Political Quotes

“today, with reservations, I support H.R. 5, the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act Improvement Act of 1997. Even before I came to Congress in January of this year, local school administrators and school board members from my home in Franklin County, VA, had alerted me to the grave fiscal dilemma they face in attempting to comply with IDEA. These local school officials and many of their colleagues in similar rural areas are finding it increasingly difficult to meet the needs of students with disabilities because of inadequate Federal funding and overly stringent Federal restrictions. These local officials are sincere in their commitment to provide an education to every young person that they serve, whether that person is faced with a disability or not. They are, however, increasingly confronted with nearly impossible dilemmas as the costs of special education rapidly increase. With this bipartisan bill, we will give these dedicated local officials some relief and will begin to meet the commitment to the level of funding that Congress made to States and localities when IDEA was enacted. There is one section of this bill that does trouble me. In some instances, a student may engage in egregious misconduct that would result in expulsion except that such student is covered by IDEA. In those instances, I believe expulsion is merited and should be left to policies developed by the States and the localities.”