Verb -- It's What They Do

It’s a sad fact that many people believe the money spent on special education is wasted. They say that other kids -- “normal” kids -- are more deserving of the funds, for they have the potential to make something of themselves, achieve independence, and contribute to society. They ask why so much money is being spent to educate “tomorrow’s grocery baggers.” I pity those people. They obviously fail to recognize that our children begin contributing to society from the moment they’re born – on so many levels. For example …

They CHALLENGE our medical professionals.

They TEACH our teachers.

They FOCUS our priorities.

They DEVELOP our resourcefulness.

They LIGHTEN our loads.

They ENHANCE our creativity.

They HEIGHTEN our awareness.

They TEST our patience.

They STRENGTHEN our resolve.

They MITIGATE our selfishness.

They LIFT our spirits.

They INSPIRE our loyalty.

They COMPOUND our frustration.

They AMPLIFY our generosity.

They ALLEVIATE our misgivings.

They WIDEN our perspectives.

They ACCEPT our shortcomings.

They BOOST our self-esteem.

They RELIEVE our doubts.

They REINFORCE our beliefs.

They EVOKE our compassion.

They EXPAND our social consciousness.

They ACCELERATE our growth.

They REVEAL our motives.

They ACCOMMODATE our limitations.

They BROADEN our horizons.

They MAGNIFY our resolve.

They SHARPEN our wits.

They REFINE our sensibilities.

They SHAPE our character.

They DEFINE our future.

The list could go on and on and on. Whereas all children do these things at some point and to some degree, children with disabilities constantly and consistently push the envelope. It’s what they DO – naturally. It’s what they GIVE – freely.

Those who view our children as burdens to society are asleep at the wheel. WAKE UP! Our children are incredible assets, both on a personal and on a national level. They contribute continually in countless, often immeasurable, ways.

Please tell Congress not to DISMISS, DISENFRANCHISE, and DISREGARD our children by gutting the IDEA. We, as a nation, simply cannot afford the repercussions. Our country is in dire need of their priceless contributions. To weaken the IDEA by lessening accountability, eliminating short-term objectives, discontinuing manifestation determinations, and imposing attorney fee caps is a grave injustice to all children.

We are the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends of 6.5 million kids. We need every voice to tell Congress our verbs: We REMEMBER, and we VOTE.

Debi Lewis, today’s parentvolunteer@ourchildrenleftbehind.com

Our Children Left Behind [OCLB] was created and is owned/operated by parent volunteers (Sandy Alperstein, Tricia & Calvin Luker, Shari Krishnan, and Debi Lewis). Permission to forward, copy, and/or post this article is granted provided that it is attributed to the author(s) and www.ourchildrenleftbehind.com. For more about OCLB or to share information, please contact parentvolunteer@ourchildrenleftbehind.com.

The Senate Bill Is Out!

IDEA ALERT

The Senate bill is out!

Read Senator Gregg's press release.

Read the Memo below from the Senate HELP Committee staff members inviting parent input. The time frame is short, so mark your calendars now and prepare to submit your Emails ASAP!

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TO: Interested Groups
FROM: Annie White and Connie Garner, Senate HELP Committee

SUBJECT: IDEA Feedback Meetings
DATE: June 12, 2003

The Senate version of the Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act will be introduced today, June 12, 2003. We plan have the bill available for review in both PDF and WORD document formats on the HELP Committee website today. To access the bill, go to the HELP Committee homepage (http://health.senate.gov/) and select the "Schedule" page (http://health.senate.gov/calendars/all.html).

As promised, we will be conducting bipartisan feedback meetings to give groups and individuals the opportunity to comment on the bill. Meetings will be scheduled in 20-MINUTE INTERVALS, from 10:00 am - noon, and 1 pm - 6 pm on the following days:

Monday, June 16, 2003
Tuesday, June 17, 2003
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Thursday, June 19, 2003

In the HELP Committee Conference room, 428 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Please contact Aaron Bishop at: idea_feedback@labor.senate.gov, or 202-224-6770 to schedule a meeting. Please request a specific date and time, and provide the number of people attending, group/organization name, and contact information (email address and phone number) for the person scheduling the meeting (in the subject line of the email, type: "Aaron - IDEA Feedback Meeting." He will confirm the meeting via email/phone or to re-schedule.

We encourage groups with similar interests schedule meetings together, if possible. Meeting times will be scheduled on a first-come/first-serve basis, and the 20-minute time limit will be strictly enforced.

We will also receive responses to the bill via email at:
idea_feedback@labor.senate.gov, or fax at: 202-228-0929. Emailed and faxed responses should be sent to the attention of and titled "Annie and Connie – IDEA Reauthorization Feedback."

*Please note that the email address and fax number will only be available from Thursday, June 12, 2003 through Friday, June 20, 2003.

Continued

To learn about more that has been going on today, visit Breaking News and The Grapevine’s message board.

Your messages to help parents during this process have made this Web site what it is. Thank you for the information and keep it coming. We all need all of the credible information that you are willing to share.

Parents Need Pollsters

It’s too bad we parents don’t have pollsters.

The only number we’ve been able to hear with any consistency is HR 1350. We fear that many of those who voted for it in the House of Representatives really thought they were doing the right thing for us and for our kids despite the ground swell of opposition we tried to muster against its passage. It is hard to believe that it only took 42 days to jam HR 1350 through the House. We’ve now waited 42 days since its passage for the Senate response. We are being promised a bi-partisan bill. But still we wish we had a pollster.

We think it means something that the Senate has not been able to finalize and present its version of IDEA reauthorization. We all should claim it as our victory. We are making a difference. The Senators are hearing our voices although we do not yet know if they have heard our words. Most of what we have seen from Senate staffers and others suggests that the Senate sees our (the parents and students) primary concerns as full funding. Full funding is important to us, but is way down the list from the gutted provisions we are concerned have permanently been taken from us. We need to fight to get them back in.

Maybe the pollsters would tell us that the Senate would respond to a specific approach or to certain ideas about small changes. Maybe a pollster would tell us that the Senate really doesn’t want to hear from parents but wants to hear from lobbyists, advocacy groups and formal organizations. Maybe the pollsters would say we are trying to hard and the Senate is going to do right by us if we just leave them alone. Thank Goodness we don’t have a pollster!

Our fight for strong IDEA reauthorization legislation truly has been unique in its diversity. There hasn’t been one idea, but hundreds. There hasn’t been one leadership voice, but thousands of parents and students exercising leadership over their own needs and their own concerns. There hasn’t been one advocacy organizations leading the way, but all have raised their voices in unison to decry the meat axe approach the House took to the IDEA we all have fought so hard to keep. In all this diversity of opinion and approach there has been harmony and unity in our willingness to express ourselves and to fight to save the civil rights bill upon which the hopes of 6.6 million students annual rests.

Our rumor mill tells us that if the Senate doesn’t introduce something by tomorrow (Friday the 13th), nothing will be introduced until after the July 4th break. Senate staffers have affirmed for us the rumors we’ve seen on listservs and websites encouraging us to act now, before the bill is introduced, rather than waiting to contest the language that finally is introduced. We wholeheartedly agree with that approach and urge everyone to continue to contact the US Senators in their state and the Senators on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions [HELP] Committee. Tell them the top three things you need for the Senate bill to contain and why it is necessary to include them. Use personal stories to make the need obvious to them. Send them pictures of your children and family. Let them hear your voice AND the words you are saying. Write down the names of the people with whom you speak, promise them you will make a follow up call to them and then do so.

There are two IDEA rallies scheduled in Washington on June 13th and June 17th. If you are like us, you will not be able to drop everything to go and attend the rallies. Support those who can go by calling your Senators’ offices at some point on the 13th and the 17th and tell your Senators that your body would be in Washington if your heart wasn’t needed at home. Let them know that however big the rallies might be in Washington, there are millions of others who are at the rallies in spirit.

Every day is a critical day in the fight to save IDEA. We are making a difference in what the final reauthorization bill will look like. Through the last three months we have been proud of the effort that parents, students and advocacy agencies have expended working toward a common goal. We also have been amazed and impressed with the number of different and unique individuals and groups have reached out to make a meaningful impression on the legislators who hold our children’s future in their hands. Don’t let up. Don’t sit down. Don’t look for a pollster or politician to tell you that we are winning or even that we are making a difference. Believe in your heart that your work will succeed. We believe in our hearts that without your work we will not succeed.

Calvin and Tricia Luker, Parents of
Jessica, Missy, Lara and Will

Never A Dull Moment, Eh?

At the end of the day on June the 11th, we heard that the Senate bill could still be introduced on June 12th, but there is also a chance that it could be introduced on Friday the 13th. When we looked at the Senate’s Web site on the meeting page this evening of June 11th, there wasn’t anything on the schedule yet.

So, all we can do is watch, wait, and let each other know what we hear.

Thank you for your input and help.

Are We Ready To Rumble?

IDEA ALERT

According to one of the Senate staff members this morning (June 11, 2003), IDEA is scheduled to be brought up tomorrow (June 12, 2003) and marked up in committee in about 2 weeks. Reportedly, the Senate built their own version of the bill “from the ground up.”

Please, keep writing to us and letting us know what you hear. We want to keep parents connected and informed to the best of our ability.

Good luck this week.

Keep Your Eyes Open ...

... EARS TO THE GROUND, AND EMAILS ACTIVE ON JUNE 11, 2003

Well, we have been told that June 11, 2003 is still the anticipated release date for the Senate bill. However, we were also told not to hold our breath.

Since the President had a media-fest celebrating NCLB on June 10, 2003, followed by an online discussion with Secretary Paige, it seems to make sense that something like the release of the Senate bill will follow.

Contact your Senators' offices and talk with your favorite organizations' lobbyists to find out what is happening. It is crucial that we continue to talking with the press to help mold a most appropriate balanced story about this reauthorization.
If you hear anything, please send it along to: parentvolunteer@ourchildrenleftbehind.com.

And, you know, if we find anything out, we will post it here as soon as possible.

You've been doing an incredible job, everyone!

Thank you ...

... everyone for writing. We have been reading all of your messages and the emerging theme this week is that the press needs to hear from parents. The IDEA reauthorization story is in the shadow of other national news, and has been ever since the beginning of the Iraq War and the introduction of H.R.1350 that same week.

For many families, the reauthorization of IDEA is one of the biggest news stories in our lives. The futures of our children are at stake, if not at risk, with the present work of this Congress.

If you are not routinely comfortable talking with the press, it might help to review this entire homepage and the Press Info page. You will see that press is beginning to listen to parents. NICE WORK, TEAM! Keep it up.

Please continue contacting your Senators' offices. Parents need to insist that Congress produce "evidence-based legislation" when claiming that there are problems that need to be remedied for the benefit of our children. Parents are beginning to ask questions, like, "How do you know that? How can you be certain that what you are hearing is true? Can you verify that? Where did you hear that? Can you share your sources with me? Where is the data?"

Tomorrow, June 11, 2003, was the last date that we were specifically given for the release of the Senate bill. If you hear anything from your Senators or their staff members, please, write to us and let us know. We will post it here.

Have a nice day.

Beware of "Later"

Experienced advocates are warning us NOT to wait until the Senate's bill is released to take action on issues that are of concern to parents.

Many people that we have heard from expect the Senate bill to be released on Wednesday, June 11 (although no one is absolutely certain if it will be). The time to contact our senators with our concerns is NOW.

Some parents are being told not to worry, because it's still early in the process; that problems with the bill can be fixed later. This may NOT be the case. In fact, this is exactly what House Subcommitee Chairman Castle said twice, as he introduced H.R.1350 and when it passed the House.

Once a bill is introduced in the Senate, especially if it is a bipartisan bill, it may be extremely difficult to make any significant changes to be bill. Any debate that occurs in the Senate will probably focus on issues that were not agreed upon in the bipartisan bill - issues agreed upon in the bill will probably remain the same. Moreover, the debate could very well focus on one or two key issues to the exclusion of all others, since much time will be taken by introductory speeches and the like. Some think that mandatory funding and vouchers will be just those type of issues.

Therefore, we must make our concerns known NOW. Please keep writing and calling your Senators' offices to ensure that Congress hears our concerns before it's too late!

Please, keep your ears to the ground and let us know at Our Children Left Behind if you hear any news about the release of the Senate's bill. We will do the same.

Have a nice week.

Bid To Alter Special Ed Law Piques Interest

Scroll down to June 7, 2003 news on this homepage to read the most recent update of what is happening with the Senate bill.

Since it is Sunday, and there isn't really much new to say about the progress of the Senate bill, we thought that we'd insert a link (below) to an article that may be helpful as parents look to have the press write their stories of concern about the IDEA Reauthorization. We also have some hints on how to prepare for the press located on this Web site.

Bid to alter special ed law piques interest

Sunday, June 08, 2003
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

For the parents of many special education students, the federal law known as IDEA is an old friend that has helped ensure that their children get a good education.

###
Good luck to everyone this week. Your efforts are making a significant difference for our children. Keep up the terrific work and pat your fellow parents on the back for their jobs well-done!

As always, keep in touch. We need all of the credible information that we can get to share with others. Thank you.

A reliable parent advocate ...

... reported that she spoke with two U.S. Senate HELP committee aides on Friday, June 6, 2003. Both aides assured her that the Senate bill (currently expected out on Wednesday) will be more balanced and more responsive to parent concerns than H.R. 1350. Senator Sessions' main concern right now is with the discipline provisions which his office feels need to be clarified. They are considering working behavior into the IEP rather than having a separate process for it. His aide assured her that it is early enough in the process that parents can still have plenty of input into the final bill.

Senator Enzi's aide echoed the view that parents' concerns are being addressed by the Senate and that the final bill will be bipartisan and more balanced than H.R. 1350. He suggested that the HELP bill may not include the 3-year IEP or the removal of short-term objectives for K-12 students. He suggested that the controversial due process issues would probably be left for floor debate, which is expected to be extensive (a full week of debate is expected). Senator Enzi is also concerned with discipline at this point and is looking to reduce uncertainty in that area from the school's perspective.

Both aides suggested that upon release of the HELP committee bill, parents follow up with their own legislators and staff during the two-week public comment/mark-up period.

Hats off to these Senate offices, and others, that take the time to talk with parents, give us updates, and sincerely listen to our concerns. There have been other Senators and office staff members who have been very giving of information, but we have left them unnamed on this site, to date, by their request. They all know who they are and we appreciate them every bit as much as those with the names listed. Our children's futures are at stake, and there is nothing that we can do without reliable information.

As always, if you hear anything else about the progress of the Senate’s bill, please, contact us here at parentvolunteer@ourchildrenleftbehind.com .

Thanks to everyone for helping our children continue to dream their dreams.

Thank you ...

... for everyone's input this week to figure out what is going on in Washington. Parents have been so left out of the loop in the past, it is difficult to figure out what is really happening. Thanks to the input of all of you and putting our heads together, the information pieces are easier to pull together and make more sense.

From what we have been hearing this week (from all of you who have written or have forwarded credible information to us), it seems that the reason that the bill was not released by yesterday was because more is being considered and done with it. Parents are hoping that it means that the Senate is giving students with disabailities more consideration than the House did in H.R.1350.

So, we march onward and proudly keep writing our letters, making phone calls, and scheduling face to face contact. Remember to see if you can make it to one of the upcoming rallies listed on this Web site.

Get your children, their grandparents, therapists, doctors, employers, employees, labor union buddies, Chamber of Commerce friends, babysitters, and everyone else that you can think of to send messages similar to yours to your Senators and other elected officials. The more voices that echo our messages, the better.

We will be posting more resources soon and are sorting through everything that we have received this week. Thank you for your contributions.

As always, we look forward to hearing from you.

Preparing For Action

We are anxiously watching and waiting for the release of the Senate's bill.

Keep contacting your Senators' offices. Ask what they know about the release of the bill. Share your child's education stories and tell them what you need to see in the bill that will help you be assured of a bright education future for your child. They need to know what it takes for your student to be successful, day after day, in school.

One consistent message that we have been hearing is the "two week" window for review of the released bill. So, we need to be ready to read, reflect, synthesize, and respond.

Some folks plan on blocking out time alone. Others are planning on pulling groups together and breaking up the reading (by special interest areas, such as funding, discipline, etc.).

Organizations work to promote their group's individually identified priority issues. So, if and when you are looking to copy a letter, sign a petition, and the like, read through the text well to be sure that each clearly reflects your beliefs, knowledge base, and wishes for your child.

Stay tuned to CSPAN and the Senate webcasts. If you are interested in trying to look at webcasts for the first time. You may want to be sure that your computer is ready for this. It will save you time when you need it. For example today, go to health.senate.gov/calendars/edu.html. This page mentioned what you would need to view a webcast, if one was going on today pertaining to the Education Committee.

It is critical that we stick together and share what we hear is going on at the Senate level. If we all know what is happening, we can take it from there in the ways most individually comfortable to each of us and with the organizations we enjoy most.

Please, stay in touch. Credible information is how we all get started with producing credible outputs.

parentvolunteer@ourchildrenleftbehind.com

Reality Check Time

We Need Your Input!

OK, everyone. We are hearing information all over the map regarding the IDEA bill's release date. For example, "This week. Two weeks from now. They are done with the bill. They are still writing the bill." And, what is interesting is that all of the information comes for extremely credible sources.

The only consistent message that we are hearing is that the targeted concerns that parents have been having about the bill have not been resolved to satisfactorily help our students. So, we need to keep calling our Senators' offices; asking what is happening with the bill; offering to help; and telling our stories.

Please, if all of you who are visiting could call your U.S. Senator's office today or tomorrow, and write to us at parentvolunteer@ourchildrenleftbehind.com, we'll share what we hear on this Web site' Grapevine in the next few days.
We'd like to thank everyone for coming together for the benefit of our children over these past weeks. The energy and sharing with each other has been incredible.

Go team!

Well, folks ...

This is the week that we anticipate the Senate’s release of their bill. We will be keeping our ears to the ground. And, as you hear anything credible, please write to us at parentvolunteer@ourchildrenleftbehind.com

We will make every attempt to keep this Web site current with parent-friendly updates.

In the meanwhile, it is important that we all continue to let our Senators know our stories and what is essential to help our children be successful in school.

OSEP Leadership Conference

On May 29, 2003, Annie White (Labor Counsel from the Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor, and Pensions) and Connie Garner (Policy Director for Disability and Special Populations (Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions) addressed attendees at the OSEP Leadership Conference. They really tried to summarize how the current the Senate conversations were going and helped people in the audience better understand what to anticipate in the Senate's bill.

Here is a summary of some of their key messages (combined within this list):

• Senators Gregg and Kennedy are hoping to introduce a bipartisan bill in early June.


• There will be at least two weeks between the introduction and the mark-up. It is important that people read the bill and send their comments.


• The bill looks toward protecting the rights of students with disabilities, yet address the needs that schools have.


• The bill looks to align with No Child Left Behind.


• It considers recommendations from the President's Commission's Report.


• Unnecessary paperwork and procedures have been looked at and will be "clarified and simplified."


• The public should not be "wedded to current law." They are getting many comments to keep IDEA the way it is. Connie and Annie said that this is not helpful to them at this point, because things are certainly going to change. They need concrete suggestions.


• They are looking at Positive Behavior Support for all kids, but the discipline issues are still up in the air. This is being talked about, but not decided.


• Issues that may come up on the floor include: full vs discretionary funding, school choice, attorneys' fees, and discipline (if it can't be settled in a bipartisan way within the bill).

These bullet points were rewritten from my notes, wearing a parent “filter,” and by no means catch everything. Annie and Connie seemed keenly aware of the many issues that parents talk about at many of our meetings, such as teacher quality, discipline, and the like. Even though it seems that they are aware of our issues, controversy between the parties on specific issues still exist. Connie and Annie encourage us to contact them and our senators with our concerns and suggestions.

So, keep on doing your good work and contact your Senators' offices. We need to talk with and teach all of them about concerns that touch our children most.

For more background information, please scroll down and look at this whole homepage, and look around this Web site. We have our work cut out for us folks. Let's continue to support each other and keep on going.

Shari Krishnan
parentvolunteer@ourchildrenleftbehind.com

IDEA - Let It "B"

The IDEA reauthorization activity has been fast and furious. The Memorial Day weekend gives us an ideal chance to reflect on where we are today. Congress has gone home for the holidays to reconnect with their families, friends and constituents. The Senate work on drafting its IDEA reauthorization version churns ahead, but at a slower pace than anyone originally expected. Can we the student, parent and advocacy community already be making a difference?

Meanwhile, 6.6 million students receiving IDEA services and their families are enmeshed in the annual IEP process. They are conscientiously analyzing student outcomes from this year’s IEP, identifying current needs and new goals, and writing next year’s IEPs.

We are amazed that our community has been able to find any time to confront IDEA reauthorization issues. But not only are we finding time to confront HR 1350 and the assault on IDEA, we also are finding heroes. Mike Savory, a parent from Winchester, Virginia walked 90.3 miles from his home to Washington to dramatize the IDEA crisis. Parent groups and advocacy organizations have initiated letter writing and call-in campaigns. National disability rights and advocacy organizations have united to publicly oppose HR 1350 and to present a wealth of information and strategic responses to enhance community efforts to stop HR 1350. Our Children Left Behind has developed “Take Your Faces to Their Places.” We have united in diversity to save IDEA for our children. We can’t even begin to count the number of unsung individual and organizational heroes in this mission.

The Memorial Day brief respite has allowed us time to process everything that has happened so quickly since March 19th, and to talk more with parents who are living in and working in the trenches for their own children. Debi Lewis, a parent from West Virginia who has been fighting for her son’s inclusion in his community school, wrote us a simple email. She asked why we were working so hard to save Part B (the heart of IDEA) when it already is permanently authorized. She asked why we don’t just tell the Senate to leave Part B out of the IDEA reauthorization process. Great question!

Why, indeed? Ms. Lewis is absolutely correct. The IDEA sections that need reauthorization are Part C which addresses early childhood and intervention services and Part D, which focuses IDEA principles on strong research based best-practices, enhances the skills of IDEA educators and supports national, state and regional parent education and training on IDEA and special education. Part C and D need to be “reauthorized” because their funding clauses only permit funding through September, 2002. Part B, which contains the core IDEA programming provisions, does not contain a funding expiration date.

Congress has the power to amend any statute at any time it wishes. There is nothing illegal about amending Part B as part of the process of reauthorizing Part C and Part D. We realize now, with Ms. Lewis’s comments, that reauthorization is being used as an excuse to radically alter Part B even though no Congressional action is required to save Part B and to continue its broad range of programs, services and protections to the core student base IDEA serves.

What about Part B? IDEA ’97, the law in effect today, passed with the concerted effort of ALL special education stakeholders, including educators, administrators, students, parents, advocacy organizations and policy makers to create a comprehensive living Act to guide special education into the 21st century. IDEA ’97’s comprehensive reforms include the recognition that behavior challenges interfere with education and need special consideration. Congress and the stakeholders also recognize a need to build stronger parent-professional partnerships and to offer alternative dispute resolution systems that focus on partnerships rather than on litigation. IDEA ’97 emphasizes accountability across the system and across constituencies.

The best indicator of IDEA ‘97s comprehensive reforms was that it took two years to pass the federal regulations implementing IDEA ‘97 in the states. In our state, Michigan, the rules implementing IDEA ’97 were not passed until last year. In reality IDEA ’97 is still in the implementation process, and at its best has only really been in effect for the last two years.

The House of Representative justifies that HR 1350 is needed to increase accountability, reduce paperwork, and ensure that students who receive special education services are not left behind. What is wrong with this picture? IDEA ’97 has not been in effect long enough to see whether the 4 years implementing it has produced the outcomes Congress expected when it passed the Act. We only can begin to imagine the effort in administrative/teacher/parent hours and state administrative costs incurred to implement IDEA ’97. Why duplicate that effort now for HR 1350?

How does HR 1350 increase accountability when Congress made no effort to analyze the current effects of IDEA ’97? How is administrative activity and paperwork reduced when HR 1350 forces the Department of Education and the legislatures and educational officers in all 50 states to repeat the recently completed process to implement IDEA ’97? How does HR 1350 propose that states pay for these activities and still fund direct special education services to students at anywhere near the level virtually all stakeholders believe is required? Finally, how does HR 1350 promote improved outcomes for individual students when it removes the fundamental protections that insure that students who have disabilities receive a free appropriate public education?

We do not now choose to believe the House of Representatives had any deceptive motivation to use the reauthorization process to gut IDEA ’97 even though Part B is permanently authorized. Whatever Congress’ intent, the fact remains that students, parents and advocacy groups were left out of HR 1350 process. We need to ask the Senate to look at that, and to ask itself why Part B should be gutted – at huge financial expense to the states and at huge loss of educational outcomes for students – when IDEA ’97 has been given so little time to reap the benefits its collective stakeholders believed were possible when it was passed. Part B is permanently authorized. Before the Senate creates its own Bill amending Part B it should ask the simple question Ms. Lewis raised, “Why fix it if it isn’t broken?”

Tricia and Calvin Luker
Jessica, Missy, Lara and Will’s Mom and Dad
parentvolunteer@ourchildrenleftbehind.com

How Did We Get Here?

Students with disabilities and their families – and special education as we know it -- are about to be left behind. How did this happen? How did we get here? What happens if we don’t fight for our children now, right now? What can we do, and is it too late to do anything?

Our Children Left Behind has formed to answer those questions for students with disabilities and their families and supporters. We care about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA]. We all must work together to preserve IDEA programs and protections if students with disabilities are to continue receiving a free, appropriate, public education alongside their friends and neighbors who don’t have special needs.

WHY NOW? Congress is working on the “reauthorization” of IDEA, which was last reviewed in 1997. The process began in October, 2001 with the creation of the President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education [PCESE]. The 19-member commission included 4 teachers and educators, 6 school principals and administrators, 5 government employees and policy makers, 2 business leaders and 2 members who were identified as parents of children with special needs. The PCESE made its recommendations in July, 2002. Its findings included that “[w]hen a child fails to make progress … parents do not have adequate options and recourse. Parents have their child’s best interests in mind, but they often do not feel they are empowered when the system fails them,” [Finding 4, emphasis original]; and that “[t]he culture of compliance has often developed from the pressures of litigation, diverting much energy from the public schools’ first mission: educating every child,” [Finding 5, emphasis original]. The PCESE’s Summary of Major Recommendations included that “we must insist on high academic standards and excellence, press for accountability for results at all levels, ensure yearly progress, empower and trust parents, support and enhance teacher quality, and encourage educational reforms based on scientifically rigorous research,” [Emphasis added.]

Congress’ role began in earnest in June, 2002 with the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce’s [HRCEW] web site call in separate notices to Republicans and to the general public for “Great IDEAs about special Educational Reform.” The call sought input on a number of IDEA issues including “increasing accountability and improving educational results,” “reducing the paperwork burden,” “restoring trust and reducing litigation,” and ensuring school safety. The 107th Congress ended its legislative session in December, 2002 without passing any IDEA reauthorization package, leaving the issue to the newly elected 108th Congress in 2003.

On March 19, 2003 – the same day America began its war in Iraq – the Improving Education Results for Children with Disabilities Act, H.R. 1350, was introduced in the House of Representatives to reauthorize IDEA. There were no public hearings on the bill between its introduction and its House passage on April 30, 2003. Other pages and links within our web site detail the problems with H.R. 1350. Students with disabilities, their parents and families, student/family advocacy groups and members of the public scrambled to encourage the HRCEW to slow down H.R. 1350’s progress through the House, and to give the families a fair opportunity to comment on the proposed bill. A national call-in day was set for April 29, 2003. HRCEW Chair John Boehner, and Education Reform Committee Chair Mike Castle posted an HRCEW web site alert to Members of Congress about the call-in, warning that “some lobbying organizations are spreading false and misleading information about the bill,” and promising that congress members “…can expect to receive calls with incorrect or incomplete information regarding the legislation, as well as requests to further delay this legislation that is overdue for reauthorization.” The “lobbying organizations” and callers the Congress members were being warned about included 39 organizations representing students and their families, and thousands of students, parents and family members like you and me who called in to urge the delay of passage and advance changes to H.R. 1350.

WHERE TO FROM HERE? On April 30, 2003 the House passed the bill, leaving students with disabilities and we who support them to do battle in the US Senate. Clearly Congress has not been willing to include students, parents or families in the core group of people influencing the drafting H.R. 1350, nor did the House of Representatives want to hear from us. We cannot let up our efforts in Congress or give up on our children. H.R. 1350 now goes to the US Senate. It can consider and amend the bill as it passed the House, or it can create and pass a new bill. Once the Senate passes its version of the IDEA reauthorization, that bill and H.R. 1350 will be sent to a Conference Committee of Senators and Congress members who work out the differences between the two bills. The bill that results from their effort is then sent back to the House and Senate for a new vote. Both houses have to approve the identical language.

WHAT MUST WE DO? We still can raise our voices for a strong IDEA reauthorization bill. There is still time to make a difference. An informal, grass roots effort is on to encourage students and parents to “take your faces to their places,” to go visit their US Senators in their state offices within the next three weeks. Student and parent advocacy groups are stepping up their efforts to mobilize us to action. TAKE ACTION! This is the biggest threat to IDEA since it first passed in 1975. Our children need us. Every voice counts.

OCLB Web Site Launched

Making its debut on May 16, 2003, the Our Children Left Behind Web site was created to address some of the untruths being said about parents as it relates to the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Congressmen are claiming that parents are spreading misinformation and that we are not concerned about the recent passage of H.R. 1350. The passage of H.R. 1350 resembles the worst nightmare scenario for many parents who have students with disabilities.

The purpose of this site is to publish press releases primarily authored by students with disabilities and/or their advocates and to post the updated news under the "Breaking News" section of this site.

A volunteer mom paid for the hosting service and designed this Web site (please give her a break!). So, it is small and limited in space, with only five pages total. This site certainly will not be comprehensive of everything that is available.

Rather, it is a place to refer people who have little or no idea what of what is going on and "light their fire" to get moving to do something. A nice choice for people who say, "I am not political. I hate politics, but what can I do?"

Thank you for your support and interest.

About Our Children Left Behind

Debi, Calvin, Tricia, Sandy, and Shari

Our Children Left Behind [OCLB] was created in Spring, 2003 to serve as an information resource for students, parents, and organizations concerned about Congressional activities reauthorizing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA]. Our Children Left Behind is owned and operated by Shari Krishnan, Tricia and Calvin Luker, Sandy Alperstein, and Debi Lewis and is not a membership or regulated organization. Only Shari Krishnan, Tricia and Calvin Luker, Sandy Alperstein, and Debi Lewis are authorized to make statements for or speak on behalf of Our Children Left Behind.

Home page articles are written by Shari Krishnan, Sandy Alperstein, Calvin and Tricia Luker, and/or Debi Lewis and reflect Our Children Left Behind leadership consensus opinion. Information contained within other OCLB Web site areas, including The Grapevine, Message Board, Breaking News, and Resources are posted for the use of the reader and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Our Children Left Behind. Our Children Left Behind is not responsible for the accuracy of information or opinions stated in The Grapevine, Message Board, Breaking News, and Resources sections of the Our Children Left Behind Web site.

For more information on Our Children Left Behind click here or e-mail parentvolunteer@ourchildrenleftbehind.com.