IDEA reauthorized

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Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:44:07 -0800

From: " Preserve IDEA " <preserveIDEA@...> Add To Address

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Subject: IDEA Reauthorization RRN #37

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From the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)

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IDEA Rapid Response Network (RRN)

News Briefing #37 November 21, 2004

ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTING

IDEA was reported out of the conference committee on

Wednesday, November 17,

2004. The House passed the conferenced bill with a vote of

397 - 3 on

November 19, and the Senate agreed to it by unanimous consent

on November

19. The IDEA has been re-authorized.

WHAT DID WE LOSE AND WHAT DID WE GAIN?

The bill we ended up with looks very much like the Senate

bill, with a lot

of refinements that occurred over the last months and weeks.

DREDF will do

a complete analysis of the law that is emerging and what it

means for our

families and supporters and children, as well as a post-

mortem of the

process, in the fullness of time. But we can say now that

the voices of

parents and advocates were heard loud and clear, that we DID

make a

difference in the outcome, and that, given the political and

strategic

circumstances and the situation on the Hill during this

reauthorization

process, our hard work and dedication paid off in getting our

children the

best possible bill we could get. Is it perfect or ideal?

No. Is it fully

funded? No. But we need to keep fighting and not be

defeated by any sense

of despair or failure.

We lost some protections. It remains to be seen

how " measurable annual

goals " and quarterly progress reports will work to replace

short-term

objectives and benchmarks; up to 15 states may be granted an

opportunity to

pilot optional three-year IEPs; students who violate school

codes will have

to remain in an interim placement pending an appeal of the

manifestation

determination (a hearing must occur within 20 days).

Yet we also held back ferocious assaults on discipline

provisions and due

process protections, and we prevailed in several key areas,

from an increase

in the number of certified special education teachers to

expanded access to

assistive technology to sanctions on states that do not

comply with the law.

And we retained continued services for students moved to

alternate

placements, attorney fee reimbursements for parents who

prevail in due

process hearings, and functional behavior assessments and

manifestation

determinations. As we said in RRN #30 on September 30, 2003,

there are also

key improvements in this bill: provisions for alternate

assessments,

positive behavioral supports, school to life transitions,

assistive

technology, and personnel standards.

In RRN #31, from November 6, 2003, we wrote: " . . . we should

consider

ourselves as having dodged a bullet if we can emerge from

conference with a

bill more closely resembling the Senate's than the House's. "

We worked hard

to dodge that bullet, and we succeeded. A great deal of the

credit for what

we achieved goes to Connie Garner, Senator Kennedy's

Disability Policy

Advisor and chief staffer on the HELP Committee for IDEA. A

parent herself,

Connie Garner is a true champion of children's rights, and

the parent and

advocacy communities are indebted to her. We were happy to

hear Senator

Kennedy acknowledge her work both in his conference speech

and on the Senate

floor.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

Everyone's efforts resulted in the bill being better than we

feared, but not

as good as we would have liked. The first thing to say is

that the voices

of parents were raised, we were heard, and we made a

difference.

In the main, the principals of IDEA are preserved. The

extremely negative

provisions in the House bill have been eliminated, and

parents' rights

remain largely intact. The final bill does contain a few

changes that are

weaker or that can be interpreted to be weaker than current

law. Thus it is

important that parents and advocates have the best strategies

to deal with

these new provisions. Now is the time to disseminate

accurate information

about the changes, develop advocacy strategies, and ensure

that parents of

IDEA students are trained in the new 2004 provisions.

Here are some examples:

1. Advocates fought against the early resolution meeting now

set forth in

the bill on the grounds that parents may feel coerced to go

to a meeting

after the filing of a complaint and be intimidated into

signing a legally

binding document under duress. This concern is very real.

Parents need to

know that they can opt out of this meeting if they choose to

go to

mediation. Parents must know that they do not have to sign

the document in

the meeting, but should take it home to consider.

2. The new manifestation determination does not specify that

a manifestation

will be found if the child's disability impairs the child's

ability to

understand or control the behavior or if the IEP has not been

appropriately

implemented. Under the new language, a manifestation will be

found any time

the conduct was caused by OR had a direct and substantial

relationship to

the child's disability or the failure to implement the IEP.

We should be

arguing that this standard is at least as strong as current

law. If a

child's disability impairs the child's ability to understand

or control his

behavior, it necessarily follows that the conduct was

substantially related

to the disability.

3. The attorney fees provision has gotten a lot of

attention. Parents

should know that the reauthorization did no more than

incorporate civil

rights attorney fees law that has been established since 1978!

In other words, DON'T GIVE IN TOO EASILY. We can work with

the new law!

Our children have not lost their rights.

DREDF will be developing more comprehensive materials on

advocacy

strategies.

________________________

TO JOIN THE RRN: Visit www.dredf.org and complete our online

subscription

form. Earlier Briefings can also be found on our website:

www.dredf.org.

We now have over 4000 subscribers.

The RRN will continue to appear as the rest of the IDEA

regulation process

unfolds, and DREDF will maintain this electronic

communication list as a

mechanism for contacting parents whenever legal or

legislative issues emerge

that concern special education and children with disabilities.

******************************

WHOSE IDEA IS IT ANYWAY?

THE IDEA T-SHIRT STILL CONVEYS AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE: Wear a

bright red IDEA

and advertise your support of special education and civil

rights for

students with disabilities!

A red light-bulb face with electric hair that spells

out " Individuals with

Disabilities Education Act " and the slogan, " Whose IDEA Is

It, Anyway? "

White, with red DREDF logo on left sleeve and purple SEIU

logo on right

sleeve.

Heavyweight 100% cotton, U.S. made and union printed,

available in Youth

Large and Adult Large and Extra Large sizes.

Shirt prices have been reduced to $10, plus $2.50 postage and

handling. Buy

3 or more for $8 each. We don't have the capability to

process online

orders, but you can print out the order form from our website:

http://www.dredf.org/ and send checks to DREDF, 2212 Sixth

St., Berkeley, CA

94710. The order form has an illustration of the shirt to

check out also.

Remember to specify quantity and size.

We are also offering these shirts as a special thank you to

individuals who

donate $100 or more for our work.

SUPPORT DREDF: We need your support to continue our work on

behalf of

children and adults with disabilities and their families.

Please add DREDF

to your giving list (and remember that a gift of $100 or more

brings you a

free IDEA T-shirt).

For your convenience (but not required), our website has a

form

(http://www.dredf.org/rrn/donation_form.html) you can fill

out to mail along

with your contribution. Our mailing address is:

DREDF

2212 Sixth Street

Berkeley, CA 94710

DREDF has 501©3 non-profit status, and your gifts to us are

fully

tax-deductible.

DREDF has been advocating for children and adults for over 25

years as a

national law and policy center. We were a leader in

developing and ensuring

the passage of the ADA, and we have worked continuously to

monitor IDEA

reauthorization and to keep parents informed.

Thanks from DREDF and the RRN Staff!