The Laws

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

IDEA is a federal law passed which guarantees important rights for children with disabilities. These rights are:

• A free and appropriate education (FAPE) for all children with handicaps;
• To be educated in the least restrictive environment (LRE);
• An individualized education program (IEP) prepared by a team which includes the parents;
• Fair assessment procedures to be used to determine student's abilities and educational requirements;
• Due process and complaint procedures to ensure student's rights are met.

The law was originally passed in 1974, and later amended to include services to children birth to three years. It was most recently reauthorized in 1997 and the current law is called IDEA '97. (Please Note: IDEA is currently undergoing reauthorization, which could change some rights and services.)

There are four sections of IDEA, Sections A-D.

• Section A contains general provisions;
• Section B provides for the education of children 3-5 and 6-21;
• Section C pertains to infants and toddlers, ages 0-3; and
• Section D deals with natiJuly 25, 2008 with disabilities, including funding, support and technical assistance to the states.

Although it may be confusing, these distinctions are important to understand, as certain children are served under certain sections.

IDEA -- Part C

IDEA Part C is that part of IDEA that deals specifically with children ages birth through 36 months. Children who are eligible for services under IDEA Part C are those who:

• have a significant delay in at least one area of development;
• have a condition with a known probablity of causing a disability or delay, or
• are at high risk of having a developmental disability.

Each state serves children according to the law but uses different methods of implementation. In California, services for children eligible under IDEA Part C are delivered through the Department of Developmental Services under their Early Start program. In San Francisco, the agency that oversees the Early Start program is the Golden Gate Regional Center. See Agencies page of this website for more information about Golden Gate Regional Center.

There are some distinctions, however. In San Francisco, children with sole low incidence disabilities are served by the San Francisco Unified School District. For more information about the San Francisco Unified School District, see the Agencies page of this website.

Sole low incidence disabilities served through SFUSD are the following:

• visual impairment;
• hearing impairment;
• orthopedic impairment; or
• any combination thereof.

IDEA -- Part B

In San Francisco, children who are eligible under IDEA Part B, ages 3-21, are served by the San Francisco Unified School District. Part B of IDEA governs delivery of services to children age 3 through age 21. For more information about eligible conditions under Part B, see the SFUSD eligibility section of this website. To learn more about services eligible to children 3-5 from SFUSD, check the Services for Children 3-5 section of this website.

Parents' Rights

Parents have rights under IDEA Parts B and C. For more information about parent rights, check the following websites:

California Department of Developmental Services Early Start page:
http://www.dds.ca.gov/EarlyStart/ParentsRights.cfm.

California Department of Education Special Education Division's brochure Parents'Rights: A Brief Summary of Procedural Safeguards
http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/qa/pssummary.asp

To learn more about IDEA:

IDEA is currently undergoing reauthorization and no-one is yet sure what the impact of changes to IDEA 1997 will have on students with disabilities. The sites here describe IDEA 1997 and provide some links to current reauthorization news.

California Department of Education (CDE)--Special Education Division--Special Ed Laws and Regulations
http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/se/lr/

This site provides links to sites that provide information about both state and federal special education laws and the regulations that put the intent of the law into action.

Families and Advocates Partnership for Education (FAPE)
http://www.fape.org/index.htm

FAPE's website is a good place to learn about IDEA. Its explanation of the components of IDEA and how it applies in real life are clear and concise.

IDEA 1997 -- The Law
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/Policy/IDEA/the_law.html

The is the US Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilition Services' IDEA site. The information is archived, but useful, and through the site you can have direct access to the law itself.

United Against House Bill: HR 1350 IDEA Reauthorization Side-by-Side Comparison
http://www.geocities.com/vshr1350/idea123.htm

This site provides an exhaustive comparison of the present IDEA, the proposed House bill (HR 1350) and the proposed Senate bill (S 1248 -- here called S 06), section by section. It does not include an analysis of the differences among the three, but if you are interested in specific sections and willing to read in detail, it's a very valuable tool.

US Department of Education Home Page
http://www.ed.gov/index.jsp

From this page, you can link to the Policy section of the site, which provides interesting reading about federal education legislation, regulations and policy guidance.