§1418 Program information

Summary

States that get federal help and the Secretary of the Interior must send yearly data to the U.S. Education Secretary and make it public. The reports must break down numbers and percentages of children with disabilities by race, ethnicity, limited English proficiency, gender, and type of disability. They must show where children are educated (regular classes, separate classes or schools, or residential settings), who is getting a free appropriate public education, who stopped getting services by each age from 14 through 21 and why (including graduation), who was put in interim alternative educational settings and the acts that caused those removals, how many had long-term suspensions or expulsions, and the incidence and length of disciplinary actions (including suspensions lasting 1 day or more). The reports must also cover early intervention counts for birth through age 2 and who stopped, comparisons of removals/expulsions with children without disabilities, counts of due process complaints and hearings (including hearings under section 1415(k) and resulting placement changes), mediations and settlement agreements, the number of infants and toddlers at risk who get early intervention, and any other information the Secretary requires. The data must be public but not identify any child. The Secretary may allow states to use sampling and can offer technical help. Each state must check its data for significant disproportionality by race and ethnicity in three areas: who is identified as having a disability, where those children are placed, and the types and length of discipline. If the state finds significant disproportionality, it must review and, if needed, change the policies and practices that caused it, require the affected local school district to reserve the maximum amount of funds allowed under section 1413(f) for comprehensive early intervening services (especially for the overidentified groups), and require the district to publicly report the policy changes.