allocate funds under paragraph (1) as follows:
``(i) Base payments.--The State shall first award each
agency described in paragraph (1) the amount that agency
would have received under this section for the base year, as
defined in subsection (e)(2)(A), if the State had distributed
75 percent of its grant for that year under section 611(d),
as then in effect.
``(ii) Allocation of remaining funds.--After making
allocations under clause (i), the State shall--
``(I) allocate 85 percent of any remaining funds to those
agencies on the basis of the relative numbers of children
enrolled in public and private elementary and secondary
schools within the agency's jurisdiction; and
``(II) allocate 15 percent of those remaining funds to
those agencies in accordance with their relative numbers of
children living in poverty, as determined by the State
educational agency.
``(3) Former chapter 1 state agencies.--
``(A) To the extent necessary, the State--
``(i) shall use funds that are available under subsection
(f)(1)(A) to ensure that each State agency that received
fiscal year 1994 funds under subpart 2 of part D of chapter 1
of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 receives, from the combination of funds under subsection
(f)(1)(A) and funds provided under paragraph (1) of this
subsection, an amount equal to--
``(I) the number of children with disabilities, aged 6
through 21, to whom the agency was providing special
education and related services on December 1 of the fiscal
year for which the funds were appropriated, subject to the
limitation in subparagraph (B); multiplied by
``(II) the per-child amount provided under such subpart for
fiscal year 1994; and
``(ii) may use those funds to ensure that each local
educational agency that received fiscal year 1994 funds under
that subpart for children who had transferred from a State-
operated or State-supported school or program assisted under
that subpart receives, from the combination of funds
available under subsection (f)(1)(A) and funds provided under
paragraph (1) of this subsection, an amount for each such
child, aged 3 through 21 to whom the agency was providing
special education and related services on December 1 of the
fiscal year for which the funds were appropriated, equal to
the per-child amount the agency received under that subpart
for fiscal year 1994.
``(B) The number of children counted under subparagraph
(A)(i)(I) shall not exceed the number of children aged 3
through 21 for whom the agency received fiscal year 1994
funds under subpart 2 of part D of chapter 1 of title I of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
``(4) Reallocation of funds.--If a State educational agency
determines that a local educational agency is adequately
providing a free appropriate public education to all children
with disabilities residing in the area served by that agency
with State and local funds, the State educational agency may
reallocate any portion of the funds under this part that are
not needed by that local agency to provide a free appropriate
public education to other local educational agencies in the
State that are not adequately providing special education and
related services to all children with disabilities residing
in the areas they serve.
``(h) Definitions.--For the purpose of this section--
``(1) the term `average per-pupil expenditure in public
elementary and secondary schools in the United States'
means--
``(A) without regard to the source of funds--
``(i) the aggregate current expenditures, during the second
fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the
determination is made (or, if satisfactory data for that year
are not available, during the most recent preceding fiscal
year for which satisfactory data are available) of all local
educational agencies in the 50 States and the District of
Columbia); plus
``(ii) any direct expenditures by the State for the
operation of those agencies; divided by
``(B) the aggregate number of children in average daily
attendance to whom those agencies provided free public
education during that preceding year; and
``(2) the term `State' means each of the 50 States, the
District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
``(i) Use of Amounts by Secretary of the Interior.--
``(1) Provision of amounts for assistance.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary of Education shall provide
amounts to the Secretary of the Interior to meet the need for
assist
Major Actions:
All articles in House section
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1997
(House of Representatives - May 13, 1997)
Text of this article available as:
TXT
PDF
[Pages
H2498-H2541]
INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1997
Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (
H.R. 5) to amend the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act,
to reauthorize and make improvements to that act, and for other
purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 5
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997''.
TITLE I--AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT
SEC. 101. AMENDMENTS TO THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES
EDUCATION ACT.
Parts A through D of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.) are amended to read as
follows:
``PART A--GENERAL PROVISIONS
``SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS; FINDINGS;
PURPOSES.
``(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the
`Individuals with Disabilities Education Act'.
``(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this
Act is as follows:
``Part A--General Provisions
``Sec. 601. Short title; table of contents; findings; purposes.
``Sec. 602. Definitions.
``Sec. 603. Office of Special Education Programs.
``Sec. 604. Abrogation of State sovereign immunity.
``Sec. 605. Acquisition of equipment; construction or alteration of
facilities.
``Sec. 606. Employment of individuals with disabilities.
``Sec. 607. Requirements for prescribing regulations.
``Part B--Assistance for Education of All Children with Disabilities
``Sec. 611. Authorization; allotment; use of funds; authorization of
appropriations.
``Sec. 612. State eligibility.
``Sec. 613. Local educational agency eligibility.
``Sec. 614. Evaluations, eligibility determinations, individualized
education programs, and educational placements.
``Sec. 615. Procedural safeguards.
``Sec. 616. Withholding and judicial review.
``Sec. 617. Administration.
``Sec. 618. Program information.
``Sec. 619. Preschool grants.
``Part C--Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities
``Sec. 631. Findings and policy.
``Sec. 632. Definitions.
``Sec. 633. General authority.
``Sec. 634. Eligibility.
``Sec. 635. Requirements for statewide system.
``Sec. 636. Individualized family service plan.
``Sec. 637. State application and assurances.
``Sec. 638. Uses of funds.
``Sec. 639. Procedural safeguards.
``Sec. 640. Payor of last resort.
``Sec. 641. State Interagency Coordinating Council.
``Sec. 642. Federal administration.
``Sec. 643. Allocation of funds.
``Sec. 644. Federal Interagency Coordinating Council.
``Sec. 645. Authorization of appropriations.
``Part D--National Activities to Improve Education of Children with
Disabilities
``subpart 1--state program improvement grants for children with
disabilities
``Sec. 651. Findings and purpose.
``Sec. 652. Eligibility and collaborative process.
``Sec. 653. Applications.
``Sec. 654. Use of funds.
``Sec. 655. Minimum State grant amounts.
``Sec. 656. Authorization of appropriations.
``subpart 2--coordinated research, personnel preparation, technical
assistance, support, and dissemination of information
``Sec. 661. Administrative provisions.
``chapter 1--improving early intervention, educational, and
transitional services and results for children with disabilities
through coordinated research and personnel preparation
``Sec. 671. Findings and purpose.
``Sec. 672. Research and innovation to improve services and results for
children with disabilities.
``Sec. 673. Personnel preparation to improve services and results for
children with disabilities.
``Sec. 674. Studies and evaluations.
``chapter 2--improving early intervention, educational, and
transitional services and results for children with disabilities
through coordinated technical assistance, support, and dissemination of
information
``Sec. 681. Findings and purposes.
``Sec. 682. Parent training and information centers.
``Sec. 683. Community parent resource centers.
``Sec. 684. Technical assistance for parent training and information
centers.
``Sec. 685. Coordinated technical assistance and dissemination.
``Sec. 686. Authorization of appropriations.
``Sec. 687. Technology development, demonstration, and utilization, and
media services.
``(c) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
``(1) Disability is a natural part of the human experience
and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to
participate in or contribute to society. Improving
educational results for children with disabilities is an
essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality
of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and
economic self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.
``(2) Before the date of the enactment of the Education for
All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-142)--
``(A) the special educational needs of children with
disabilities were not being fully met;
``(B) more than one-half of the children with disabilities
in the United States did not receive appropriate educational
services that would enable such children to have full
equality of opportunity;
``(C) 1,000,000 of the children with disabilities in the
United States were excluded entirely from the public school
system and did not go through the educational process with
their peers;
``(D) there were many children with disabilities throughout
the United States participating in regular school programs
whose disabilities prevented such children from
[[Page
H2499]]
having a successful educational experience because their
disabilities were undetected; and
``(E) because of the lack of adequate services within the
public school system, families were often forced to find
services outside the public school system, often at great
distance from their residence and at their own expense.
``(3) Since the enactment and implementation of the
Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, this Act
has been successful in ensuring children with disabilities
and the families of such children access to a free
appropriate public education and in improving educational
results for children with disabilities.
``(4) However, the implementation of this Act has been
impeded by low expectations, and an insufficient focus on
applying replicable research on proven methods of teaching
and learning for children with disabilities.
``(5) Over 20 years of research and experience has
demonstrated that the education of children with disabilities
can be made more effective by--
``(A) having high expectations for such children and
ensuring their access in the general curriculum to the
maximum extent possible;
``(B) strengthening the role of parents and ensuring that
families of such children have meaningful opportunities to
participate in the education of their children at school and
at home;
``(C) coordinating this Act with other local, educational
service agency, State, and Federal school improvement efforts
in order to ensure that such children benefit from such
efforts and that special education can become a service for
such children rather than a place where they are sent;
``(D) providing appropriate special education and related
services and aids and supports in the regular classroom to
such children, whenever appropriate;
``(E) supporting high-quality, intensive professional
development for all personnel who work with such children in
order to ensure that they have the skills and knowledge
necessary to enable them--
``(i) to meet developmental goals and, to the maximum
extent possible, those challenging expectations that have
been established for all children; and
``(ii) to be prepared to lead productive, independent,
adult lives, to the maximum extent possible;
``(F) providing incentives for whole-school approaches and
pre-referral intervention to reduce the need to label
children as disabled in order to address their learning
needs; and
``(G) focusing resources on teaching and learning while
reducing paperwork and requirements that do not assist in
improving educational results.
``(6) While States, local educational agencies, and
educational service agencies are responsible for providing an
education for all children with disabilities, it is in the
national interest that the Federal Government have a role in
assisting State and local efforts to educate children with
disabilities in order to improve results for such children
and to ensure equal protection of the law.
``(7)(A) The Federal Government must be responsive to the
growing needs of an increasingly more diverse society. A more
equitable allocation of resources is essential for the
Federal Government to meet its responsibility to provide an
equal educational opportunity for all individuals.
``(B) America's racial profile is rapidly changing. Between
1980 and 1990, the rate of increase in the population for
white Americans was 6 percent, while the rate of increase for
racial and ethnic minorities was much higher: 53 percent for
Hispanics, 13.2 percent for African-Americans, and 107.8
percent for Asians.
``(C) By the year 2000, this Nation will have 275,000,000
people, nearly one of every three of whom will be either
African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, or American
Indian.
``(D) Taken together as a group, minority children are
comprising an ever larger percentage of public school
students. Large-city school populations are overwhelmingly
minority, for example: for fall 1993, the figure for Miami
was 84 percent; Chicago, 89 percent; Philadelphia, 78
percent; Baltimore, 84 percent; Houston, 88 percent; and Los
Angeles, 88 percent.
``(E) Recruitment efforts within special education must
focus on bringing larger numbers of minorities into the
profession in order to provide appropriate practitioner
knowledge, role models, and sufficient manpower to address
the clearly changing demography of special education.
``(F) The limited English proficient population is the
fastest growing in our Nation, and the growth is occurring in
many parts of our Nation. In the Nation'
s 2 largest school
districts, limited English students make up almost half of
all students initially entering school at the kindergarten
level. Studies have documented apparent discrepancies in the
levels of referral and placement of limited English
proficient children in special education. The Department of
Education has found that services provided to limited English
proficient students often do not respond primarily to the
pupil's academic needs. These trends pose special challenges
for special education in the referral, assessment, and
services for our Nation's students from non-English language
backgrounds.
``(8)(A) Greater efforts are needed to prevent the
intensification of problems connected with mislabeling and
high dropout rates among minority children with disabilities.
``(B) More minority children continue to be served in
special education than would be expected from the percentage
of minority students in the general school population.
``(C) Poor African-American children are 2.3 times more
likely to be identified by their teacher as having mental
retardation than their white counterpart.
``(D) Although African-Americans represent 16 percent of
elementary and secondary enrollments, they constitute 21
percent of total enrollments in special education.
``(E) The drop-out rate is 68 percent higher for minorities
than for whites.
``(F) More than 50 percent of minority students in large
cities drop out of school.
``(9)(A) The opportunity for full participation in awards
for grants and contracts; boards of organizations receiving
funds under this Act; and peer review panels; and training of
professionals in the area of special education by minority
individuals, organizations, and historically black colleges
and universities is essential if we are to obtain greater
success in the education of minority children with
disabilities.
``(B) In 1993, of the 915,000 college and university
professors, 4.9 percent were African-American and 2.4 percent
were Hispanic. Of the 2,940,000 teachers, prekindergarten
through high school, 6.8 percent were African-American and
4.1 percent were Hispanic.
``(C) Students from minority groups comprise more than 50
percent of K-12 public school enrollment in seven States yet
minority enrollment in teacher training programs is less than
15 percent in all but six States.
``(D) As the number of African-American and Hispanic
students in special education increases, the number of
minority teachers and related service personnel produced in
our colleges and universities continues to decrease.
``(E) Ten years ago, 12 percent of the United States
teaching force in public elementary and secondary schools
were members of a minority group. Minorities comprised 21
percent of the national population at that time and were
clearly underrepresented then among employed teachers. Today,
the elementary and secondary teaching force is 13 percent
minority, while one-third of the students in public schools
are minority children.
``(F) As recently as 1991, historically black colleges and
universities enrolled 44 percent of the African-American
teacher trainees in the Nation. However, in 1993,
historically black colleges and universities received only 4
percent of the discretionary funds for special education and
related services personnel training under this Act.
``(G) While African-American students constitute 28 percent
of total enrollment in special education, only 11.2 percent
of individuals enrolled in preservice training programs for
special education are African-American.
``(H) In 1986-87, of the degrees conferred in education at
the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D levels, only 6, 8, and 8 percent,
respectively, were awarded to African-American or Hispanic
students.
``(10) Minorities and underserved persons are socially
disadvantaged because of the lack of opportunities in
training and educational programs, undergirded by the
practices in the private sector that impede their full
participation in the mainstream of society.
``(d) Purposes.--The purposes of this title are--
``(1)(A) to ensure that all children with disabilities have
available to them a free appropriate public education that
emphasizes special education and related services designed to
meet their unique needs and prepare them for employment and
independent living;
``(B) to ensure that the rights of children with
disabilities and parents of such children are protected; and
``(C) to assist States, localities, educational service
agencies, and Federal agencies to provide for the education
of all children with disabilities;
``(2) to assist States in the implementation of a
statewide, comprehensive, coordinated, multidisciplinary,
interagency system of early intervention services for infants
and toddlers with disabilities and their families;
``(3) to ensure that educators and parents have the
necessary tools to improve educational results for children
with disabilities by supporting systemic-change activities;
coordinated research and personnel preparation; coordinated
technical assistance, dissemination, and support; and
technology development and media services; and
``(4) to assess, and ensure the effectiveness of, efforts
to educate children with disabilities.
``SEC. 602. DEFINITIONS.
``Except as otherwise provided, as used in this Act:
``(1) Assistive technology device.--The term `assistive
technology device' means any item, piece of equipment, or
product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf,
modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain,
or improve functional capabilities of a child with a
disability.
``(2) Assistive technology service.--The term `assistive
technology service' means any service that directly assists a
child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use
of an assistive technology device. Such term includes--
``(A) the evaluation of the needs of such child, including
a functional evaluation of
[[Page
H2500]]
the child in the child's customary environment;
``(B) purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing for the
acquisition of assistive technology devices by such child;
``(C) selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting,
applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing of assistive
technology devices;
``(D) coordinating and using other therapies,
interventions, or services with assistive technology devices,
such as those associated with existing education and
rehabilitation plans and programs;
``(E) training or technical assistance for such child, or,
where appropriate, the family of such child; and
``(F) training or technical assistance for professionals
(including individuals providing education and rehabilitation
services), employers, or other individuals who provide
services to, employ, or are otherwise substantially involved
in the major life functions of such child.
``(3) Child with a disability.--
``(A) In general.--The term `child with a disability' means
a child--
``(i) with mental retardation, hearing impairments
(including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual
impairments (including blindness), serious emotional
disturbance (hereinafter referred to as `emotional
disturbance'), orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic
brain injury, other health impairments, or specific learning
disabilities; and
``(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and
related services.
``(B) Child aged 3 through 9.--The term `child with a
disability' for a child aged 3 through 9 may, at the
discretion of the State and the local educational agency,
include a child--
``(i) experiencing developmental delays, as defined by the
State and as measured by appropriate diagnostic instruments
and procedures, in one or more of the following areas:
physical development, cognitive development, communication
development, social or emotional development, or adaptive
development; and
``(ii) who, by reason thereof, needs special education and
related services.
``(4) Educational service agency.--The term `educational
service agency'--
``(A) means a regional public multiservice agency--
``(i) authorized by State law to develop, manage, and
provide services or programs to local educational agencies;
and
``(ii) recognized as an administrative agency for purposes
of the provision of special education and related services
provided within public elementary and secondary schools of
the State; and
``(B) includes any other public institution or agency
having administrative control and direction over a public
elementary or secondary school.
``(5) Elementary school.--The term `elementary school'
means a nonprofit institutional day or residential school
that provides elementary education, as determined under State
law.
``(6) Equipment.--The term `equipment' includes--
``(A) machinery, utilities, and built-in equipment and any
necessary enclosures or structures to house such machinery,
utilities, or equipment; and
``(B) all other items necessary for the functioning of a
particular facility as a facility for the provision of
educational services, including items such as instructional
equipment and necessary furniture; printed, published, and
audio-visual instructional materials; telecommunications,
sensory, and other technological aids and devices; and books,
periodicals, documents, and other related materials.
``(7) Excess costs.--The term `excess costs' means those
costs that are in excess of the average annual per-student
expenditure in a local educational agency during the
preceding school year for an elementary or secondary school
student, as may be appropriate, and which shall be computed
after deducting--
``(A) amounts received--
``(i) under part B of this title;
``(ii) under part A of title I of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965; or
``(iii) under part A of title VII of that Act; and
``(B) any State or local funds expended for programs that
would qualify for assistance under any of those parts.
``(8) Free appropriate public education.--The term `free
appropriate public education' means special education and
related services that--
``(A) have been provided at public expense, under public
supervision and direction, and without charge;
``(B) meet the standards of the State educational agency;
``(C) include an appropriate preschool, elementary, or
secondary school education in the State involved; and
``(D) are provided in conformity with the individualized
education program required under section 614(d).
``(9) Indian.--The term `Indian' means an individual who is
a member of an Indian tribe.
``(10) Indian tribe.--The term `Indian tribe' means any
Federal or State Indian tribe, band, rancheria, pueblo,
colony, or community, including any Alaska Native village or
regional village corporation (as defined in or established
under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act).
``(11) Individualized education program.--The term
`individualized education program' or `IEP' means a written
statement for each child with a disability that is developed,
reviewed, and revised in accordance with section 614(d).
``(12) Individualized family service plan.--The term
`individualized family service plan' has the meaning given
such term in section 636.
``(13) Infant or toddler with a disability.--The term
`infant or toddler with a disability' has the meaning given
such term in section 632.
``(14) Institution of higher education.--The term
`institution of higher education'--
``(A) has the meaning given that term in section 1201(a) of
the Higher Education Act of 1965; and
``(B) also includes any community college receiving funding
from the Secretary of the Interior under the Tribally
Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978.
``(15) Local educational agency.--
``(A) The term `local educational agency' means a public
board of education or other public authority legally
constituted within a State for either administrative control
or direction of, or to perform a service function for, public
elementary or secondary schools in a city, county, township,
school district, or other political subdivision of a State,
or for such combination of school districts or counties as
are recognized in a State as an administrative agency for its
public elementary or secondary schools.
``(B) The term includes--
``(i) an educational service agency, as defined in
paragraph (4); and
``(ii) any other public institution or agency having
administrative control and direction of a public elementary
or secondary school.
``(C) The term includes an elementary or secondary school
funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but only to the
extent that such inclusion makes the school eligible for
programs for which specific eligibility is not provided to
the school in another provision of law and the school does
not have a student population that is smaller than the
student population of the local educational agency receiving
assistance under this Act with the smallest student
population, except that the school shall not be subject to
the jurisdiction of any State educational agency other than
the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
``(16) Native language.--The term `native language', when
used with reference to an individual of limited English
proficiency, means the language normally used by the
individual, or in the case of a child, the language normally
used by the parents of the child.
``(17) Nonprofit.--The term `nonprofit', as applied to a
school, agency, organization, or institution, means a school,
agency, organization, or institution owned and operated by
one or more nonprofit corporations or associations no part of
the net earnings of which inures, or may lawfully inure, to
the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.
``(18) Outlying area.--The term `outlying area' means the
United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
``(19) Parent.--The term `parent'--
``(A) includes a legal guardian; and
``(B) except as used in sections 615(b)(2) and 639(a)(5),
includes an individual assigned under either of those
sections to be a surrogate parent.
``(20) Parent organization.--The term `parent organization'
has the meaning given that term in section 682(g).
``(21) Parent training and information center.--The term
`parent training and information center' means a center
assisted under section 682 or 683.
``(22) Related services.--The term `related services' means
transportation, and such developmental, corrective, and other
supportive services (including speech-language pathology and
audiology services, psychological services, physical and
occupational therapy, recreation, including therapeutic
recreation, social work services, counseling services,
including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility
services, and medical services, except that such medical
services shall be for diagnostic and evaluation purposes
only) as may be required to assist a child with a disability
to benefit from special education, and includes the early
identification and assessment of disabling conditions in
children.
``(23) Secondary school.--The term `secondary school' means
a nonprofit institutional day or residential school that
provides secondary education, as determined under State law,
except that it does not include any education beyond grade
12.
``(24) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary
of Education.
``(25) Special education.--The term `special education'
means specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents,
to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability,
including--
``(A) instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home,
in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings; and
``(B) instruction in physical education.
``(26) Specific learning disability.--
``(A) In general.--The term `specific learning disability'
means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological
processes involved in understanding or in using language,
spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in
imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write,
spell, or do mathematical calculations.
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``(B) Disorders included.--Such term includes such
conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal
brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.
``(C) Disorders not included.--Such term does not include a
learning problem that is primarily the result of visual,
hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of
emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or
economic disadvantage.
``(27) State.--The term `State' means each of the 50
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, and each of the outlying areas.
``(28) State educational agency.--The term `State
educational agency' means the State board of education or
other agency or officer primarily responsible for the State
supervision of public elementary and secondary schools, or,
if there is no such officer or agency, an officer or agency
designated by the Governor or by State law.
``(29) Supplementary aids and services.--The term
`supplementary aids and services' means, aids, services, and
other supports that are provided in regular education classes
or other education-related settings to enable children with
disabilities to be educated with nondisabled children to the
maximum extent appropriate in accordance with section
612(a)(5).
``(30) Transition services.--The term `transition services'
means a coordinated set of activities for a student with a
disability that--
``(A) is designed within an outcome-oriented process, which
promotes movement from school to post-school activities,
including post-secondary education, vocational training,
integrated employment (including supported employment),
continuing and adult education, adult services, independent
living, or community participation;
``(B) is based upon the individual student's needs, taking
into account the student's preferences and interests; and
``(C) includes instruction, related services, community
experiences, the development of employment and other post-
school adult living objectives, and, when appropriate,
acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational
evaluation.
``SEC. 603. OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS.
``(a) Establishment.--There shall be, within the Office of
Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the
Department of Education, an Office of Special Education
Programs, which shall be the principal agency in such
Department for administering and carrying out this Act and
other programs and activities concerning the education of
children with disabilities.
``(b) Director.--The Office established under subsection
(a) shall be headed by a Director who shall be selected by
the Secretary and shall report directly to the Assistant
Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
``(c) Voluntary and Uncompensated Services.--
Notwithstanding section 1342 of title 31, United States Code,
the Secretary is authorized to accept voluntary and
uncompensated services in furtherance of the purposes of this
Act.
``SEC. 604. ABROGATION OF STATE SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY.
``(a) In General.--A State shall not be immune under the
eleventh amendment to the Constitution of the United States
from suit in Federal court for a violation of this Act.
``(b) Remedies.--In a suit against a State for a violation
of this Act, remedies (including remedies both at law and in
equity) are available for such a violation to the same extent
as those remedies are available for such a violation in the
suit against any public entity other than a State.
``(c) Effective Date.--Subsections (a) and (b) apply with
respect to violations that occur in whole or part after the
date of the enactment of the Education of the Handicapped Act
Amendments of 1990.
``SEC. 605. ACQUISITION OF EQUIPMENT; CONSTRUCTION OR
ALTERATION OF FACILITIES.
``(a) In General.--If the Secretary determines that a
program authorized under this Act would be improved by
permitting program funds to be used to acquire appropriate
equipment, or to construct new facilities or alter existing
facilities, the Secretary is authorized to allow the use of
those funds for those purposes.
``(b) Compliance With Certain Regulations.--Any
construction of new facilities or alteration of existing
facilities under subsection (a) shall comply with the
requirements of--
``(1) appendix A of part 36 of title 28, Code of Federal
Regulations (commonly known as the `Americans with
Disabilities Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and
Facilities'); or
``(2) appendix A of part 101-19.6 of title 41, Code of
Federal Regulations (commonly known as the `Uniform Federal
Accessibility Standards').
``SEC. 606. EMPLOYMENT OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.
``The Secretary shall ensure that each recipient of
assistance under this Act makes positive efforts to employ
and advance in employment qualified individuals with
disabilities in programs assisted under this Act.
``SEC. 607. REQUIREMENTS FOR PRESCRIBING REGULATIONS.
``(a) Public Comment Period.--The Secretary shall provide a
public comment period of at least 90 days on any regulation
proposed under part B or part C of this Act on which an
opportunity for public comment is otherwise required by law.
``(b) Protections Provided to Children.--The Secretary may
not implement, or publish in final form, any regulation
prescribed pursuant to this Act that would procedurally or
substantively lessen the protections provided to children
with disabilities under this Act, as embodied in regulations
in effect on July 20, 1983 (particularly as such protections
relate to parental consent to initial evaluation or initial
placement in special education, least restrictive
environment, related services, timelines, attendance of
evaluation personnel at individualized education program
meetings, or qualifications of personnel), except to the
extent that such regulation reflects the clear and
unequivocal intent of the Congress in legislation.
``(c) Policy Letters and Statements.--The Secretary may
not, through policy letters or other statements, establish a
rule that is required for compliance with, and eligibility
under, this part without following the requirements of
section 553 of title 5, United States Code.
``(d) Correspondence From Department of Education
Describing Interpretations of This Part.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall, on a quarterly
basis, publish in the Federal Register, and widely
disseminate to interested entities through various additional
forms of communication, a list of correspondence from the
Department of Education received by individuals during the
previous quarter that describes the interpretations of the
Department of Education of this Act or the regulations
implemented pursuant to this Act.
``(2) Additional information.--For each item of
correspondence published in a list under paragraph (1), the
Secretary shall identify the topic addressed by the
correspondence and shall include such other summary
information as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.
``(e) Issues of National Significance.--If the Secretary
receives a written request regarding a policy, question, or
interpretation under part B of this Act, and determines that
it raises an issue of general interest or applicability of
national significance to the implementation of part B, the
Secretary shall--
``(1) include a statement to that effect in any written
response;
``(2) widely disseminate that response to State educational
agencies, local educational agencies, parent and advocacy
organizations, and other interested organizations, subject to
applicable laws relating to confidentiality of information;
and
``(3) not later than one year after the date on which the
Secretary responds to the written request, issue written
guidance on such policy, question, or interpretation through
such means as the Secretary determines to be appropriate and
consistent with law, such as a policy memorandum, notice of
interpretation, or notice of proposed rulemaking.
``(f) Explanation.--Any written response by the Secretary
under subsection (e) regarding a policy, question, or
interpretation under part B of this Act shall include an
explanation that the written response--
``(1) is provided as informal guidance and is not legally
binding; and
``(2) represents the interpretation by the Department of
Education of the applicable statutory or regulatory
requirements in the context of the specific facts presented.
``PART B--ASSISTANCE FOR EDUCATION OF ALL CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
``SEC. 611. AUTHORIZATION; ALLOTMENT; USE OF FUNDS;
AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``(a) Grants to States.--
``(1) Purpose of grants.--The Secretary shall make grants
to States and the outlying areas, and provide funds to the
Secretary of the Interior, to assist them to provide special
education and related services to children with disabilities
in accordance with this part.
``(2) Maximum amounts.--The maximum amount of the grant a
State may receive under this section for any fiscal year is--
``(A) the number of children with disabilities in the State
who are receiving special education and related services--
``(i) aged three through five if the State is eligible for
a grant under section 619; and
``(ii) aged six through 21; multiplied by
``(B) 40 percent of the average per-pupil expenditure in
public elementary and secondary schools in the United States.
``(b) Outlying Areas and Freely Associated States.--
``(1) Funds reserved.--From the amount appropriated for any
fiscal year under subsection (j), the Secretary shall reserve
not more than one percent, which shall be used--
``(A) to provide assistance to the outlying areas in
accordance with their respective populations of individuals
aged three through 21; and
``(B) for fiscal years 1998 through 2001, to carry out the
competition described in paragraph (2), except that the
amount reserved to carry out that competition shall not
exceed the amount reserved for fiscal year 1996 for the
competition under part B of this Act described under the
heading ``SPECIAL EDUCATION'' in Public Law 104-134.
``(2) Limitation for freely associated states.--
``(A) Competitive grants.--The Secretary shall use funds
described in paragraph (1)(B) to award grants, on a
competitive basis, to Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the freely associated
States to carry out the purposes of this part.
[[Page
H2502]]
``(B) Award basis.--The Secretary shall award grants under
subparagraph (A) on a competitive basis, pursuant to the
recommendations of the Pacific Region Educational Laboratory
in Honolulu, Hawaii. Those recommendations shall be made by
experts in the field of special education and related
services.
``(C) Assistance requirements.--Any freely associated State
that wishes to receive funds under this part shall include,
in its application for assistance--
``(i) information demonstrating that it will meet all
conditions that apply to States under this part;
``(ii) an assurance that, notwithstanding any other
provision of this part, it will use those funds only for the
direct provision of special education and related services to
children with disabilities and to enhance its capacity to
make a free appropriate public education available to all
children with disabilities;
``(iii) the identity of the source and amount of funds, in
addition to funds under this part, that it will make
available to ensure that a free appropriate public education
is available to all children with disabilities within its
jurisdiction; and
``(iv) such other information and assurances as the
Secretary may require.
``(D) Termination of eligibility.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, the freely associated States shall
not receive any funds under this part for any program year
that begins after September 30, 2001.
``(E) Administrative costs.--The Secretary may provide not
more than five percent of the amount reserved for grants
under this paragraph to pay the administrative costs of the
Pacific Region Educational Laboratory under subparagraph (B).
``(3) Limitation.--An outlying area is not eligible for a
competitive award under paragraph (2) unless it receives
assistance under paragraph (1)(A).
``(4) Special rule.--The provisions of Public Law 95-134,
permitting the consolidation of grants by the outlying areas,
shall not apply to funds provided to those areas or to the
freely associated States under this section.
``(5) Eligibility for discretionary programs.--The freely
associated States shall be eligible to receive assistance
under subpart 2 of part D of this Act until September 30,
2001.
``(6) Definition.--As used in this subsection, the term
`freely associated States' means the Republic of the Marshall
Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic
of Palau.
``(c) Secretary of the Interior.--From the amount
appropriated for any fiscal year under subsection (j), the
Secretary shall reserve 1.226 percent to provide assistance
to the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with
subsection (i).
``(d) Allocations to States.--
``(1) In general.--After reserving funds for studies and
evaluations under section 674(e), and for payments to the
outlying areas and the Secretary of the Interior under
subsections (b) and (c), the Secretary shall allocate the
remaining amount among the States in accordance with
paragraph (2) or subsection (e), as the case may be.
``(2) Interim formula.--Except as provided in subsection
(e), the Secretary shall allocate the amount described in
paragraph (1) among the States in accordance with section
611(a)(3), (4), and (5) and (b)(1), (2), and (3) of this Act,
as in effect prior to the enactment of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997, except that
the determination of the number of children with disabilities
receiving special education and related services under such
section 611(a)(3) may, at the State's discretion, be
calculated as of the last Friday in October or as of December
1 of the fiscal year for which the funds are appropriated.
``(e) Permanent Formula.--
``(1) Establishment of base year.--The Secretary shall
allocate the amount described in subsection (d)(1) among the
States in accordance with this subsection for each fiscal
year beginning with the first fiscal year for which the
amount appropriated under subsection (j) is more than
$4,924,672,200.
``(2) Use of base year.--
``(A) Definition.--As used in this subsection, the term
`base year' means the fiscal year preceding the first fiscal
year in which this subsection applies.
``(B) Special rule for use of base year amount.--If a State
received any funds under this section for the base year on
the basis of children aged three through five, but does not
make a free appropriate public education available to all
children with disabilities aged three through five in the
State in any subsequent fiscal year, the Secretary shall
compute the State's base year amount, solely for the purpose
of calculating the State's allocation in that subsequent year
under paragraph (3) or (4), by subtracting the amount
allocated to the State for the base year on the basis of
those children.
``(3) Increase in funds.--If the amount available for
allocations to States under paragraph (1) is equal to or
greater than the amount allocated to the States under this
paragraph for the preceding fiscal year, those allocations
shall be calculated as follows:
``(A)(i) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the
Secretary shall--
``(I) allocate to each State the amount it received for the
base year;
``(II) allocate 85 percent of any remaining funds to States
on the basis of their relative populations of children aged 3
through 21 who are of the same age as children with
disabilities for whom the State ensures the availability of a
free appropriate public education under this part; and
``(III) allocate 15 percent of those remaining funds to
States on the basis of their relative populations of children
described in subclause (II) who are living in poverty.
``(ii) For the purpose of making grants under this
paragraph, the Secretary shall use the most recent population
data, including data on children living in poverty, that are
available and satisfactory to the Secretary.
``(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), allocations under
this paragraph shall be subject to the following:
``(i) No State's allocation shall be less than its
allocation for the preceding fiscal year.
``(ii) No State's allocation shall be less than the
greatest of--
``(I) the sum of--
``(aa) the amount it received for the base year; and
``(bb) one third of one percent of the amount by which the
amount appropriated under subsection (j) exceeds the amount
appropriated under this section for the base year;
``(II) the sum of--
``(aa) the amount it received for the preceding fiscal
year; and
``(bb) that amount multiplied by the percentage by which
the increase in the funds appropriated from the preceding
fiscal year exceeds 1.5 percent; or
``(III) the sum of--
``(aa) the amount it received for the preceding fiscal
year; and
``(bb) that amount multiplied by 90 percent of the
percentage increase in the amount appropriated from the
preceding fiscal year.
``(iii) Notwithstanding clause (ii), no State's allocation
under this paragraph shall exceed the sum of--
``(I) the amount it received for the preceding fiscal year;
and
``(II) that amount multiplied by the sum of 1.5 percent and
the percentage increase in the amount appropriated.
``(C) If the amount available for allocations under this
paragraph is insufficient to pay those allocations in full,
those allocations shall be ratably reduced, subject to
subparagraph (B)(i).
``(4) Decrease in funds.--If the amount available for
allocations to States under paragraph (1) is less than the
amount allocated to the States under this section for the
preceding fiscal year, those allocations shall be calculated
as follows:
``(A) If the amount available for allocations is greater
than the amount allocated to the States for the base year,
each State shall be allocated the sum of--
``(i) the amount it received for the base year; and
``(ii) an amount that bears the same relation to any
remaining funds as the increase the State received for the
preceding fiscal year over the base year bears to the total
of all such increases for all States.
``(B)(i) If the amount available for allocations is equal
to or less than the amount allocated to the States for the
base year, each State shall be allocated the amount it
received for the base year.
``(ii) If the amount available is insufficient to make the
allocations described in clause (i), those allocations shall
be ratably reduced.
``(f) State-Level Activities.--
``(1) General.--
``(A) Each State may retain not more than the amount
described in subparagraph (B) for administration and other
State-level activities in accordance with paragraphs (2) and
(3).
``(B) For each fiscal year, the Secretary shall determine
and report to the State educational agency an amount that is
25 percent of the amount the State received under this
section for fiscal year 1997, cumulatively adjusted by the
Secretary for each succeeding fiscal year by the lesser of--
``(i) the percentage increase, if any, from the preceding
fiscal year in the State's allocation under this section; or
``(ii) the rate of inflation, as measured by the percentage
increase, if any, from the preceding fiscal year in the
Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers, published by
the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.
``(C) A State may use funds it retains under subparagraph
(A) without regard to--
``(i) the prohibition on commingling of funds in section
612(a)(18)(B); and
``(ii) the prohibition on supplanting other funds in
section 612(a)(18)(C).
``(2) State administration.--
``(A) For the purpose of administering this part, including
section 619 (including the coordination of activities under
this part with, and providing technical assistance to, other
programs that provide services to children with
disabilities)--
``(i) each State may use not more than twenty percent of
the maximum amount it may retain under paragraph (1)(A) for
any fiscal year or $500,000 (adjusted by the cumulative rate
of inflation since fiscal year 1998, as measured by the
percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index For
All Urban Consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the Department of Labor), whichever is greater;
and
``(ii) each outlying area may use up to five percent of the
amount it receives under this
[[Page
H2503]]
section for any fiscal year or $35,000, whichever is greater.
``(B) Funds described in subparagraph (A) may also be used
for the administration of part C of this Act, if the State
educational agency is the lead agency for the State under
that part.
``(3) Other state-level activities.--Each State shall use
any funds it retains under paragraph (1) and does not use for
administration under paragraph (2) for any of the following:
``(A) Support and direct services, including technical
assistance and personnel development and training.
``(B) Administrative costs of monitoring and complaint
investigation, but only to the extent that those costs exceed
the costs incurred for those activities during fiscal year
1985.
``(C) To establish and implement the mediation process
required by section 615(e), including providing for the costs
of mediators and support personnel.
``(D) To assist local educational agencies in meeting
personnel shortages.
``(E) To develop a State Improvement Plan under subpart 1
of part D.
``(F) Activities at the State and local levels to meet the
performance goals established by the State under section
612(a)(16) and to support implementation of the State
Improvement Plan under subpart 1 of part D if the State
receives funds under that subpart.
``(G) To supplement other amounts used to develop and
implement a Statewide coordinated services system designed to
improve results for children and families, including children
with disabilities and their families, but not to exceed one
percent of the amount received by the State under this
section. This system shall be coordinated with and, to the
extent appropriate, build on the system of coordinated
services developed by the State under part C of this Act.
``(H) For subgrants to local educational agencies for the
purposes described in paragraph (4)(A).
``(4)(A) Subgrants to Local Educational Agencies for
Capacity-Building and Improvement.--In any fiscal year in
which the percentage increase in the State's allocation under
this section exceeds the rate of inflation (as measured by
the percentage increase, if any, from the preceding fiscal
year in the Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers,
published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department
of Labor), each State shall reserve, from its allocation
under this section, the amount described in subparagraph (B)
to make subgrants to local educational agencies, unless that
amount is less than $100,000, to assist them in providing
direct services and in making systemic change to improve
results for children with disabilities through one or more of
the following:
``(i) Direct services, including alternative programming
for children who have been expelled from school, and services
for children in correctional facilities, children enrolled in
State-operated or State-supported schools, and children in
charter schools.
``(ii) Addressing needs or carrying out improvement
strategies identified in the State's Improvement Plan under
subpart 1 of part D.
``(iii) Adopting promising practices, materials, and
technology, based on knowledge derived from education
research and other sources.
``(iv) Establishing, expanding, or implementing interagency
agreements and arrangements between local educational
agencies and other agencies or organizations concerning the
provision of services to children with disabilities and their
families.
``(v) Increasing cooperative problem-solving between
parents and school personnel and promoting the use of
alternative dispute resolution.
``(B) Maximum subgrant.--For each fiscal year, the amount
referred to in subparagraph (A) is--
``(i) the maximum amount the State was allowed to retain
under paragraph (1)(A) for the prior fiscal year, or for
fiscal year 1998, 25 percent of the State's allocation for
fiscal year 1997 under this section; multiplied by
``(ii) the difference between the percentage increase in
the State's allocation under this section and the rate of
inflation, as measured by the percentage increase, if any,
from the preceding fiscal year in the Consumer Price Index
For All Urban Consumers, published by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the Department of Labor.
``(5) Report on Use of Funds.--As part of the information
required to be submitted to the Secretary under section 612,
each State shall annually describe--
``(A) how amounts retained under paragraph (1) will be used
to meet the requirements of this part;
``(B) how those amounts will be allocated among the
activities described in paragraphs (2) and (3) to meet State
priorities based on input from local educational agencies;
and
``(C) the percentage of those amounts, if any, that will be
distributed to local educational agencies by formula.
``(g) Subgrants to Local Educational Agencies.--
``(1) Subgrants required.--Each State that receives a grant
under this section for any fiscal year shall distribute any
funds it does not retain under subsection (f) (at least 75
percent of the grant funds) to local educational agencies in
the State that have established their eligibility under
section 613, and to State agencies that received funds under
section 614A(a) of this Act for fiscal year 1997, as then in
effect, and have established their eligibility under section
613, for use in accordance with this part.
``(2) Allocations to local educational agencies.--
``(A) Interim procedure.--For each fiscal year for which
funds are allocated to States under subsection (d)(2), each
State shall allocate funds under paragraph (1) in accordance
with section 611(d) of this Act, as in effect prior to the
enactment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Amendments of 1997.
``(B) Permanent procedure.--For each fiscal year for which
funds are allocated to States under subsection (e), each
State shall allocate funds under paragraph (1) as follows:
``(i) Base payments.--The State shall first award each
agency described in paragraph (1) the amount that agency
would have received under this section for the base year, as
defined in subsection (e)(2)(A), if the State had distributed
75 percent of its grant for that year under section 611(d),
as then in effect.
``(ii) Allocation of remaining funds.--After making
allocations under clause (i), the State shall--
``(I) allocate 85 percent of any remaining funds to those
agencies on the basis of the relative numbers of children
enrolled in public and private elementary and secondary
schools within the agency's jurisdiction; and
``(II) allocate 15 percent of those remaining funds to
those agencies in accordance with their relative numbers of
children living in poverty, as determined by the State
educational agency.
``(3) Former chapter 1 state agencies.--
``(A) To the extent necessary, the State--
``(i) shall use funds that are available under subsection
(f)(1)(A) to ensure that each State agency that received
fiscal year 1994 funds under subpart 2 of part D of chapter 1
of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 receives, from the combination of funds under subsection
(f)(1)(A) and funds provided under paragraph (1) of this
subsection, an amount equal to--
``(I) the number of children with disabilities, aged 6
through 21, to whom the agency was providing special
education and related services on December 1 of the fiscal
year for which the funds were appropriated, subject to the
limitation in subparagraph (B); multiplied by
``(II) the per-child amount provided under such subpart for
fiscal year 1994; and
``(ii) may use those funds to ensure that each local
educational agency that received fiscal year 1994 funds under
that subpart for children who had transferred from a State-
operated or State-supported school or program assisted under
that subpart receives, from the combination of funds
available under subsection (f)(1)(A) and funds provided under
paragraph (1) of this subsection, an amount for each such
child, aged 3 through 21 to whom the agency was providing
special education and related services on December 1 of the
fiscal year for which the funds were appropriated, equal to
the per-child amount the agency received under that subpart
for fiscal year 1994.
``(B) The number of children counted under subparagraph
(A)(i)(I) shall not exceed the number of children aged 3
through 21 for whom the agency received fiscal year 1994
funds under subpart 2 of part D of chapter 1 of title I of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
``(4) Reallocation of funds.--If a State educational agency
determines that a local educational agency is adequately
providing a free appropriate public education to all children
with disabilities residing in the area served by that agency
with State and local funds, the State educational agency may
reallocate any portion of the funds under this part that are
not needed by that local agency to provide a free appropriate
public education to other local educational agencies in the
State that are not adequately providing special education and
related services to all children with disabilities residing
in the areas they serve.
``(h) Definitions.--For the purpose of this section--
``(1) the term `average per-pupil expenditure in public
elementary and secondary schools in the United States'
means--
``(A) without regard to the source of funds--
``(i) the aggregate current expenditures, during the second
fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the
determination is made (or, if satisfactory data for that year
are not available, during the most recent preceding fiscal
year for which satisfactory data are available) of all local
educational agencies in the 50 States and the District of
Columbia); plus
``(ii) any direct expenditures by the State for the
operation of those agencies; divided by
``(B) the aggregate number of children in average daily
attendance to whom those agencies provided free public
education during that preceding year; and
``(2) the term `State' means each of the 50 States, the
District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
``(i) Use of Amounts by Secretary of the Interior.--
``(1) Provision of amounts for assistance.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary of Education shall provide
amounts to the Secretary of the Interior to meet the need for
Amendments:
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