U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today issued the following statement on the Senate's bipartisan introduction of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) reauthorization bill:

"President Bush and I are committed to improving educational opportunities for children with disabilities. This is evidenced by the president's significant annual increases for special education grants to states and his determination to apply the rigorous accountability standards of No Child Left Behind to the reauthorization of IDEA.

"We seek to ensure accountability, provide more flexibility and more options for parents, and to emphasize doing what works to improve student achievement. To meet this challenge, the president's 2004 budget represents an almost 50 percent increase in IDEA grants since he took office and is the largest investment ever in special education to help states teach our students with disabilities.

"Today's bipartisan proposal represents a real commitment to IDEA and I look forward to working with Chairman Gregg and Ranking Member Kennedy and their colleagues in Congress to reshape and strengthen IDEA."

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