Miller Statement on 30th Anniversary of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Miller Statement on 30th Anniversary of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC -- Today is the 30th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), passed by Congress in 1975 to guarantee all children with disabilities an appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment possible. The law now benefits an estimated 269,000 infants and toddlers, 679,000 preschoolers, and 6 million Americans between the ages of six and 21.

Representative George Miller (D-CA), who helped write the law during his first year in Congress, issued the following statement today on IDEA's anniversary:

"Before this important law was passed on November 29, 1975, children with special needs were often excluded from adequate educational opportunities. They were kept separate and isolated from their peers, and sometimes institutionalized. This law made a historic commitment to special needs children in the United States by promising them a good public education without the restrictive and even draconian measures they were previously forced to endure.

"This law has brought invaluable benefits to millions of children and families. Over the past 30 years, IDEA has helped many more children with disabilities to complete high school with standard diplomas. The number of children with disabilities who enroll in college as freshmen has more than tripled. And the days in which children with special needs live in state institutions away from their families is long gone.

"Despite all of the important progress this law has made over the last 30 years, Congress has not kept its commitment to special needs children. When the special education law was first passed, Congress pledged to provide states with 40 percent of the cost of carrying it out. But it is now providing states with less than half that amount, leaving states and local governments struggling to make up the difference. Congress must finally live up to its original commitment and provide the funding that is 30 years overdue."

http://edworkforce.house.gov/democrats/statement112905.html