IMPORTANT: Special ed budget alert IMPORTANT

[Guest guest]

Please see below and get involved!

Barbara Rutt, S.W.A., Parent Training Coordinator

OCECD-Cleveland Office

440-617-9544 - Office

440-617-9547 - Fax

800-694-6402 - Toll Free

ocecdbr@...

www.ocecd.org

Our choice of language frames how we think about others. It is time to respect and value people with intellectual disabilities.It is time to accept and welcome us as your friends and neighbors.

http://www.r-word.org/

well here we go again. fighting for the rights and freedoms for our children to receive an appropriate education. It is time to educate our state legislators on the importance of closing the achievement gap for our children and how it is important to have these additional supports because various needs and supports our children need in addition to access to the curriculum. You could call or write your local state representative to thank them for their continued support of children with disabilities but that any cuts to their line items will affect their federal dollars being drawn down. Ask them to return their annual salary increase until this budget mess is cleared up. Ask them to do it on behalf of your child. Then either email, phone or snail mail your state legislator and ask them why we always think of the kids last. And then where does that leave students with

disabilities. Ask them to refuse their annual salary increase on behalf our your child until the recession is over.We are not asking for more we would accept level funding in these hard times but the gaps are so hard to close as our kids age up. house http://www.house.state.oh.us/index.php?option=com_displaymembers & Itemid=73 senate http://www.senate.state.oh.us/senators/http://www.wright.edu/nursing/healthpolicy/module5.htmTerri McIntee, M.A. - ConsultantEducational Service Center of Cuyahoga County /State Support Team 35811 Canal RoadValley View, Ohio 44125216-524-2700Terri.McIntee@...www.esc-cc.org________________________________________The message below is from Margaret Burley. If this is an indication of the direction in which the Legislature is headed, we can expect serious consequences in several different ways. JJOAlert:The state budget bill for the next 2 years has not been passed as yet. However there is a temporary bill for July 1 to July 7, which the Governor has signed. Although the news media has reported that education has been held harmless, that is not accurate. Some line items have been cut 30%. One of these is 200-540 Special Education Enhancements which has been cut about $42 million if this were a one year budget. This line item pays for pre-school special education, school-age programs

in MR/DD schools, school psych interns, home instruction, parent and reading mentoring to name the majority of programs which will be affected. This represents about a 30% cut to this line item. This cut also jeopardizes IDEA flow through dollars and the federal IDEA stimulus dollars since Ohio is required to maintain at least the 2009 level of funding for special education, in order to be eligible for these funds.These programs are a part of basic aid or foundation aid for children with disabilities and as such must meet the IDEA test for maintenance of effort. It appears the House has readied a second bill which would fund state agencies for yet another week. If this cut is allowed to stand it will prove to be a costly error in judgement for Ohio school children's educational futures.Margaret BurleyExecutive DirectorOhio Coalition for the Educationof Children with Disabilities165 W. Center

St., Ste. 302n, OH 433021-800-374-2806, Ext. 10Fax: 740-383-6421www.ocecd.org <http://www.ocecd.org/>