Hi all. We have unveiled our new "Leave No Physician Behind" campaign on the
OCLB website (www.ourchildrenleftbehind.com). As some of you may know,
Senator Bill Frist (Senate Majority Leader and HELP committee member) is a
physician. We understand that he is interested in the views of his colleagues
on
IDEA. We have come up with a quick and easy way to provide Senator Frist with
the
feedback he needs. This campaign is posted on our Home Page, and I have cut
and pasted it below. Please consider participating by downloading the letter
(there's a place to click on the Home Page for a downloadable copy of the
letter) and sending it to your doctors and friends. This is from the Home Page:

LEAVE NO PHYSICIAN BEHIND  

Friends, 

The next step in the IDEA reauthorization process is for S.1248 to go to the
full Senate. We have been told that this could happen as early as next week.
 Since U.S. Senator Bill Frist, M.D. (R) is the United States Senate Majority
Leader, and many of our students with disabilities are also patients to
numerous medical professionals, we would like to ask you for a small favor that
could
make a big difference.  

In addition to contacting your Senators and Representatives in Congress with
your IDEA reauthorization stories, we’d like you to ask as many physicians as
you know to please read, fill in the blanks, sign, and fax the letter pasted
below to Senator Frist.  [A downloadable copy is available by clicking <A
HREF="http://www.ourchildrenleftbehind.com/images/Dear_Senator_Frist.doc">HERE</\
A>.] 

While you are talking with your physician contacts, it will be a great
opportunity for you to help them understand why their help with the IDEA
reauthorization is so important to students and families. We have heard that
Senator
Frist, M.D. really cares about patients. So, it will be important for Senator
Frist to know that physicians have been listening to families and are keenly
aware
of what is at stake for 6.5 million children with this reauthorization. 

Thank you for all of your work and ongoing advocacy for our students.  

 U.S. Senator Bill Frist, M.D.
461 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC  20510
Fax: 202-228-1264 

 Dear Senator Frist,


My name is Doctor _____________________________________.  My practice is
located in _____________________________________. I am writing to you about
concerns that I have with H.R.1350 and S.1248.

I have seen the extraordinarily beneficial effects carefully planned special
education has had on children with disabilities. I understand that under the
current provisions of the reauthorization bills before Congress (H.R. 1350 and
S. 1248), involving the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, our
Nation's special education statute), much of what is "special" about special
education will be abolished. 

The proposed deletion of short-term instructional objectives, the advent of a
"three year" Individual Education Program (IEP), and the watering down of
effective parental participation in the educational process will all result in a
return to the days when students with special needs were placed in separate
classrooms, under, essentially, a custodial care model.

I am also concerned that the withdrawal of critical provisions for positive
behavioral assessments and interventions as well as the elimination of
provisions for a "manifestation determination" as part of the disciplinary
process
will result in either the outright expulsion of students with disabilities from
school, or placement in an outside facility, either of which will only
exacerbate whatever issues they have.  Clearly, some behaviors (such as those
found in
autism) are a direct result of a disabling condition.  Often, these behaviors
are the very reason that many students receive special education services in
the first place.  Promoting the expulsion of students because of these
behaviors, without serious regard for their cause, would be like encouraging
physicians to throw patients out of their offices for complaints of acute pain
without
any examination.

For the above stated reasons, I must inform you that I am absolutely opposed
to H.R.1350 and could only support S.1248 if it includes further protections
for students.  To me, education for students with disabilities is not only a
civil right, it is also a critical quality of life issue. Unless students with
disabilities are assured to be better off tomorrow than they are today with
these proposed bills, I cannot support either H.R.1350 or S.1248.

As they stand now, these bills will weaken the delivery of effective special
education services, promote segregation, reduce curriculum access, and harm
innocent children and their families. America's children deserve better.


Sincerely,



Sandy, Illinois (alpy2@...)
Volunteer Co-Webmaster, <A
HREF="www.ourchildrenleftbehind.com">www.ourchildrenleftbehind.com</A> (IDEA
reauthorization)



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