PART X-EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF THE HANDICAPPED

EDUCATION OF THE HANDICAPPED ACT 1

PART A-GENERAL PROVISIONS

SHORT TITLE

SEC. 601. This title may be cited as the "Education of the Handicapped Act".

DEFINITION

SEC. 602. As used in this title

(1) The term "handicapped children" means mentally retarded, hard of hearing, deaf, speech impaired, visually handicapped, seriously emotionally disturbed, crippled, or other health impaired children who by reason thereof require special education and related services.

(2) The term "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Education.

(3) The term "Advisory Committee" means the National Advisory Committee on Handicapped Children.

(4) The term "construction", except where otherwise specified, means (A) erection of new or expansion of existing structures, and the acquisition and installation of equipment therefor; or (B) acquisition of existing structures not owned by any agency or institution making application for assistance under this title; or (C) remodeling or alteration (including the acquisition, installation, modernization, or replacement of equipment) of existing structures; or (D) acquisition of land in connection with the activities in clauses (A), (B), and (C); or (E) a combination of any two or more of the foregoing.

(5) The term "equipment" includes machinery, utilities, and built-in equipment and any necessary enclosures or structures to house them, and includes all other items necessary for the functioning of a particular facility as a facility for the provision of educational services, including items such as instructional equipment and necessary furniture, printed, published, and audio-visual instructional materials, and books, periodicals, documents, and other related materials.

(6) The term "State" means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

(7) The term "State educational agency" means the State board of education or other agency or officer primarily responsible for the State supervision of public elementary and secondary schools, or, if there is no such officer or agency, an officer or agency designated by the Governor or by State law.

(8) The term "local educational agency" means a public board of education or other public authority legally constituted within a State for either administrative control or direction of, or to perform a service function for public elementary or secondary schools in a city, county, township, school district, or other political subdivision of a State, or such combination of school districts or counties as are recognized in a State as an administrative agency for its public elementary or secondary schools. Such term also includes any other public institution or agency having administrative control and direction of a public elementary or secondary

school.

(9) The term "elementary school" means a day or residential school which provides elementary education, as determined under State law.

(10) The term "secondary school" means a day or residential school which provides secondary education, as determined under State law, except that it does not include any education provided beyond grade 12.

(11) The term "institution of higher education” means an educational institution in any State which

(A) admits as regular students only indivudals having a certificate of graduation from a high school, or the recognized equivalent of such a certificate; (B) is legally authorized within such State to provide a program of education beyond high school;

1 Public Law 89-750 amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 by adding a new title VI; effective July 1, 1971, this act ((P.L. 92-230) replaces title VI. Also as of July 1, 1971, the Education of the Handicapped Act will supersede the following: P.L. 90-538, Handicapped Children's Early Education Assistance Act; P.L. 85-926, Grants for Teaching in the Education of Handicapped Children; P.L. 88-164, titles III and V of the Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Mental Centers Construction Act of 1963; and P.L. 85-905, Instructional Media for Handicapped Children.

(C) provides an educational program for which it awards a bachelor's degree, or provides not less than a two-year program which is acceptable for full credit toward such a degree, or offers a two-year program in engineering, mathematics, or the physical or biological sciences which is designed to prepare the student to work as a technician and at a semiprofessional level in engineering, scientific, or other technological fields which require the understanding and application of basic engineering, scientific, or mathematical principles or knowledge;

(D) is a public or other nonprofit institution; and

(E) is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association listed by the Commissioner pursuant to this paragraph or, if not so accredited, is an institution whose credits are accepted, on transfer, by not less than three institutions which are so accredited, for credit on the same basis as if transferred from an institution so accredited: Provided, however, That in the case of an institution offering a two-year program in engineering, mathematics, or the physical or biological sciences which is designed to prepare the student to work as a technician and at a semiprofessional level in engineering, scientific, or technological fields which require the understanding and application of basic engineering, scientific, or mathematical principles or knowledge, if the Commissioner determines that there is no nationally recognized accrediting agency or association qualified to accredit such institutions, he shall appoint an advisory committee, composed of persons specially qualified to evaluate training provided by such institutions, which shall prescribe the standards of content, scope, and quality which must be met in order to qualify such institutions to participate under this Act and shall also determine whether particular institutions meet such standards. For the purposes of this paragraph the Commissioner shall publish a list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies or associations which he determines to be reliable authority as to the quality of education or training offered. (12) The term "nonprofit" as applied to a school, agency, organization, or institution means a school, agency, organization, or institution owned and operated by one or more nonprofit corporations or associations no part of the net earnings of which inures, or may lawfully inure, to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

(13) The term "research and related purposes" means research, research training (including the payment of stipends and allowances), surveys, or demonstrations in the field of education of handicapped children, or the dissemination of information derived therefrom, including (but without limitation) experimental schools.

(14) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.

(15) The term "children with specific learning disabilities" means those children who have a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which disorder may manifest itself in imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations. Such disorders include such conditions as perceptual handicaps, brain injury, minimal brain disfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Such term does not include children who have learning problems which are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor handicaps, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental disadvantage.

(20 U.S.C. 1401) Enacted April 13, 1970, P.L. 91-230, Title VI, sec. 602, 84 Stat. 175.

BUREAU FOR EDUCATION AND TRAINING OF THE HANDICAPPED

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SEC. 603. (a) There shall be, within the Office of Education, a bureau for the education and training of the handicapped which shall be the principal agency in the Office of Education for administering and carrying out programs and projects

1 Section 612(b) (1) of P.L. 93-380 provides as follows:

"(b) (1) The positions created by subsection (b) of section 603 of the Education of the Handicapped Act shall be in addition to the number of positions placed in the appropriate grades under section 5108 of title 5, United States Code, and such positions shall be in addition to, and without prejudice against, the number of positions otherwise placed in the Office of Education under such section 5108 or under other law. Nothing in this section shall be deemed as limiting the Commissioner from assigning additional General Schedule positions in grades 16, 17, and 18 to the Office should he determine such additions to be necessary to operate programs for educating handicapped children authorized by this Act."

relating to the education and training of the handicapped, including programs and projects for the training of teachers of the handicapped and for research in such education and training.

(b) (1) The Bureau established under subsection (a) shall be headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Education who shall be appointed by the Commissioner, who shall report directly to the Commissioner, be compensated at the rate specified for, and placed in, grade 18 of the General Schedule set forth in section 5332 of title 5, United States Code.

(2) In addition to such Deputy Commissioner, there shall be placed in such Bureau five positions for persons to assist the Deputy Commissioner in carrying out his duties, including the position of Associate Deputy Commissioner, and such positions shall be placed in grade 16 of the General Schedule set forth in section 5332 of title 5, United States Code.

(20 U.S.C. 1402) Enacted April 13, 1970, P.L. 91-230, Title VI, sec. 603, 84 Stat. 177; amended August 21, 1974, P.L. 93-380, sec. 612(a), 88, Stat. 579, 580.

NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

SEC. 604. (a) The Commissioner shall establish in the Office of Education a National Advisory Committee on Handicapped Children, consisting of fifteen members, appointed by the Commissioner. At least eight of such members shall be persons affiliated with educational, training, or research programs for the handicapped.

(b) The Advisory Committee shall review the administration and operation of the programs authorized by this title and other provisions of law administered by the Commissioner with respect to handicapped children, including their effect in improving the educational attainment of such children, and make recommendations for the improvement of such administration, and operation with respect to such children. Such recommendations shall take into consideration experience gained under this and other Federal programs for handicapped children and, to the extent appropriate, experience gained under other public and private programs for handicapped children. The Advisory Committee shall from time to time make such recommendations as it may deem appropriate to the Commissioner and shall make an annual report of its findings and recommendations to the Commissioner not later than March 31 of each year. The Commissioner shall transmit each such report to the Secretary together with his comments and recommendations, and the Secretary shall transmit such report, comments, and recommendations to the Congress together with any comments or recommendations he may have with respect thereto.

The Advisory Committee shall continue to exist until July 1, 1977.

(c) There are authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this section $100,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1974, and for each of the three succeeding fiscal years.

(20 U.S.C. 1403) Enacted April 13, 1970, P.L. 91-230, Title VI, sec. 604, 84 Stat. 177; amended August 21, 1974, P.L. 93-380, sec. 613, 88 Stat. 580.

ACQUISITION OF EQUIPMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF NECESSARY FACILITIES SEC. 605. (a) In the case of any program authorized by this title, if the Commissioner determines that such program will be improved by permitting the funds authorized for such program to be used for the acquisition of equipment and the construction of necessary facilities, he may authorize the use of such funds for such purposes.

(b) If within twenty years after the completion of any construction (except minor remodeling or alteration) for which funds have been paid pursuant to a grant or contract under this title the facility constructed ceases to be used for the purposes for which it was constructed, the United States, unless the Secretary determines that there is good cause for releasing the recipient of the funds from its obligation, shall be entitled to recover from the applicant or other owner of the facility an amount which bears the same ratio to the then value of the facility as the amount of such Federal funds bore to the cost of the portion of the facility financed with such funds. Such value shall be determined by agreement of the parties or by action brought in the United States district court for the district in which the facility is situated.

(20 U.S.C. 1404) Enacted April 13, 1970, P.L. 91-230, Title VI, sec. 605. 84 Stat. 177.

PART B-ASSISTANCE TO STATES FOR EDUCATION OF HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

AUTHORIZATION

SEC. 611. (a) The Commissioner is authorized to make grants pursuant to the provisions of this part for the purpose of assisting the States in the initiation, expansion, and improvement of programs and projects for the education of handicapped children at the preschool, elementary school, and secondary school levels.1 (b) For the purpose of making grants under this part there is authorized to be appropriated $200,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1971, $210,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1972, and $220,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1973.2

(20 U.S.C. 1411) Enacted April 13, 1970, P.L. 91-230, Title VI, sec. 611, 84 Stat. 178.

(NOTE.-Section 614(a) of P.L. 93-380 provides that, effective for fiscal year 1975 only, section 611 of the Education of the Handicapped Act is amended as follows:)

Grants to States for Education of Handicapped Children

SEC. 611. (a) The Commissioner shall, in accordance with the provisions of this part, make payments to States for the purpose of assisting the States in the initiation, expansion, and improvement of programs and projects for the education of handicapped children at the preschool, elementary school, and secondary school levels in order to provide full educational opportunities to all handicapped children. Such payments may be used for the early identification and assessment of handicapping conditions in children under three years of age.

(b)(1) Subject to the provisions of section 612, the maximum amount of the grant to which a State shall be entitled under this part shall be equal to—

(A) the number of children aged three to twenty-one inclusive, in that State in the most recent fiscal year for which satisfactory data are available; multiplied by

(B) $8.75.

(2) For the purpose of this subsection, the term "State" does not include the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

(c) (1) The jurisdictions to which this subsection applies are the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

(2) Each jurisdiction to which this subsection applies shall, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975, be entitled to a grant in an amount equal to an amount determined by the Commissioner, in accordance with criteria established by regulations, needed to initiate, expand, or improve programs and projects for the education of handicapped children at the preschool, elementray school, and secondary school levels, in that jurisdiction, except that the aggregate of the amount to which such jurisdictions are so entitled for any fiscal year shall not exceed an amount equal to 2 per centum of the aggregate of the amounts to which all States are entitled under subsection (b) of this section for that fiscal year. If the aggregate of the amounts, determined by the Commissioner pursuant to the preceding sentence, to be so needed for any fiscal year exceeds an amount equal to such 2 per centum limitation, the entitlement of each such jurisdiction shall be reduced proportionately until such aggregate does not exceed such 2 per centum limitation.

(d) The Commissioner is authorized for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975, to make payments to the Secretary of the Interior according to the need for such assistance for the education of handicapped children on reservations serviced by elementary and secondary schools operated for Indian children by the Department of the Interior, and the terms upon which payments for such purposes shall be made to the Secretary of the Interior shall be determined pursuant to such criteria as the Commissioner determines will best carry out the purposes of this part. The amount of such payment for any fiscal year shall not exceed 1 per centum of the aggregate amounts to which States are entitled under subsection (b) of this section for that fiscal year.

1 Section 614(e)(1) of P.L. 93-380 adds the following words to the end of this sentence, effective July 1, 1975: "in order to provide full educational opportunity to all handicapped children."

Effective July 1, 1975, subsection (b) is amended to read as follows:

"(b) For the purpose of making grants under this part there are authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1976, and $110,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1977.

ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS

SEC. 612. (a) (1) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal year for the purposes of this paragraph an amount equal to not more than 31 per centum of the amount appropriated for such year for payments to States under section 611(b). The Commissioner shall allot the amount appropriated pursuant to this paragraph among

(A) Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, according to their respective needs, and (B) for each fiscal year ending prior to July 1, 1977, the Secretary of the Interior, according to the need for such assistance for the education of handicapped children on reservations serviced by elementary and secondary schools operated for Indian children by the Department of the Interior and the terms upon which payments for such purposes shall be made to the Secretary of the Interior shall be determined pursuant to such criteria as the Commissioner determines will best carry out the purposes of this part. (2) From the total amount appropriated pursuant to section 611(b) for any fiscal year the Commissioner shall allot to each State an amount which bears the same ratio to such amount as the number of children aged three to twenty-one, inclusive, in the State bears to the number of such children in all the States, except that no State shall be allotted less than $200,000 or three-tenths of 1 per centum of such amount available for allotment to the States, whichever is greater. For purposes of this paragraph and subsection (b), the term "State" shall not include the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, or the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands."

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(b) The number of children aged three to twenty-one, inclusive, in any State and in all the States shall be determined, for purposes of this section, by the Commissioner on the basis of the most recent satisfactory data available to him. (c) The amount of any State's allotment under subsection (a) for any fiscal year which the Commissioner determines will not be required for that year shall be available for reallotment, from time to time and on such dates during such year as the Commissioner may fix, to other States in proportion to the original allotments to such States under subsection (a) for that year, but with such proportionate amount for any of such other States being reduced to the extent it exceeds the sum the Commissioner estimates such State needs and will be able to use for such year; and the total of such reductions shall be similarly reallotted among the States whose proportionate amounts were not so reduced. Any amount reallotted to a State under this subsection during a year shall be deemed part of its allotment under subsection (a) for that year.

(20 U.S.C. 1412) Enacted April 13, 1970, P.L. 91-230, Title VI, sec. 612 84 Stat. 178; amended June 23, 1972, P.L. 92–318, sec. 421(b)(1)(C), 86 Stat. 341; amended August 21, 1974, P.L. 93-380, sec. 614(b) (1), 88 Stat. 582.

(NOTE: Section 614(b) of P.L. 93-380 provides that, effective for fiscal year 1975 only, section 612 of the Education of the Handicapped Act is amended as follows):

ALLOCATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS

SEC. 612. (a) Sums appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975, shall be made available to States and allocated to each State, on the basis of unsatisfied entitlements under section 611, in an amount equal to the amount it received from the appropriation for this part for the fiscal year 1974.

(b) Any sums appropriated to carry out this part for any fiscal year which remain after allocations under subsection (a) of this section shall be made to States in accordance with entitlements created under section 611 (to the extent that such entitlements are unsatisfied) ratably reduced.

(c) In the event that funds become available for making payments under this part for any fiscal year after allocations have been made under subsections (a) and (b) for that year, the amounts reduced under subsection (b) shall be increased on the same basis as they were reduced.

1 Effective after June 30, 1975, limited to 1 per centum (sec. 843(b) (3), P.L. 93-380). 2 Effective after June 30, 1975, Puerto Rico is deleted from this list (sec. 843(b) (1), P.L. 93-380).

3 $300,000 on and after July 1, 1975 (sec. 615(a) (1), P.L. 93-380) if state allocations for Part B are $45,000,000 or more (sec. 615(d), P.L. 93-380).

Effective on and after July 1, 1975, the following subsection (3) is added to sec. 612(a): "(3) No State shall, in any fiscal year, be required to expend amounts allotted pursuant to this section to carry out the provisions of paragraph (1) of section 613(b) unless that State receives an amount greater than the amount allotted to that State for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1973." (Sec. 615(a) (2), P.L. 93–380.)