Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law Statement on Senate Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

The Senate today passed S. 1248, a bill to reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), on a vote of 95-3. The following is a statement by Elizabeth Lind, policy associate at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, on passage of the bill:

"Today's vote is a victory for students with disabilities and a rejection of the knee-jerk policymaking that has driven the House debate on special education and IDEA's discipline provisions.

"IDEA's protections are fundamentally about civil rights and access to opportunity. Like Brown v Board of Education, the law was passed to end discrimination against students that schools had historically rejected.

"Like all children, kids with disabilities who are excluded from education are at increased risk of future unemployment, incarceration and many other unacceptable, expensive and wholly preventable outcomes. We know the best way to enable children with disabilities to succeed as adults is to make sure they can access the free and appropriate public education they're entitled to under IDEA.

"The Senate bill is Congress' best hope to protect children with disabilities from arbitrary exclusion from school, promote accountability and make sure school officials have the information they need to implement effective interventions to deal with disruptive behavior.

"Compared to the Senate legislation, the bill the House passed last year is counterproductive and discriminatory. If ultimately signed into law, it would erode many of IDEA's protections.

"The House bill would allow schools to unilaterally expel any child with a disability it determines has violated any school "code of conduct," regardless of the seriousness of the offense. It would also eliminate assessments needed to ensure that schools meet their obligations to students in special education and would rob educators of the information they need to best address disruptive behavior.

"The radical differences in the two bills must now be addressed in conference. Conferees must recognize the vital importance of this measure to students with disabilities, teachers who struggle to address disruptive behaviors and the taxpayers who will foot the bill if Congress fails to ensure educational access for students with disabilities."

The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is a national legal advocate for people with mental disabilities.