James M. Jeffords: “Today is a special occasion for me and I am proud to be with my distinguished colleagues to consider S. 717, the…”

“Today is a special occasion for me and I am proud to be with my distinguished colleagues to consider S. 717, the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997. I was there in the beginning, in 1975, Congress faced with a patchwork of court decisions, first took the historic step in assuring educational opportunities for some of the most vulnerable in our society, children with disabilities. In 1975, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act, or Public Law 94-142, was enacted to assist States in meeting the goal of providing a free appropriate public education and offering an equal educational opportunity to all children. Public Law 94-142 has done much to meet the educational needs of children with disabilities. Over the life of this historic legislation we have seen many advances toward the attainment of these goals--advances in educational technique, advances in technology, advances in opportunity, and advances in our expectations. Children with disabilities are now being educated alongside their peers in unprecedented numbers. Children with disabilities are now achieving beyond our wildest dreams. Before Public Law 94-142, society placed little value on the lives of children with disabilities. Millions of children with disabilities were denied access to education, and we invested few resources in anything more than simple caretaking.”