Again, my apologies if you've already seen this:

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AND SPREAD THE WORD.
> Reauthorization of the basic federal special
> education law -- the Individuals with
> Disabilities Education Act -- is moving forward
> swiftly. Negotiations are occurring day and
> night, and the process may well be over within
> a week. Core aspects of IDEA are being
> seriously threatened for the first time since
> 1975. In light of the national election
> results, this is likely to be our LAST BEST
> CHANCE to preserve as many as possible of the
> protections which students with disabilities
> now have under federal law. Please cut and
> paste, personalize, and write and fax as many
> letters as you can. Make phone calls. E-mails
> are better than nothing, but are very easily
> deleted. For more information and action
> suggestions, go to dredf.org or
> ourchildrenleftbehind.com.
> Please e-mail capca@... (California
> Association for Parent-Child Advocacy) if you
> are willing to be on a listserv for people who
> are concerned about special education law and
> policy issues in CA and nationally, and/or
> willing to be part of the Autism Education
> Network (not limited to autism -- this is a
> high-tech network which makes participating in
> the defense of special education rights very
> fast and easy). A great deal will be happening
> in the next week or month nationally, and in
> California it appears that we are in for a
> constant stream of school district-sponsored
> legislative plans. So far we have beaten back
> a bunch of measures (to shorten the statute of
> limitations, reverse the burden of proof, and
> much more), but have lost on a big matter (a
> bill which supposedly protects children in
> foster care, but in fact hurts most children in
> special education). We also have some
> legislative ideas of our own, but we need more
> people involved in order to escape from our
> current defensive posture. We are working with
> other groups on some high-tech ways to make
> participating EXTREMELY easy. Please let us
> know if we can forward your contact information
> to the Autism Education Network, which has
> developed a way in which YOU can e-mail, while
> the legislator you are writing to gets the
> correspondence as a fax.
>
> This e-mail includes: I) Two sample letters re
> IDEA for any member of Congress, II) how to
> find your representative and senator, III) list
> of members of conference committee & IV) list
> of key legislators in negotiations re
> reauthorization
>
> I. Sample letters -- choose one or both
>
> Inside address (faxed letters preferable)
>
> Re: Keep the Individuals with Disabilities
> Education Act Strong
>
> Dear Senator / Representative _____________:
>
> There is a face behind the story that I want to
> tell you, but unfortunately pictures don't fax
> well. The face belongs to my _____
> (relationship) (name), who has ______
> (disability) and who, in order to learn and
> become a productive member of our society,
> needs the special education and related
> services that an enlightened nation promised
> children like _______ (name) nearly 30 years
> ago-special education and related services that
> I fear (he/she) will not receive if current
> proposals for changes to the IDEA are enacted.
>
> [And then tell the story; briefly describe one
> or more children about whom you are especially
> concerned.]
>
> I write for ____, and the millions of children
> with disabilities across America, to urge you
> not to allow changes that will weaken the IDEA,
> and, in so doing, reduce the chances that my
> _____ (relationship) can lead a happy and
> productive life.
>
> You have the power and the responsibility to
> ensure that children's rights and futures are
> protected. Please use your influence to ensure
> that whenever and however IDEA is reauthorized,
> it remains strong [letter could end here, or go
> on as follows], especially in the following
> aspects:
>
> 1) Preserve the "stay put" / "pendency"
> provisions of current law by rejecting
> extremely broad "discipline" exceptions.
> Eliminating the stay put provision in
> discipline cases could have devastating effects
> on children with disabilities, punishing those
> who, in the vast majority of cases, can't help
> the things they do. If children have
> behavioral issues, responsible adults should
> address them, and current law tells schools
> how. But if the rules aren't followed-i.e., if
> behavior plans aren't developed and/or
> implemented-kids are simply going to be kids.
> It's not the law that needs changing but
> schools' failure to implement it. Congress
> cannot fairly expect children with disabilities
> to control certain behaviors if the law it
> wrote seven years ago is ignored. But that is
> what is happening, and that is what needs to
> change-not the law.
>
> 2) Preserve hearing rights under IDEA,
> including the right of prevailing parents to
> recover reasonable attorneys' fees. HR 1350's
> approach allows governors, who have a serious
> conflict of interest, to set fees for parents'
> attorneys. It does nothing to cap the growing
> use of attorneys, often extremely hardline
> practitioners, by school districts. In 1986,
> after two years of negotiation, Congress
> adopted a "compromise" attorneys' fees
> provision which Senator Hatch said provided for
> reasonable attorneys' fees for prevaling
> parents while "protect[ing] against excessive
> reimbursement." Nothing has changed since 1986
> except that in 1997 Congress amended the law to
> prohibit fees for IEP meetings and to allow
> states to not pay fees for mediation. Now,
> just as in 1986, most parents can't afford
> lawyers and most lawyers won't take cases if
> they can't get paid, at least when they win.
> Unlike school district lawyers who are paid
> either way, parents' lawyers only get paid when
> they win. Allowing state governors to set the
> fees for parents' lawyers will chill private
> lawyers' willingness to take cases-and the
> lower the set rates, the deeper the freeze.
> While the Senate provisions are less draconian,
> the provsion allowing awards against parents
> will have a chilling effect on the exercise of
> the rights so carefully set out in the law.
>
> 3) Do not nullify IDEA's substantive
> provisions by imposing a short statute of
> limitations. A short statute of limitation
> would encourage parents to move quickly into
> legal processes, contrary to Congress' goal of
> encouraging collaboration and alternative
> dispute resolution. A short statute of
> limitation would bar relief in the most
> egregious cases-situations in which districts
> have ignored or mishandled students' problems,
> and their legal obligations, over a course of
> years.
>
> 4) Preserve record-keeping requirements so
> that students, parents, and teachers will have
> meaningful information regarding student
> progress or lack thereof. In 1997, Congress
> said that "goals, including benchmarks, or
> short term objectives," were a "crucial"
> requirement of the law, yet the bills currently
> in conference would eliminate those
> benchmarks/objectives. Without them, parents
> have no idea how their child is doing until a
> year is up and the annual goal is hit or
> missed. Districts that do a good job educating
> students with disabilities use paperwork for
> educational planning, and know that minor
> lapses in paperwork are very unlikely to create
> legal jeopardy for a district. "Paperwork
> reductions" can turn very easily into
> reductions in rights and services, especially
> if a state can obtain a far-reaching waiver by
> which it is exempted from the need to collect
> the very information that would be needed to
> evaluate whether the state's performance, in
> fact, continues to warrant the issuance of the
> waiver.
>
> 5) Do not repeal the abrogation of sovereign
> immunity. State Departments of Education are
> responsible for ensuring that their states are
> providing an appropriate public education.
> When the State DOE cannot be held accountable
> for statewide policy failures, countless
> numbers of children are negatively affected.
>
> Please let me know if I can meet
> with you to share more information about how
> IDEA has protected a child I love, and how
> fundamental changes statute could ruin
> (his/her) chance to be happy and productive.
> Again, I urge you to use your influence to
> safeguard children's rights and futures.
> Whenever and however IDEA is reauthorized,
> please keep it strong.
>
>
>
> OR
>
>
>
>
>
> Your contact info
>
> Inside address
>
>
>
> Re: PROTECT THE INDIVIDUALS WITH
> DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT
>
>
>
> My name is ________________; I am
> the parent of __________, who is ____ years old
> and receives special education services as a
> result of having _______________. (Room for
> personal comments
> ____________________________________).
>
>
>
> I am writing to plead that you
> resist pressures to move backwards in the way
> our society educates children with
> disabilities. As Congress noted in IDEA '97,
> we have learned a great deal about how to
> educate children with disabilities for
> inclusive, independent lives. What has
> sometimes been lacking is a commitment to apply
> that knowledge. Now, instead of adequately
> funding IDEA and strengthening its enforcement,
> Congress seems to be on the brink of yielding
> to pressures from the most resistant, outspoken
> school district bureaucrats - those who would
> rather fight the law than comply with it.
>
>
>
> The issues of most concern to me
> are:
>
>
>
> 1) Access to legal representation and
> threat of forcing parents to pay for school
> districts' counsel: In the very rare cases that
> go to due process hearing or to court, parents
> desperately need legal representation. Letting
> governors set parents' lawyers' fees would
> create a huge conflict of interest. Putting
> parents and their lawyers at increased risk of
> paying the school district's attorney's fees
> would be extremely chilling, especially for the
> many low and middle income parents who rely on
> the fee-shifting provisions of IDEA to get
> access to legal representation.
>
>
>
> 2) Statute of limitations: Setting a
> short statute of limitations would make the
> "Child Find" requirements of IDEA meaningless.
> It would give school districts a powerful
> incentive to conceal problems for as long as
> possible. Those parents who are aware of their
> rights and their children's needs, and have the
> resources to advocate, would be pushed into
> more frequent, probably more costly disputes,
> since time spent in compromise negotiations
> would rapidly forfeit claims.
>
>
>
> 3) "Discipline": "Discipline" is often a
> code word for unwarranted segregation of
> students with disabilities. Current law
> strikes an excellent balance between the rights
> and needs of students with disabilities, on the
> one hand, and their teachers and general and
> special education peers, on the other. It
> creates desirable incentives for parents and
> school districts to work together to control
> problematic behaviors and, when problems arise,
> to compromise on placement and service issues.
> Giving school districts unbridled power to
> change placements whenever any "code of
> conduct" is allegedly violated, as in HR 1350,
> or weakening discipline protections, as in S
> 1248, would create exactly the wrong
> incentives. Districts seeking to change
> placements for any reasons (i.e., to save money
> by moving a student from support in a general
> education classroom with aide support into a
> special day class with 18 students) would have
> an incentive to "set up" students for behavior
> problems. When behavior problems arise,
> districts would be empowered to act
> unilaterally - without regard for parent input
> or student needs.
>
>
>
> For the most part, special education in our
> country functions well. It would be more
> successful with adequate funding and with
> adequate enforcement of the requirement that
> school districts use research-based, effective
> techniques, but even at its current quality
> level, it enables many students to attain
> self-sufficiency in adulthood, and reduces
> long-term care costs for many more severely
> disabled students. (___________________
> insert personal comments).
>
>
>
> Reauthorization should improve IDEA, not gut
> the core protections on which approximately
> 10% of students depend.
>
>
>
>
>
> II) To find your Congressperson or Senator, go
> to
>
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials
>
> III)
>
>
>
> Re: How Do I Contact The Conferees?
> (SpEdVoters)
>
>
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
>
> AREA CODE = 202
>
>
>
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
>
> ~ SENATE ~
>
> Jeff Sessions (Prim Formby)
> 221-4124; 224-3149 (fax)
> 335 Russell
> sessions.senate.gov/contact.htm#form
>
> Christopher Dodd (Grace Reef)
> 224-2823; 228-1683 (fax)
> 448 Russell
> dodd.senate.gov/webmail/f...inion.html
>
> Tom Harkin (Mary Giliberti)
> 224-3254; 224-9369 (fax)
> 731 Hart
> harkin.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm
>
> Pat Roberts (Jennifer Swanson)
> 224-4774; 224-3514 (fax)
> 109 Hart
> roberts.senate.gov/e-mail_pat.html
>
> Barbara Mikulski (Rebecca Litt)
> 224-4654; 224-8858 (fax)
> 709 Hart
> mikulski.senate.gov/mailform.html
>
> Edward Kennedy (Connie Garner)
> 224-6390; 224-5128 (fax)
> 644 Dirksen
> Connie_Garner@...
>
> Christopher Bond (Kara Vlasaty)
> 224-5721
> 274 Russell
> bond.senate.gov/contact/contactme.cfm
>
> John Ensign (Lindsey Loveland)
> 224-6244; 224-2193 (fax)
> 364 Russell
> ensign.senate.gov/forms/email_form.cfm
>
> Judd Gregg (Stephanie Monroe)
> 224-6770
> 428 Dirksen
> Stephanie_Monroe@...
>
> Jeff Bingaman (Michael Uyuden)
> 224-5521; 224-2852 (fax)
> 703 Hart
> senator_bingaman@...
>
> Hillary Clinton (Suzie Saavedra)
> 224-2923; 228-0282 (fax)
> 476 Russell
> Susie_Saaavedra@...
>
> John Edwards (Sarah Pendergraft)
> 224-3154; 228-1374 (fax)
> 225 Dirksen
> edwards.senate.gov/mailform.html
>
> Mike DeWine (Mary Beth Luna)
> 224-2315; 224-6519 (fax)
> 140 Russell
> dewine.senate.gov/request_form.htm
>
> Jack Reed (Elise Wasch)
> 224-4642; 224-4680 (fax)
> 728 Hart
> reed.senate.gov/contact.htm#DC
>
> Lindsey Graham (Laura Bauld)
> 224-5972
> 290 Russell
> www.lgraham.senate.gov/in...ontactform
>
> Lamar Alexander (Kristin Benderman)
> 224-5800; 228-0412 (fax)
> 302 Hart
> alexander.senate.gov/contact/
>
> Bill Frist (Talivah Bayles)
> 224-3344; 228-1264 (fax)
> 461 Dirksen
> frist.senate.gov/index.cf...ontactForm
>
> James Jeffords (Sherry Kaiman)
> 224-5141
> 413 Dirksen
> jeffords.senate.gov/contact-form.html
>
> John Warner (JK Robinson)
> 224-2023; 224-6295 (fax)
> 225 Russell
> warner.senate.gov/contact/contactme.htm
>
> Patty Murray (Jamie Sasteau)
> 224-2621; 224-0238 (fax)
> 173 Russell
> murray.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm
>
> Michael Enzi (Scott Fleming)
> 224-3424; 228-0359 (fax)
> 379A Russell
> Scott_Fleming@...
>
>
>
>
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
>
> ~ HOUSE ~
>
> John Boehner
> 225-6205; 25-0704 (fax)
> 1011 Longworth
> johnboehner.house.gov/contact.asp
>
> Michael Castle
> 225-4165
> 1233 Longworth
>
> Vernon Ehlers
> 225-3831; 225-5144 (fax)
> 1714 Longworth
>
> Ric Keller
> 225-2176; 225-0999 (fax)
> 419 Cannon
>
> Joe Wilson
> 225-2452; 225-2455 (fax)
> 212 Cannon
> Joe.Wilson@...
>
> George Miller
> 225-2095
> 2205 Rayburn
> george.miller@...
>
> Lynn Woolsey
> 225-5161; 225-5163 (fax)
> 2263 Rayburn
> woolsey.house.gov/emailform.asp
>
> Major Owens
> 225-6231; 226-0112 (fax)
> 2309 Rayburn
>
>
> IV) Key legislators:
>
>
>
>
>
> Via fax 202-228-4222 or 202-228-5044
>
> The Honorable Judd Gregg
>
> Chairman, Committee on Health, Education, Labor
> and Pensions
>
> United States Senate
>
> Washington, DC 20510
>
>
>
> Via fax 202-224-5128
>
> The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy
>
> United States Senate
>
> Washington, DC 20510
>
>
>
> Via fax 202-226-1010
>
> The Honorable John Boehner
>
> Chairman, Committee on Education and the
> Workforce
>
> U.S. House of Representatives
>
> Washington, DC 20515
>
>
>
> Via fax 202-225-3277
>
> The Honorable George Miller
>
> U.S. House of Representatives
>
> Washington, DC 20515
>
>
>
>
> Maureen Graves, Attorney at Law, 34 Schubert
> Court, Irvine, CA 92612; Office phone (949)
> 856-0128; Fax (949) 856-0168; Pager (714)
> 266-1515;
>



Sandy, Illinois (alpy2@...)
Volunteer Co-Webmaster, Our Children Left Behind
(http://www.ourchildrenleftbehind.com)


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