NEA working to make IDEA work

NEA Today, May 1999

Over recent years, few issues on Capitol Hill have engaged NEA more than the need to improve the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

In 1997, during the Congressional debate over the reauthorization of IDEA, and again this past year, during the drafting of regulations for implementing IDEA, NEA has worked with educators nationwide to press for new provisions that support effective classroom professional practice.

Now, with the final IDEA regulations in place, NEA is working, on a variety of fronts, to help educators master the new opportunities IDEA offers:

NEA is partnering with the U.S. Department of Education to develop a model IEP for educators to follow.

The Association has also joined with the American Federation of Teachers and the Council for Exceptional Children to create a new group called Associations of Service Providers Implementing IDEA Reforms in Education (ASPIIRE). The group will be providing accurate information about IDEA to every school site and ensuring that data on successful programs is widely disseminated.

NEA is sharing with state affiliates updated analyses of the IDEA regulations that note the positions NEA fought for during the regulation-drafting process and the changes between the original and final regs. For a copy of this analysis, visit the NEA Web site at www.nea. org/publiced/idea.

NEA is completing a state-bystate study of how the IDEA is being implemented throughout the country. The study details each state's special education regulations.

In late May, the NEA will be hosting a one-day national conference on understanding the IDEA regulations for state affiliates.

The upcoming NEA Representative Assembly this July in Orlando, Florida, will feature a forum where members can pose questions about IDEA regulations and their impact on the classroom.