Federal File

Lawmakers will not tackle the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act until next year.

This is not a shocking statement. But hearing it said on the record is a bit startling.

Political observers have figured for months that lawmakers would be too busy to rewrite the nation's special education law in what remains of the 107th Congress. Pressing issues loom: Iraq, homeland security, and appropriations for fiscal 2003. Not to mention lengthy recesses for the upcoming elections and Thanksgiving before this cohort of lawmakers permanently decamps a...