The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
is the main federal program concerning the education of children with disabilities. It authorizes state
and local aid for special education and related services for children with disabilities and contains
detailed due process protections for children with disabilities and their parents. On December 3,
2004, President Bush signed "the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Improvement Act"
(P.L. 108-446), a major reauthorization and revision of IDEA. The new law preserves the basic
structure and civil rights guarantees of IDEA but also makes significant changes in the law. Most
provisions of P.L. 108-446 go into effect on July 1, 2005. This report will briefly discuss
several of the major changes made by the reauthorization. For more detailed information see CRS Report RL32716, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): Analysis of Changes Made
by P.L. 108-446, by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed]. This report will not be
updated.