SPEECH OF

HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

OF MARYLAND

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2009

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act to clarify Congressional intent and help parents of students with disabilities ensure that their children have access to the free and appropriate education guaranteed by this Congress in 1975. I thank Mr. SESSIONS, who joins me in offering this bill, for his work on this important issue.

It is vitally important that parents and schools cooperate and collaborate to educate our nation's children. When Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, it recognized the value of this partnership in special education. For the most part, this relationship has worked very well. But occasionally, the school system cannot or does not provide an appropriate education. In those rare cases, the Congress recognized that parents should have the ability to challenge the school's decision and advocate for a new Individual Education Plan.

As both school systems and parent build their cases, they bring expert witnesses to assess the student and testify about the quality of the education plan. In 1986, when Congress amended IDEA, it explained in the Conference Report that when parents win their case, a judge could award attorney's fees, including, and I quote, ``reasonable expenses and fees of expert witnesses and the reasonable costs of any test or evaluation which is found to be necessary for the preparation of the parent or guardian's case.'' For years, prevailing parents were awarded expert witness fees, as Congress intended. But unfortunately, while Congress was very clear in its explanation of the bill, it did not include this provision in the legislative language. In 2006, the provision was challenged and the Supreme Court ruled that because Congress did not make its intention explicit in statute, courts could no longer award these fees.

IDEA guarantees students with disabilities a free and appropriate education. But, as a result of this decision, parents can be faced with many thousands of dollars of expert witness fees in order to ensure their child gets the education plan he needs. A single expert witness can charge anywhere from $100-$300 per hour. Confronted with these costs, parents are discouraged or outright barred from bringing meritorious cases to secure the rights of their children. Low-and middle-income families are particularly hard hit.

Today, I introduce a bill to clarify Congress's intent and restore the expert witness fee provisions. It will allow parents to recover the high cost of expert witnesses if, and only if, they win their dispute with the school district. I want to be very clear--this bill does not impose any additional costs on school districts that comply with IDEA. The provisions apply only when a school system has been found, after an impartial hearing, to have wrongfully denied a child an appropriate education as defined in IDEA.

Madam Speaker, we must ensure that we keep the promise of IDEA and provide every child with a free and appropriate education. This bill will level the playing field and help parents be effective advocates for their children's best interests.