Originally called the Education of Handicapped Children's Act when voted into law in 1975 the Act was re-authorized in 1991 under the new name. This is a federal law mandating federal, state and local school district responsibilities for the education of all children with disabilities. The law established the means by which children are located, referred, evaluated and provided appropriate educational programs. The law currently provides for the identification of children in the various disability areas including learning impairment, hearing impairment and deafness, speech language impairment, visual impairment, learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral disabilities, developmental delays, multi-handicapping conditions, orthopedic impairments, health impairments, autism, and traumatic brain injuries. Children must be found to be eligible under state established criteria under one of these categories of disability.
Key to IDEA is the fact that children are entitled to a FAPE, that is a free, appropriate education at public expense. Children are entitled to be provided this education in the least restrictive environment (LRE). Parents are insured inclusion in the process through input into the evaluation process as members of the Evaluation & Planning team and as members of the IEP (Individual Education Plan) team. Parents' rights under IDEA provide for confidentiality of student information, and as a structure for having their disagreements with the school addressed. This law applies to eligible students from birth until the twenty-second birthday.
Complete IDEA Regulations