George Miller: “I would like to express my qualified support for H.R. 3268, the IDEA Improvement Act of 1996. While this bill makes some…”

“I would like to express my qualified support for H.R. 3268, the IDEA Improvement Act of 1996. While this bill makes some important changes in the 20-year-old law providing special education and related services to 5.8 million disabled children and youth, I have some serious reservations about several aspects of the bill. Nonetheless, I believe it is very important to move this legislation forward with the hopes that some of my remaining concerns will be satisfactorily resolved in conference with the Senate. I would like to especially thank Chairman Goodling for the spirit of bipartisanship that marked the latter days of our negotiations over this bill. The majority came a very long way in accommodating concerns that I shared with other members of the minority on the Opportunities Committee as well as with the parent, disability, and education groups that have such a vital stake in the future of IDEA. This legislation contains a number of provisions, many of which were taken from the administration bill, that will improve IDEA and bring the education of disabled children into the 21st century. These include requirements that schools hold disabled students to the highest possible standards and that they be accountable for educational results. The education of disabled children must be part and parcel of school reform.”