Chicago City Wire

Michael Crawford introduced HB1366 in the Illinois House on Jan. 14, 2025, during the general assembly session 104, according to the Illinois General Assembly.

According to the Illinois General Assembly site, the legislature summarized the bill's official text as follows: "Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Provides that a school shall provide written notice to the parents or guardian of a child with disabilities that the parents or guardian have the right to have an individualized education program (IEP) advocate present at any meeting regarding the child's current or prospective individualized education program and that the parents or guardian have the right to ask for an IEP facilitator for the child's IEP. Provides that the school may provide the written notification as a part of other provided documentation, including, but not limited to, admission and enrollment documents."

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, the bill amends the Illinois School Code to require that parents or guardians be informed of their right to have other individuals, who may have special knowledge or expertise regarding their child, accompany them to meetings concerning individualized education programs (IEP). The notice must encourage parents or guardians to notify the school in advance if additional participants will attend to ensure proper accommodation. Additionally, the bill mandates the State Board of Education to prepare and distribute informational materials about the IEP facilitation process to each school district. The materials, potentially a one-page document, should outline the process and how to request facilitation and must be disseminated using the same methods as other IEP-related documents.

Crawford graduated from Northeastern Illinois University with a BS.

Michael Crawford is currently serving in the Illinois State House, representing the state's 31st House District. He replaced previous state representative Mary E. Flowers in 2025.

Bills in Illinois follow a multi-step legislative process, beginning with introduction in either the House or Senate, followed by committee review, floor debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching the governor for approval or veto. The General Assembly operates on a biennial schedule, and while typically thousands of bills are introduced each session, only a fraction successfully pass through the process to become law.

You can read more about bills and other measures here.

Bill Number	Date Introduced	Short Description
HB1366	01/14/2025	Amends the Children with Disabilities Article of the School Code. Provides that a school shall provide written notice to the parents or guardian of a child with disabilities that the parents or guardian have the right to have an individualized education program (IEP) advocate present at any meeting regarding the child's current or prospective individualized education program and that the parents or guardian have the right to ask for an IEP facilitator for the child's IEP. Provides that the school may provide the written notification as a part of other provided documentation, including, but not limited to, admission and enrollment documents.