December 26, 2025
Mr. James introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations
To rescind unobligated amounts made available to the Department of Education for fiscal year 2026, and transfer such amounts to States in accordance with section 611 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Individuals with Disabilities Education And Legacy Act
or the IDEAL Act
.
Sec. 2. Findings
Congress finds the following:
(1)
On November 29, 2025, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) will honor its 50th anniversary since President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act into law in 1975.
(2)
IDEA stated, clearly and unequivocally, that every child, regardless of disability, has the right to a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive setting possible.
(3)
50 years of progress, 50 years of possibilities, IDEA opened classroom doors, expanded opportunities, and transformed education for millions of students with disabilities, let us keep moving forward, not backward.
(4)
Before 1975, more than 1,000,000 children with disabilities were excluded from public schools, often relegated to specialized private schools sponsored by charities and psychiatric hospitals, or left without an education altogether.
(5)
IDEA changed that, paving the way for individualized education plans that addressed the individual needs of students classified under IDEA.
(6)
Today, IDEA governs the education of nearly 8,000,000 students nationwide, or approximately 15 percent of all public school students.
(7)
According to the law, public schools must identify and assess all students to ascertain if they require services under IDEA.
(8)
Children who are experiencing homelessness or attending private schools must also be afforded these services if required.
(9)
For 50 years, IDEA has been the cornerstone of special education in the United States, ensuring access, accountability, and equality for millions of students.
(10)
The history of IDEA is one of progress hard-won and progress worth protecting.
(11)
When IDEA became law, only 1 in 5 children with disabilities had access to public education, and today, millions learn, grow, and thrive because of its protections.
(12)
50 years later, that impact can’t be forgotten, or undone.
Sec. 3. Transferring unobligated amounts to the IDEA
(a) Rescission
The unobligated balance of each amount made available under the heading Department of Education
by any Act providing appropriations for fiscal year 2026, as of the date of the enactment of this Act, are permanently rescinded.
(b) Transfer
To the extent that amounts otherwise made available to carry out section 611 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411) for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2029 are equivalent, accounting for inflation, to the amounts made available to carry out such section 611 in fiscal year 2025, there is hereby appropriated, out of any amounts in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to be allocated to States for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2029 in accordance with such section 611, an amount equal to the amounts rescinded by subsection (a), to be merged with amounts otherwise made available for such purposes. Amounts allocated to States pursuant to this subsection for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2029 shall supplement, not supplant, amounts otherwise made available to make allocations to States under section 611 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1411) for each such fiscal year.
(c) Report
Not later than 90 days after amounts are rescinded by subsection (a), the Secretary of Education shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate a report identifying—
(1)
the amounts rescinded by subsection (a); and
(2)
the amounts allocated to each State pursuant to subsection (b).