Dear________, I am a constituent of yours, and the mother/father of _______,
who is __ years old and has _______ (disability). As a parent, I am extremely
disturbed by HR 1350, which contains many proposals which would change fundamentally
the Individual with Disabilities Education Act. The proposed changes would divert
already scarce resources away from education for children with disabilities.
General education and early intervention need funding, and this may save special
education dollars down the line, but these programs cannot be financed at the
expense of children with disabilities.
Under the current proposals, procedural rights would be greatly reduced. As
a parent dealing with large teams of school district staff, these rights are
critical to me in ensuring that my child’s unique and individual needs
are considered. The “paperwork” some in Congress are attacking is
what lets me know what is going on in the education of my child [who cannot
communicate much about what is happening at school]. I do paperwork in my own
work and housekeeping, and it is simply an inevitable part of life. Used correctly,
documentation can support good education. I strongly support adequate funding
for special education, so that teachers have technology which enables them to
do paperwork as fast as possible, consistent with individualizing programs for
the needs of each child. HR 1350 would make it very difficult to tell what is
going on with my ____’s education, by getting rid of short-term objectives
and creating a situation in which I would have to force teachers even to conduct
annual IEP development rather than 3-year IEPs.
I have/have not had to use IDEA’s due process protections. Were I to
need these protections in the future, having a statute of limitations of only
one year would make it very difficult to enforce my child’s rights. Often
problems do not even become clear for a longer period of time. Combining three
year IEPs with a one-year statute of limitations would create an impossible
situation for parents and children. Limiting attorney’s fees for parents’
and children’s counsel would make the situation even more critical: already
special education lawyers who represent parents are hard to find, while those
representing school districts have no trouble getting paid with public funds.
[Use if appropriate: Both school staff and I work very hard with my child
to meet society’s expectations. I am very hopeful that with continued
hard work by my child as well as the adults in his/her life, he/she will become
as independent and productive as possible. However, it is the nature of his/her
disability that sometimes he/she cannot obey student “codes of conduct.”
To subject my child to a segregated placement – at the sole discretion
of school staff – any time a rule is violated would be terrifying. It
would destroy accountability for educators, and create a punitive and destructive
situation for children with special needs, as well as a financially ruinous
situation for parents, who would be forced to take time off and litigate in
order to protect their children physically and educationally.]
Although some of the proposed changes may appear sensible on the surface,
as a person who has dealt with special education I can easily see what their
real-world impact would be, and it would be disastrous. I urge you to resist
these changes.
