New IDEA Act
Sponsored By: Representative Houchin, Erin [R-IN-9]
Introduced
Summary
This bill would expand IDEA eligibility and access by adding new disorder categories, defining specific learning disabilities, and requiring equal access to services for low-income students and English learners.
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- Families and students: Would broaden who can qualify for special education by adding developmental language disorder, spectrum disorders, and explicit definitions for dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia with clear characteristic descriptions.
- Low-income and English-learner students: Would require local educational agencies to provide equal access to accommodations and services for eligible children, explicitly naming low-income students and English learners.
- Schools and eligibility rules: Would revise eligibility wording, including changing the order from "listen, think" to "think, listen", and would retain exclusions for learning problems caused by lack of appropriate instruction, sensory or motor disabilities, intellectual disability, emotional disturbance, or limited English proficiency.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
More special education coverage and access
If enacted, school teams would have more named disorders to consider when deciding IDEA eligibility under section 602. The bill would add developmental language disorder, spectrum disorders, and specific learning disabilities including dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia. It would also add short definitions for those terms to guide identification. The bill would require local education agencies to give eligible children equal access to accommodations and services, naming low-income children and children with limited English proficiency as examples who must get equal access.
New limits on learning disability eligibility
If enacted, the bill would say a learning problem is not a specific learning disability when it is primarily caused by visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; intellectual disability; emotional disturbance; lack of appropriate instruction in reading (as defined in the Adult Education and Literacy Act) or in math; or limited English proficiency. That change would narrow who can be labeled with a specific learning disability for IDEA decisions. As a result, some students whose difficulties come mainly from these causes could lose eligibility for SLD classification and related IDEA services.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Houchin, Erin [R-IN-9]
IN • R
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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