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

"Our goal for the reauthorization of IDEA is to align this critically important law with the principles of No Child Left Behind. We seek to ensure accountability and provide more flexibility, more options for parents, and an emphasis on 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 the largest investment ever in special education to help states teach our disabled students.

"The proposal announced today builds upon our commitment to IDEA and appears to be aligned with our principles for reauthorization.

"I look forward to working with Chairmen Boehner and Castle and their colleagues in Congress to reshape and strengthen IDEA."

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