It looks like some things may get easier. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA 2004) provides an option for a pilot program (fifteen states) to develop a three-year Individual Education Program (IEP) to replace the current one-year requirement. This would certainly reduce the demands on both parents and teachers for those students whose needs to not change significantly over a three-year period. It's meant to reduce paperwork and save time, and sounds like a good bet.

A bigger change, if it works, is in what happens to those who are finishing high school. Nobody's arguing with the fact that transition into the world beyond high school requires a broad-based collaboration of helping hands, well-coordinated. This new law is supposed to make that happen.

Right now there are few details. For one working model, see the National Center for Secondary Education and Transition. There's a sidebar on the right where you'll see the heading NCSET Topics. Select Transition Planning & Community Resources. When you get there, select Service Coordination.

Give it a few minutes: it's worth your time. The law now allows federal funding to be used for the development and coordination of transition services among a wide range of community organizations. It requires that a lead agency be identified as coordinator. What's different is that there are taxpayer dollars going into this: if nothing happens, the student can self-advocate for services and the lead agency is accountable. It's hopeful.