There’s still a lot of work ahead to reach a compromise on final legislation, but both houses of the U.S. Congress have dealt with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA. As part of the routine process of renewing the law every five years, the House and Senate have considered legislation that differs in substantial ways. The AFT, which is closely monitoring the legislation and suggesting changes along the way, sees a mixture of good and bad in the proposals that have emerged.

The House of Representatives is moving faster with its version of IDEA, H.R. 1350. The bill passed the full House in April. Meanwhile, the Senate, which has tended to be more moderate in its approach to the legislation on a range of issues, is expected to debate its version, S. 1248, sometime in September. The Senate Education Committee passed the bill in June.

Here are a few of the key issues the AFT is following, including some of particular importance to paraprofessionals who work in special education.

Vouchers. Although private school vouchers continue to be attached to many pieces of legislation in Congress—most recently targeting the Washington, D.C., public schools—the House has twice rejected attempts to provide vouchers for students with disabilities. The AFT has pointed out that IDEA voucher plans would divert resources from public schools while failing to offer meaningful choices to the parents of students.

Paperwork and individualized education programs (IEPs). The House and Senate versions both attempt to simplify the paperwork burden involved in developing and monitoring students’ IEPs. One provision of importance to paraprofessionals and some other school staff, however, has not been addressed. Paraprofessionals often complain that they are not permitted to review provisions of IEPs, even when those provisions outline the very services paras are providing. The AFT will continue to lobby to get that change incorporated into the revised law, along with appropriate training to provide high-quality services. Likewise, the AFT believes that school health professionals should be involved as part of the IEP team for students with significant medical needs.

Both the House and Senate bills promote a “flexible” annual review process that would permit substantive changes to the IEP, upon consent of the parent and district, without need for reconvening the entire IEP team. This not only has the potential to be problematic for regular educators who attend to the needs of IDEA students, but also could create additional barriers for paraprofessionals who already have limited involvement in the IEP development process.

Discipline. The House and Senate versions both address one of the law’s serious shortcomings—provisions for how students with disabilities can be disciplined. The House version, for example, allows a school to remove a student who violates the code of conduct from the classroom for up to 45 days without having to initiate a due-process hearing. In addition, the proposal guarantees that such students still receive educational services. The AFT would like to see an improved process where students’ behavioral needs are given consideration during the initial placement process. The Senate bill does not go as far as the House bill to improve IDEA’s discipline provisions because it continues to limit the ability of schools to adequately address the needs of students with disabilities who violate the school code of conduct.

Whistleblower protections. Neither version of the legislation includes an AFT proposal that school districts adopt a dispute resolution process for teachers and other professionals. Such a provision would allow them to report their concerns about the identification of students and the delivery of education services without having to fear reprisals. This would give staff who work most closely with students a way to help ensure the best quality services to the youngsters.

Funding. Money is a huge concern, but neither version would provide for mandatory full funding of the IDEA law. The original legislation pledged that the federal government would pay 40 percent of the excess cost of educating students with disabilities, but the actual money from the feds has never even approached that. Adequate funding is crucial to the AFT’s fight for paraprofessionals and all staff to get the training, equipment and supplies they need to serve students with special needs in a safe and appropriate manner. Sens. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) are expected to offer a full-funding amendment when the legislation reaches the Senate floor.

Personnel standards. The House legislation requires personnel standards in IDEA to be consistent with those in the No Child Left Behind Act. For paraprofessionals serving students with disabilities, these provisions would not impose any new requirements. Paraprofessionals must still satisfy the NCLB standards.