The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the main federal statute governing special education for children from birth through age 21. IDEA protects the rights of children with disabilities to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). It also supplements state and local funding to pay for some of the additional or excess costs of educating children with disabilities. Three of the main purposes of IDEA are (1) to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living; (2) to ensure that the rights of children with disabilities and parents of such children are protected; and (3) to assist states, localities, educational service agencies, and Federal agencies to provide for the education of all children with disabilities. The focus of this report is on how these purposes are to be achieved under Part B of the IDEA. The first purpose is addressed primarily in the section of this report titled "Services for Children with Disabilities." The second is addressed in the section on "Procedural Safeguards," and the third is addressed in the section on "Funding, Expenditure Requirements, and Compliance."