H.R. 1350 Passed

April 30, 2003

I've spent much of the afternoon watching C-SPAN, and it has been depressing.

HR1350 has been passed by the Congress (251-171), so it will now pass to the

Senate for debate and vote. Commentators for C-SPAN have indicated that the

president is in favor of the bill, and that if it gets in front of him, he will

sign it. It MUST NOT be passed in its present form or it will be disastrous for

our children!

This time we must call or write our senators. Those of you who called or wrote,

please do it again. I would urge you to call and ask to speak to your senator

personally, and if you can't follow up with a letter indicating that you

attempted to talk to them personally but were unable to do so. Let them know

that the discipline provisions leave tremendous latitude for abuse by the

schools. Parents will be left with little or no recourse if the school decides

to remove our children from classes for behavior reasons. It makes no allowances

for behaviors that are linked to their disability!

Make those phone calls to the White House and let the president know that you

strongly oppose the bill in its present form!

Not to sound cynical here, but almost immediately after the vote, the

representative from Minnesota was going on about the Gophers hockey team! No

offense to those of you who are from Minnesota, but WHO THE HELL CARES! I'm

sorry, but these people need a WAKE UP CALL, and they need to get it from

US!!!!!.

Okay, sorry about that rant, but I'm sitting here with a broken heart and they

are yammering on about a hockey team after gutting the safeguards developed for

our children! Nausea.......

April 30, 2003

I agree with you totally! And to add insult to injury, Dick Gephart, who is

running for President of the United States didn't vote. Well, guess what,

Dick, you won't get my vote!

Debbie

H.R. 1350 Passed

I've spent much of the afternoon watching C-SPAN, and it has been

depressing. HR1350 has been passed by the Congress (251-171), so it will now

pass to the Senate for debate and vote. Commentators for C-SPAN have

indicated that the president is in favor of the bill, and that if it gets in

front of him, he will sign it. It MUST NOT be passed in its present form or

it will be disastrous for our children!

This time we must call or write our senators. Those of you who called or

wrote, please do it again. I would urge you to call and ask to speak to your

senator personally, and if you can't follow up with a letter indicating that

you attempted to talk to them personally but were unable to do so. Let them

know that the discipline provisions leave tremendous latitude for abuse by

the schools. Parents will be left with little or no recourse if the school

decides to remove our children from classes for behavior reasons. It makes

no allowances for behaviors that are linked to their disability!

Make those phone calls to the White House and let the president know that

you strongly oppose the bill in its present form!

Not to sound cynical here, but almost immediately after the vote, the

representative from Minnesota was going on about the Gophers hockey team! No

offense to those of you who are from Minnesota, but WHO THE HELL CARES! I'm

sorry, but these people need a WAKE UP CALL, and they need to get it from

US!!!!!.

Okay, sorry about that rant, but I'm sitting here with a broken heart and

they are yammering on about a hockey team after gutting the safeguards

developed for our children! Nausea.......

May 1, 2003

This is very scary. I'm trying to find out how to find out how my

representative voted on this bill. I've check the House of Representatives

website and found information on the status of the bill, but I can't find who

voted for and against it. Does anyone know?

(9, ds) and Grace (6)

May 1, 2003

Never mind, thanks to Kathy's post, I found it. My representative voted against

it.

Re: H.R. 1350 Passed

This is very scary. I'm trying to find out how to find out how my

representative voted on this bill. I've check the House of Representatives

website and found information on the status of the bill, but I can't find who

voted for and against it. Does anyone know?

(9, ds) and Grace (6)

May 1, 2003

FYI-LDA summary

UPDATE ON HR 1350The GOOD news is that the Trancridi Amendment (# 8), which

would have required a medical diagnosis to determine the existance of a learning

disability was soundly defeated 54- 367. LDA was greatly aided by the leadership

of the National Mental Health Association, which drafted and faxed to all

members of the House a letter of opposition, which was signed onto by a number

of organizations, including the American Pyschological Association, the American

Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, CHADD, the Council for Children with

Behavioral Disorders, NAMI, NASP, School Social Workers of America, and the

Tourette Syndrome Association. CEC and NEA also went on record as opposing the

bill The BAD news is that the Shadegg amendment (# 7) passed. Although it is not

binding, the amendment expresses the sense of Congress that students are

over-identified and misidentified as students with disabilities. Therefore

students should not be classified as being disabled without having been judged

by a physician and state health board. The amendment also says that students

with behavioral disorders who have not been diagnosed by a physician as having a

disability should be subject to the school's regular discipline procedures.

Even WORSE is the news that after 5 hours of debate. HR 1350, Improving

Education Results for Children with Disabilities Act of 2003, passed by a vote

of 251- 171, with 12 members not voting. Seven Republicans and one Independent

voted against the bill, 34 Democrats voted for the bill. The rest of the vote

was on party lines â€“ Republicans for, Democrats against. Despite the press

release announcing passage of the bill, this was not a bipartisan effort.The

GOOD news is that the Senate is still working on a bipartisan bill. Following

the introduction of the bill, advocates will have two weeks to study it before

it goes to markup in the HELP Committee. Then it goes to the Senate floor for

passage. The fun begins when House and Senate Conferees, usually made up of

members of the Committees that passed the bills, meet to iron out the

differences between the two bills. So, depending on the Senate bill, some of the

worst provisions of HR 1350 may be dropped.A lot depends upon you. Just as the

1000 letters on discipline generated by LDA helped Conferees on the No Child

Left Behind Act decide to eliminate discipline provisions in that bill, your

letters, calls, faxes, and e mails may make the difference in both the Senate

bill and the final conference. A number of you have already contacted your

Senators (and the President) about your concerns. Keep up the good work.The

efforts of those of you who contacted their Representatives was not in vain.

During the floor debate on HR 1350, Ranking Minority Member of the House

Subcommittee on Education Reform Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) showed a large pile of

letters from parents and advocates who oppose the bill. Sixty three of the 1000

letters were from LDA. Thanks to all who contributed.

May 1, 2003

I sent my letter to my senator the same day i sent one to my congressman,.

I figured it couldn't hurt and if the bill passed my senator would already

have my letter of disapproval!! Loree

Re: H.R. 1350 Passed

> FYI-LDA summary

> UPDATE ON HR 1350The GOOD news is that the Trancridi Amendment (# 8),

which would have required a medical diagnosis to determine the existance of

a learning disability was soundly defeated 54- 367. LDA was greatly aided by

the leadership of the National Mental Health Association, which drafted and

faxed to all members of the House a letter of opposition, which was signed

onto by a number of organizations, including the American Pyschological

Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, CHADD,

the Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders, NAMI, NASP, School

Social Workers of America, and the Tourette Syndrome Association. CEC and

NEA also went on record as opposing the bill The BAD news is that the

Shadegg amendment (# 7) passed. Although it is not binding, the amendment

expresses the sense of Congress that students are over-identified and

misidentified as students with disabilities. Therefore students should not

be classified as being disabled without having been judged by a physician

and state health board. The amendment also says that students with

behavioral disorders who have not been diagnosed by a physician as having a

disability should be subject to the school's regular discipline procedures.

> Even WORSE is the news that after 5 hours of debate. HR 1350, Improving

Education Results for Children with Disabilities Act of 2003, passed by a

vote of 251- 171, with 12 members not voting. Seven Republicans and one

Independent voted against the bill, 34 Democrats voted for the bill. The

rest of the vote was on party lines â€“ Republicans for, Democrats against.

Despite the press release announcing passage of the bill, this was not a

bipartisan effort.The GOOD news is that the Senate is still working on a

bipartisan bill. Following the introduction of the bill, advocates will have

two weeks to study it before it goes to markup in the HELP Committee. Then

it goes to the Senate floor for passage. The fun begins when House and

Senate Conferees, usually made up of members of the Committees that passed

the bills, meet to iron out the differences between the two bills. So,

depending on the Senate bill, some of the worst provisions of HR 1350 may be

dropped.A lot depends upon you. Just as the 1000 letters on discipline

generated by LDA helped Conferees on the No Child Left Behind Act decide to

eliminate discipline provisions in that bill, your letters, calls, faxes,

and e mails may make the difference in both the Senate bill and the final

conference. A number of you have already contacted your Senators (and the

President) about your concerns. Keep up the good work.The efforts of those

of you who contacted their Representatives was not in vain. During the floor

debate on HR 1350, Ranking Minority Member of the House Subcommittee on

Education Reform Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) showed a large pile of letters from

parents and advocates who oppose the bill. Sixty three of the 1000 letters

were from LDA. Thanks to all who contributed.

>

> Click reply to all for messages to go to the list. Just hit reply for

messages to go to the sender of the message.

>

May 1, 2003

Good for you!!! Mine was on the committee and voted for it, even though I

called and expressed my concerns.

mom to Bridget 10 in SC

Re: H.R. 1350 Passed

This is very scary. I'm trying to find out how to find out how my

representative voted on this bill. I've check the House of Representatives

website and found information on the status of the bill, but I can't find who

voted for and against it. Does anyone know?

(9, ds) and Grace (6)

May 1, 2003

In a message dated 5/1/03 8:40:45 AM Central Daylight Time, wildwards@...

writes:

> . Therefore students should not be classified as being disabled without

> having been judged by a physician and state health board. The amendment

> also says that students with behavioral disorders who have not been

> diagnosed by a physician as having a disability should be subject to the

> school's regular discipline procedures.

>

Why do you concider this a bad thing. Many people complain about the push

from schools to classify kids a ADD/ADHD, this would force them to deal with

disapline problems rather then telling the parents to drug thier child. I

also agree that a child who has NOT been diagnosed with a disabilty should be

subject to the schools reg. disapline procedures. IF there is a problem then

the parents should be required to take the child to a physician and get the

help the kid needs. I assume that there is supposedly some other things in

it that I might find objectionalble but frankly requiring a medical diagnosis

is not one I object to.

joy

May 1, 2003

Of all those running, Dean from Vermont has the best record on disability

issues.

Elaine