No Child Left Behind - IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Grants
What is the purpose of IDEA?
• To ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for employment and independent living
• Each school district must have Individual Educational Plans (IEPs) in effect for each child with a disability within its jurisdiction. IEPs are developed by teams that include: the child's parents; a special educator; the local educational agency; a regular educator, if appropriate; and others
• Children with disabilities must be included in general state and district-wide assessments, including the assessments required under NCLB
• Beginning in Fiscal Year 06 up to 15% of IDEA funding may be set aside by the LEA for intervention services to students with reading and math difficulties who have not yet been referred for special education
How is IDEA funding distributed to school districts?
• States receive grants based on the number of children with disabilities receiving special education services ages 3 through 21, multiplied by 40 percent of the average per pupil expenditure in public elementary and secondary schools
• The state grants each local educational agency (LEA) in the state the amount it would have received for fiscal year 1999, if the State had distributed 75 percent of its grant for that year
• The state allocates 85 percent of any remaining funds to those LEAs on the basis of the relative numbers of children enrolled in public and private elementary schools and secondary schools within the local educational agency's jurisdiction
• The state allocates the remaining 15 percent to those local educational agencies in accordance with their relative numbers of children living in poverty, as determined by the State educational agency
• The LEA allocates funds to schools based on their needs and programs
How can schools use IDEA funding?
• For the costs of special education and related services and supplementary aids and services provided in a regular class or other education-related setting to a child with a disability in accordance with the IEP of the child, even if one or more non-disabled children benefit from these services
• To develop and implement a fully integrated and coordinated services system for serving students with special educational needs
• To provide intervention services to students with reading and math difficulties who have not been referred for special education services
• To ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for employment and independent living
• Each school district must have Individual Educational Plans (IEPs) in effect for each child with a disability within its jurisdiction. IEPs are developed by teams that include: the child's parents; a special educator; the local educational agency; a regular educator, if appropriate; and others
• Children with disabilities must be included in general state and district-wide assessments, including the assessments required under NCLB
• Beginning in Fiscal Year 06 up to 15% of IDEA funding may be set aside by the LEA for intervention services to students with reading and math difficulties who have not yet been referred for special education
How is IDEA funding distributed to school districts?
• States receive grants based on the number of children with disabilities receiving special education services ages 3 through 21, multiplied by 40 percent of the average per pupil expenditure in public elementary and secondary schools
• The state grants each local educational agency (LEA) in the state the amount it would have received for fiscal year 1999, if the State had distributed 75 percent of its grant for that year
• The state allocates 85 percent of any remaining funds to those LEAs on the basis of the relative numbers of children enrolled in public and private elementary schools and secondary schools within the local educational agency's jurisdiction
• The state allocates the remaining 15 percent to those local educational agencies in accordance with their relative numbers of children living in poverty, as determined by the State educational agency
• The LEA allocates funds to schools based on their needs and programs
How can schools use IDEA funding?
• For the costs of special education and related services and supplementary aids and services provided in a regular class or other education-related setting to a child with a disability in accordance with the IEP of the child, even if one or more non-disabled children benefit from these services
• To develop and implement a fully integrated and coordinated services system for serving students with special educational needs
• To provide intervention services to students with reading and math difficulties who have not been referred for special education services
