Barbara Boxer: “I believe strongly that this mandate is wrong. I introduced legislation last week, S. 702, which would amend IDEA to…”

“I believe strongly that this mandate is wrong. I introduced legislation last week, S. 702, which would amend IDEA to exempt people convicted as adults and incarcerated in adult prisons. This issue is particularly important to the State of California. My State does not provide special education services in adult prisons, and as a result, faces the loss of over $300 million in Federal special education assistance. It seems unconscionable to me that the needs of approximately 600,000 California special needs children could be jeopardized because my State does not provide special education services to an estimated 1,500 prisoners.”