On January 23, 2000, the Associated Press published "STUDY: STATES IGNORE SPECIAL ED LAW." The article by AP Writer Karen Gullo was based on an advance copy of the IDEA Compliance Report obtained by the Associated Press. Read about AP article. 

On January 25, 2000, The National Council on Disability (NCD) released the long awaited report of the federal data: enforcement and compliance with the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, Part B (IDEA). They concluded that ". . . efforts to enforce the law over several Administrations have been inconsistent, ineffective, and lacking any real teeth." NCD News Release 

We spent several days formatting the IDEA Compliance Report into html, creating scores of internal links, and uploading the Report onto the Wrightslaw site. 

The IDEA Compliance Report, with hundreds of internal links, is now one of several documents included in the Legal Companion CD-ROM, available in the deluxe edition of Wrightslaw: Special Education Law (published by Harbor House Law Press) [Note: That book about IDEA 97 and the CD are no longer published, being replaced by new editions.]

Because finding specific information about a state can be difficult, we wrote Search Tips to help. 

Table of Contents Introduction

I. The Law, the Compliance/Enforcement Scheme, and the Context

II. Grassroots Perspectives on Noncompliance and Federal Enforcement of IDEA

III. Grant Administration, Compliance-Monitoring, Complaint-Handling, and Enforcement Functions

IV. The National Compliance Picture Over Time: Analysis of Annual Reports to Congress 1978-1998

V. IDEA Litigation Challenging State Noncompliance

VI. The Role of the Department of Justice

VII. Improving Public Awareness: Technical Assistance and Public Information for Students with Disabilities, Their Families, and Advocates

VIII. Summary and Conclusions

Consolidated List of Findings and Recommendations

Index, IDEA Compliance Report

Endnotes

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