LOST
BOY
uted to special education parents
across the country to track and
map their goals for their children.
Some still saw room for improvement. In 1989, Sen. Tom
Harkin (D-Iowa), whose own
brother was deaf, introduced several updates to EHA, transforming
the law into what would become
known as the Individuals With
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Harkin’s updates prescribed that
students with disabilities be educated in the “least restrictive environment” possible. Overall, the
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federal government is supposed to
provide 40 percent of total IDEA
costs, but in 2012, the measure
was underfunded by about $17
billion. President Barack Obama’s
2014 budget, released in April,
does not include an increase to
IDEA, but Harkin has said he
plans to reintroduce legislation
that would fully fund the law
through a tobacco tax.
Under IDEA, a school district
is responsible for meeting a student’s IEP goals. If the school
district in which the student is
enrolled cannot provide an educational program that delivers “free
and appropriate public educa-
Max inside a
moon bounce
at a birthday
party on June
26, 2011.
“This was
probably
one of the
last birthday
parties we
took him
to, because
he simply
becomes too
overwhelmed,
sensory-wise,
to remain
calm and
interested in
the party,”
Maya said.