Lame-Duck Session of Congress to Address IDEA, Budget

With the elections over, Congress is expected this week to turn to some unfinished business in a lame-duck session, including an overdue spending bill for education and a plan to reauthorize the main special education law.

As of last week, lobbyists and congressional aides were growing confident that lawmakers would wrap up negotiations as soon as this week over a bill to revamp the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which was last updated in 1997.

Both chambers have approved versions of the bill, and a meeting of the House and Senate negotiating teams was tentatively scheduled for Nov. 17 to ratify agreements reached in staff-level talks and to take...