OCTOBER 8, 2003

THREE FRIENDS CAMPAIGN

Don't Leave Children with Disabilities Behind at the Schoolhouse Doors! 

For over 25 years, children with disabilities have had the right to a decent
education.  Now, bills in Congress threaten that right!  The Senate is likely
to consider its bill, S. 1248, in October.  The schools are lobbying hard for
changes that will help them but hurt our kids - Senators need to hear from us
too!

Here's a quick and easy way to get the word out to our Senators before they
vote on S. 1248.  Just take five minutes of your time to type up the following
email message, change it a bit to reflect your own thoughts if you'd like
(perhaps add a sentence or two about your child or your particular concerns),
and
send the email to your senators
(http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and be sure
to include your full address because Senate
computers reject emails that don't have in-state addresses and zip codes).

Then, EMAIL THREE FRIENDS OR FAMILY MEMBERS AND ASK THEM TO SEND MESSAGES
TOO!  Better yet, email everyone in your address book and ask them to send in an
email.  Every email counts!

***SAMPLE MESSAGE***

Please protect the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) when
you vote on S. 1248.  Kids with disabilities need a good education.  Even today,
many children with disabilities have difficulty getting the services and
therapies they need to learn. Children graduate unable to read or function, or
are
years behind their peers.  Kids get therapy in large groups and it's hard for
them to make progress that way.  Fund the IDEA in full!  Don't take away
money from children with disabilities to spend on other things as the Senate and
House bills would permit.

Protect children's procedural rights.  Please vote against any proposal to
water down the discipline rights of kids with disabilities.  The House bill will
let schools exclude children with disabilities for any misconduct, even if it
was caused by a disability.  A kid with diabetes could be excluded because of
eating in class; a kid with autism or ADHD because of jumping up or
forgetting to raise his hand.  Excluded kids don't get educated, and if kids are
excluded, schools don't have to count them in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
tests,
resulting in "push-outs."

Hold schools accountable.  NCLB tests won't do this - they don't measure
progress on IEP goals, especially non-academic goals such as speech, physical,
social, and behavioral goals.  For this, we need separate short-term
objectives. 
And please don't let schools get rid of IEPs or other important notices by
saying they're just getting rid of paperwork.  Some paperwork is important.

Please don't cap attorney's fees for parents, who sue only when forced to. 
Schools only pay attorney's fees if they violate the law - what's unfair about
that?  This is how it works in all civil rights cases - why should children
with disabilities be treated more harshly than all other civil rights
plaintiffs?  Capping parent's attorney's fees will prevent IDEA enforcement,
while
letting schools spend all the taxpayer money they want on their own legal fees.

Please keep a strong IDEA!  A good education is a right deserved by every
child - with or without disabilities.  A good education is at the very heart of
equal opportunity.  Please protect the IDEA so children with disabilities can
become productive citizens.  It's a good idea.

(A special thanks to a loyal contributor and friend of OCLB, who inspired and
contributed significantly to this piece!)

Sandy Alperstein, today's parentvolunteer@...






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


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