In 1962, thirteen years prior to the passage of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), the first ever President's Panel on Mental Retardation issued its report to President John Kennedy. This report entitled, A Proposed Program for National Action to Combat Mental Retardation, examined the scope, significance, and importance of addressing the needs of individuals with mental retardation and their families. The panel wrote, "mental retardation ranks as a major national health, social, and economic problem," affecting an estimated 3% of the general population, or at that time, 5.4 million children and adults in the United States. The panel enumerated 5 areas where there was an urgent need for extended or new services and urged the President to propose such programs. These proposals were:

1. To enrich learning opportunities for preschool children.

2. To support state departments of education and universities to establish "instructional materials centers" in special education. These centers would provide teachers and other education personnel with competent consultation and support.

3. To develop state and local community leadership that would create new programs for school services for individuals with mental retardation. In fact, they cite "the lack in many state and local school systems of staff experts as a major contributing factor to the general inadequacy of school services."

4. To develop specialized classroom services to support all children, including those with mental retardation. Despite the fact that special education programs had grown over 270% between 1948 and 1958, the number of programs was "grossly inadequate." The panel went on to say "it is doubtful that sound comprehensive programs will be developed in most communities without the incentive of external financial support, such as can be provided through general Federal assistance to schools." In addition, the panel found even new programs and existing services were "deficient" and many failed to accommodate the majority of children in their communities. Staff were inadequately trained, and most failed to provide for the full spectrum of intellectual abilities; and, finally, there were practically no programs, which existed to assist the adolescent or young adult to transition from school to work and community living.

5. To expand or develop all community educational services which provide diagnosis and evaluation to enable the early detection of school learning disabilities.

Fast forward to the year 2002, 27 years after the passage of IDEA in 1975 and 40 years after the presidential report. Congress is required to reauthorize IDEA this year and many groups are identifying aspects of the law that need attention. Legislators on both sides of the aisle agree there are many problems that need to be addressed. At a recent hearing of the Senate Committee on Education, Robert Pasternak, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, testified about the need for more highly qualified special education personnel as well as the need to provide services to the "right children" (which addresses evaluation and diagnosis issues). The National Association of State Directors of Special Education identified 9 issues. Among them are the need to strengthen preschool services, school accountability, the need for a unified system of general and special education, coordination with other agencies, the need to address students with behavior issues, the need for a fairer dispute resolution system, the need for qualified personnel, and the need for full federal funding of IDEA.

The latest edition of the Massachusetts Special Needs Task Force Report, published by the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, identified challenges in five categories: 1) increases in the number of children and severity of disabilities of children served in early intervention and preschool programs, 2) numerous changes in the law that require additional paperwork on the part of special educators, 3) the costs of new programs and services, 4) the educational standard students are required to meet to graduate from high school, and 5) a lack of financial support to local schools from state and federal resources. The list of issues goes on, but at the root of many of them is the need for adequate federal financial support.

As many know the original promise of IDEA included the commitment of the federal government to provide "full" funding for IDEA. This was defined as providing 40% of the cost of special education services borne by cities and towns across this country. Most of us also know that this promise has never been met and was at the root of Senator Jeffords decision to realign his political party status. His heroic stance is a glaring reminder that the promise remains unfulfilled. As long as that is true, all children suffer.

Revising IDEA is always a difficult and politically charged issue with potentially high stakes for all involved, especially for parents and students with disabilities. The problems we face are not new, but they are complex. Let us learn from our predecessors and recognize that while problems persist, many accomplishments have been due to foresighted individuals and a prominent Presidential family that took up this cause 40 years ago. After all these years, it's time to end the waiting and see that the promise is fulfilled.

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