Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HR0048

HR0048 LRB104 08429 ECR 18481 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a student with a disability is guaranteed access to a free, appropriate public education; and

WHEREAS, The law details the procedures that states and school districts must undertake to meet their obligations under IDEA; and

WHEREAS, Under IDEA, if a child is deemed eligible to receive special education services, school officials are required to, in cooperation with a child's parent or guardian, develop an individualized education plan (IEP) for that child; and

WHEREAS, A child's IEP contains critical details about the education that the child will receive, including a statement of the child's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, measurable annual goals and a description of how a child's progress towards achieving those goals will be measured, details of the special education and related services that the child will receive, any individual accommodations that will be needed to measure the child's academic achievement and functional performance, and, for special education students generally beginning at the age of 16, measurable postsecondary goals related to training, education, employment, and independent living skills; and

WHEREAS, In order to ensure a student's success, it is imperative that parents remain actively engaged in the development and implementation of a child's IEP; however, due to the legal complexities and unfamiliar terms associated with the process, some parents may encounter difficulties when interacting with school district personnel; and

WHEREAS, The parents of the nearly 300,000 Illinois students with an IEP serve as advocates for their children, and to do so effectively, they need to be well informed about the procedures associated with establishing an IEP as well as the special education students' and their parents' rights; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare May 2025 as Individualized Education Plan (IEP) Awareness Month in the State of Illinois to increase the public's understanding of the development and implementation of a student's IEP.