• Department of Education Releases Final IDEA 2004 Part B Regulations

During a roll-out event at the Department of Education today, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced the release of the long-anticipated final regulations for Part B of the IDEA 2004 law. That statute, which President Bush signed into law on December 3, 2004, reauthorizes the nation’s federal special education programs. CEC President Jamie Hopkins, Executive Director Bruce Ramirez, CEC member leaders, and CEC staff were among those in attendance at today’s event.

Read the IDEA 2004 regulations in their entirety
Read a fact sheet on the new regulations
Read a copy of a press release for today’s event

The IDEA regulations have been nearly two years in the making. In 2005, CEC participated in each of the meetings in the nationwide series of meetings the Department of Education held to allow the public to provide input on the drafting of the regulations and, later, to provide comments on the proposed regulations. CEC is extremely pleased that the Part B regulations are finally out, but we are dismayed that they are being released nearly two years after IDEA 2004 became law. CEC members have needed the final regulations to assist them in implementing the new law, but until today there has not been a single definitive source that covered each issue addressed in the law. This has led to confusion and tied the hands of CEC members in educating students with disabilities.

Because the IDEA regulations are 1,705 pages in length, Secretary Spellings could not review every aspect of the regulations at today’s event. She did say that the Department of Education received over 5,500 comments during the process of drafting the regulations, and that the top three issues that were commented on were Highly Qualified teachers, private schools, and Response to Intervention. Alexa Posny, Director of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), stated that approximately 70 percent of the final regulations included the Preamble, which discusses the comments the Department received, the major changes, and why the Department chose to take certain actions in the regulations. Secretary Spellings indicated that the regulations for Part C were still under review, and that the writing for the regulations on the IEP and paperwork reduction demonstration projects was still in progress. The regulations will be published in the August 14 issue of the Federal Register.

CEC is pleased that the Department of Education will be engaging in a number of activities to educate special educators, parents, and others on what the regulations say. These activities include the OSEP Leadership conference in August, briefings at national and state conferences, DVDs and CDs on the regulations, and regional implementation meetings in the fall and January and February. The Department will also have a Web site dedicated to the regulations, as well as topical briefs on its Web site in the future.

CEC will also assist its members and the public in understanding the new regulations by analyzing and disseminating topical briefs on selected IDEA issues, by conducting IDEA workshops around the country in this fall and winter, and by offering Web seminars on individual IDEA subjects.

Please continue to visit the CEC home page at www.cec.sped.org to find more information on publications and programs that CEC is offering surrounding the release of the IDEA regulations.