GROUPS RENT SPACE: special education protest - June 26th Capitol Steps!

[Guest guest]

If any group(s) are interested in renting a table for the June 26th

Rally on the Capitol, please contact Marcie Lipsitt- ASAP at:

(willowgreen1(at)ameritech.net) or her cell at: 248-514-2101 or home

248-855-8669.

Marcie will put your order in: (1) 6x18 table is $7.00, tablecloth

is $3.25 (optional), and each chair is $1.00 to rent. Trash cans are

$2.00 each. You can bring your own goodies to sell; pop and snacks,

etc. Set up a table for your organization or family and friends.

RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY!

We will have live music by Rodger McCarville (Disabilities Today

Show) and other local Irish musicians. There will be well known

guest speakers from the disability communities. We are encouraging

children, parents, families, friends and advocates to voice their

opinions. We will have face painting for the children and other fun

activities.

Please, please spread this information on to other organizations!

Dear Listmates, Families, Friends and Advocates:

I have formally scheduled a peaceful, passionate, educated protest

on the " steps " (east steps main entrance) of the Michigan Capitol

for Tuesday, June 26, 2007 from 11-2.

Folks we have work to do if we are going to stop Superintendent

Flanagan from promulgating (signing into law) these regressive rule

revisions and we are going to need the help of the " only " roadblock

between Superintendent Flanagan and these rules and that is the

Joint Legislative Education Committees. I believe we need to lobby

each and every member of these committees starting with Tim Melton,

Chair of the House Education Committee and Wayne Kuipers, Chair of

the Senate Education Committee. We also need to lobby Governor

Granholm hard to rescind the 1996 executive orders that stripped the

State Board of Education of " all " authority over special education

(and many other areas of education) to " one office " that of the

Superintendent. Students in Michigan don't live in a democracy;

they live in a dictatorship and we must free them from this

oppression that is robbing far too many of them of their educational

lives. Finally this is our opportunity to lobby for the MDE rules

to comply with IDEA 2004 on ESY and " private placement of students

with disabilities at public expense. " We will never have our

schools accountable until they have competition and that won't

happen until there are viable private schools for students with

disabilities. While we all want to believe that our public schools

should be able to provide a free and ap p ropriate education in a

least restrictive environment that brings " truly meaningful

educational benefit " …this is not , has not and will not be true for

a percentage of students with disabilities and those students are

entitled to a private placement at public expense.

So for protest purposes:

Lobbying the Michigan Legislature and especially members of the

House and Senate Education committees to " object " to the special

education rule revisions.

Lobby Governor Granholm to rescind the 1996 executive orders and

restore a check-and-balance system for Michigan's students and

especially those with disabilities.

Lobby the Michigan Legislature, MDE and Governor Granholm to bring

Michigan's Special Education rules into compliance with IDEA 2004

pursuant to " private placement at public expense 34 CFR 300.145,

300.146 & 300.147; and Extended School Year services.

Design " both " a modified and alternate assessment that aligns with

Michigan's standards/benchmarks and the general education curriculum

and stop allowing the use of the MI-Access " all 3 Functional,

Supported Independence and Participation " that set such a low bar

even a limbo expert couldn't climb under it.

I'm open to discussion on all issues that parents/stakeholders feel

need addressing!

People this is our opportunity to improve the educational lives of

all of our children. Let's not blow it! We are an accomplice when we

don't use our voices, pens and e-mails to fight for our children's

civil rights to meaningful educational benefit for a lifetime of

maximum productivity.

Keep on.......keeping on.........

Marcie Lipsitt

willowgreen1@...

Our lives begin to end

the day we become silent

about things that matter.

~ Luther King, Jr.