IDEA - call to action

[Guest guest]

IMPORTANT ACTION ALERT:

CALL/EMAIL CONGRESS TO COSPONSOR

IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

OR ANYTIME MAY 2-6, 2011

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE BROADLY.

THIS WEEK, MAY 2-6, 2011, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVE

AND ASK THEM TO COSPONSOR THE IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT (S.613 AND H.R.

1208). This bill will allow parents to recover expert witness fees when they

prevail in due process hearings and court actions under the IDEA.

Instructions for contacting Congress are below.

IDEA gives parents the right to an impartial due process hearing, but

parents must be able to afford expert witnesses to testify at those

hearings. Expert witnesses can include psychologists; physicians; speech,

occupational, physical, and other therapists; educational experts; positive

behavioral support experts, and others. Without expert witnesses, most

parents cannot prevail. Sometimes, school districts sue parents and parents

must have expert witnesses to adequately defend themselves.

The IDEA Fairness Restoration Act will restore the right to recover expert

witness fees for parents and students with disabilities. Congress intended

that parents have this right when it amended the IDEA in 1986. But in 2006,

the Supreme Court acted contrary to this intent and held that parents could

not recover expert witness fees in Arlington Central School District v.

. Plaintiffs in other civil rights cases, like ADA cases, recover

fees, and this bill would simply give parents the same right.

It is crucial that Congress hear from parents of children with disabilities,

advocates, attorneys, family, friends, and colleagues that this legislation

is very important. We have targeted May 4, but you can do this anytime

between May 2-6, 2011 or even later if you need to due to the weather events

in the South or for other reasons.

HOW TO CONTACT CONGRESS: It is best to call your Representative and

Senators. Calls are more personal and more attention is paid to them. Even a

2 minute call is very helpful. But if you need to email because of work

schedule, disability, or other reason, please do so.

CALL CONGRESS. Call your Congressional Representative and Senators and ask

them to Cosponsor S.613 and H.R. 1208, the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act.

You can call them at202-224-3121 (TTY 202-225-1904). If you do not know who

they are, you can look them up at www.house.gov or www.senate.gov. Ask for

the staff member who handles education or disability. Share with them the

information below.

SEND AN EMAIL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS. You can email your Congressman through

their special forms on House of Representatives Website,

<http://www.house.gov/writerep> http://www.house.gov/writerep , and write

your Senators through their Web Form on the Senate website,

<http://1.usa.gov/Senat> http://1.usa.gov/Senat

SAMPLE EMAIL / INFORMATION TO SHARE IN YOUR CALL. Here is information you

can share with Congress as you ask for support. You can use it for your

phone call, or you can cut and paste it into an email form. If you email, it

helps to personalize it with even a few sentences about your child or your

legal/advocacy practice. You might add something like " We are the parents of

a child with autism and it is important to us that you support this bill, so

we can afford due process if we are ever forced to go. " Or write something

longer and more personalized.

Dear Representative/Senator,

Please cosponsor the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act H.R. 1208 and S.613. It

will restore Congress' original intent in enacting the Handicapped

Children's Protection Act of 1986 that parents who prevail in administrative

hearings and court actions be allowed to recover expert witness fees. The

bill would overturn the Supreme Court decision in Arlington Central School

District v. (2006).

When school districts provide an education so poor that they fail their

legal obligations, parents can seek an impartial due process hearing to

protect their child. In those hearings parents must provide testimony from

such expert witnesses as psychologists, doctors, therapists, and educational

experts. This testimony is needed to prove that a free appropriate public

education was not provided to their children. Sometimes, school districts

sue parents and parents must have expert witnesses to adequately defend

themselves. Few parents can afford expert witnesses. Nearly 36% of children

with disabilities live in families earning less than $25,000 a year; over

two-thirds in families earn less than $50,000 a year. Without the ability to

afford expert witnesses, the right to a due process hearing is not

meaningful for most parents.

The bill simply gives parents the same right as prevailing plaintiffs under

the Americans with Disabilities Act and other similar laws to recover expert

fees. When Congress passed the Handicapped Children's Protection Act of

1986, it intended that parents would recover expert witness fees in IDEA

cases, as clearly stated in the Conference Report. But the case

overrode that intent. We ask Congress to restore its original intent and

provide parents with the right to recover expert witness fees when they win

their case.

Sincerely yours,

Your name here

More Resources:

-- The Senate bill, (S.613) is here: <http://1.usa.gov/s613stat>

http://1.usa.gov/s613stat

-- The House bill (H.R. 1208) is here: <http://1.usa.gov/hr1208>

http://1.usa.gov/hr1208

-- Short, 2 page memo on the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act

<http://bit.ly/FairMemo> http://bit.ly/FairMemo

-- Detailed Discussion of the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act,

<http://bit.ly/FairDetailed> http://bit.ly/FairDetailed

-- Letter from 32 national organizations endorsing the bill,

<http://bit.ly/NatlOrgFair> http://bit.ly/NatlOrgFair

For more information about this alert, please contact

, Congressional Affairs Coordinator, Autism National Committee

(AutCom), <mailto:jessica%40jnba.net> jessica@...

(If reading this from a group, that is jessica -at- jnba.net)

Bob Berlow, Government Affairs CoChair, Council of Parent Attorneys &

Advocates (COPAA), <mailto:govrelations%40copaa.org> govrelations@...

(if reading this from a group, that is govrelations -at- copaa.org)

======================================