Senate approves Murray/Dewine amendment to IDEA
WASHINGTON, May 12, 2004--On Wednesday, May 12, the U.S. Senate approved the Murray/DeWine amendment to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) by a voice vote.
The amendment:
- Ensures that homeless children and youth with disabilities, foster children and youth with disabilities, children with disabilities in military families, and children with disabilities who change school districts in an academic year, receive assessments for services within established time limits
- Helps to ensure continuity of services when children and youth with disabilities, including homeless, foster, and military children, transfer school districts in an academic year
- Increases access to special education for homeless unaccompanied youth
- Increases access to early intervention services for homeless infants and toddlers and infants and toddlers in foster care
- Ensures educational stability by clarifying that special educational placements must comply with the McKinney-Vento Act
- Increases collaboration between special education personnel and McKinney-Vento Act personnel
IDEA reauthorization will now move on to the House-Senate conference committee, which will meet to reconcile differences between the House and Senate bills.
For more information, please visit the NAEHCY web site at http://www.naehcy.org or email Barbara Duffield at bduffield@naehcy.org