IDEA ALERT

[Guest guest]

NATIONAL COALITION OF PARENT CENTERS-SENATE IDEA BILL-

Update (5/14/03) for Parents and Advocates

Despite opposition from virtually every national parent organization,

thousands of individuals who signed petitions or participated in the

National IDEA call-in day and many teacher groups, the U.S. House of

Representatives passed H.R. 1350 on April 30th to reauthorize the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

On April 29th the House Committee on Education and Workforce accused

opponents of the bill of " spreading false and misleading information " in a

letter to Republican colleagues. The House voted the next day, largely along

party lines. It is clear that the House paid more attention to certain

lobbying groups than they did to parents, teachers and advocates.

H.R. 1350 is controversial because it rewrites sections of the current law

and deletes many provisions that protect the rights of children with

disabilities. In spite of the numerous concerns from many quarters about

this bill, House authors did not significantly change it and pushed to pass

it quickly. Action now shifts to the Senate.

According to sources, the Senate is currently writing a bill that will be

released near Memorial Day. It is said that upon release, there will be a

two-week comment period before the bill is voted upon in Committee. This

means parents, advocates and others concerned about IDEA Reauthorization

have a short timeline to make an impact on the Senate bill. YOUR HELP IS

NEEDED NOW!

The Senate will be on recess from May 26th-May 30th. Many Senators will be

in their state, making public appearances and meeting with groups. Please

do the following during the next two weeks:

1. Write a letter to your two Senators with this main message: " Please

support a strong bipartisan IDEA reauthorization bill that will not remove

existing rights for children with disabilities. " A sample letter is

attached. In your letter share some of the personal stories that show the

benefits your child has received from special education support services.

Drop the letter off in person to your Senators' state offices. If you can't

visit in person, fax a letter to the Senator's local and Washington, D.C.

offices. These numbers can be obtained by going to www.congress.org

<http://www.congress.org>, to your Senators' web sites, or by looking in

your phone book.

2. Find out where your Senators are scheduled to appear in public while on

recess. If possible, attend the event and then introduce yourselves

afterwards. Tell the Senators how important IDEA is to children with

disabilities and encourage the Senators to support a strong bipartisan bill

that will not remove existing rights for students with disabilities.

3. Share this update with others in your networks. Watch for alerts and be

ready to activate your networks. Start now by distributing this update to

your networks along with the sample letters.

4. In the House, 34 Democrats supported HF 1350 and seven Republicans voted

against it. Find out how your Representative voted. If the vote supported

the bill, fax a letter to the local office, stating your disappointment.

Find the fax number through the suggestions above.

IDEA has always been reauthorized with bipartisan support. Do not assume

that your Senators will vote based on party lines. All Senators must be

contacted regularly. We don't want the Senate to be able to say that parents

and advocates didn't weigh in on this important bill. We also do not want

them to rely upon the information provided by lobbyists who often have a

different perspective on IDEA and children with disabilities.

Thanks for your help. If we work hard with a common message, we have a

chance to ensure that there will be a strong Federal IDEA law for children.

Paid for with private funds.

____________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________

Date

The Honorable (Name of Senator)

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator --------------,

RE: The reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act

(IDEA)

As the parent of a child with disabilities, I am extremely concerned about

the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This

civil rights act for children with disabilities has enabled my child to

(fill in details here about how your child has benefited from special

education services).

As the Senate begins the process of re-authorizing IDEA, I encourage you to

work to ensure that a strong bipartisan bill is passed that does not weaken

existing rights for students with disabilities. The bill should include the

following provisions:

* A continued requirement for an annual Individualized Education Program

(IEP) so schools can be held regularly accountable for ensuring success of

students with disabilities;

* An IEP that includes short-term objectives or benchmarks so that parents

and teachers can routinely measure the progress being made by the student.

Standard report cards cannot measure the progress made toward achieving

individualized objectives;

* A commitment to maintain the strong discipline provisions which already

allow local schools to discipline students, while considering the

relationship of the disability to the behavior, accompanied by a strong

focus on encouraging the use of positive behavior interventions by schools;

* A commitment to mandatory funding in which IDEA funds can only be used to

serve students with disabilities who are deemed eligible for special

education;

* A recognition that early intervention services for children with

disabilities are essential by permanently reauthorizing Part C of IDEA;

* A commitment to parent involvement and accessible information about IDEA

provided by Parent Training and Information Centers and Community Parent

Resource Centers who are supported by a strong unified Technical Assistance

System, operated by a parent organization;

Ensuring that the Country continues to value children with disabilities by

not weakening the current law will help enable my child, and thousands

others, to become active, participating citizens in their communities. Thank

you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Name

Address

City, State, Zip

Phone number