Bill Summary
The "Empowering Families in Special Education Act" is a bill that aims to amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The amendment would require schools to notify parents with children who have individualized education programs (IEPs) of their right to include other individuals with knowledge or special expertise on their child's IEP team. This would allow parents to have a more comprehensive and informed team to help make decisions about their child's education. This notification must take place before the first IEP team meeting for the school year.
Possible Impacts
1. The Empowering Families in Special Education Act could affect parents of children with disabilities by requiring the local educational agency to notify them of their right to include other individuals with knowledge or expertise about their child during the individualized education program team meeting. This could empower families to have a more active role in their child's education and advocate for their needs.
2. The requirement for notification could also affect educators and related services personnel by potentially increasing their workload as they may be included in the individualized education program team meetings. They may need to prepare for and attend these meetings, which could impact their time and resources.
3. The amendment to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act could also affect local educational agencies by adding a new requirement for notification. This could potentially increase their administrative tasks and resources as they need to ensure timely notification to parents.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 745 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 745
To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to require
notification with respect to individualized education program teams,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 26, 2025
Mr. Schmitt (for himself, Mrs. Shaheen, and Mr. Padilla) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to require
notification with respect to individualized education program teams,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Empowering Families in Special
Education Act''.
SEC. 2. NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT FOR IEP TEAMS.
Section 614(d)(1)(B) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (20 U.S.C. 1414(d)(1)(B)) is amended--
(1) in clause (iv), by redesignating subclauses (I) through
(III) as items (aa) through (cc), respectively (and by
conforming the margins accordingly);
(2) by redesignating clauses (i) through (vii) as
subclauses (I) through (VII), respectively (and by conforming
the margins accordingly);
(3) in the matter preceding subclause (I), as so
redesignated, by striking ``The term'' and inserting the
following:
``(i) In general.--The term''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(ii) Notification required.--Within a
reasonable timeframe prior to the first
convening of the individualized education
program team for a child with a disability for
a school year, the local educational agency
that serves such child shall notify the parent
of such child that such parent may, under
clause (i)(VI), include other individuals who
have knowledge or special expertise regarding
the child, including related services personnel
as appropriate, as part of the individualized
education program team.''.
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