What the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Actually Requires Schools to Do
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, usually shortened to IDEA, is the federal law that gives children with disabilities a right to public education designed around their needs. Congress passed the original version in 1975 as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, renamed it IDEA in 1990, and last reauthorized it in 2004. Parents hear the acronym constantly and rarely get told what it actually obligates a school to do. Something else worth a look: a family guide to fall decluttering . IDEA is not one requirement. It is six, and a district can meet five of them well and still be non-compliant on the sixth. The six pieces A free appropriate public education, known as FAPE, sits at the center. Every eligible child gets special education and related services at no cost to the family, matched to that child's needs rather than a standard curriculum. Getting to FAPE requires an appropriate evaluation first. The school has to assess the child in every area of suspe...