CALL-IN DAY THURSDAY (7/9) FOR IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT!

[Guest guest]

Help Parents Recover Expert Witness Fees and Level the Playing Field!

CALL YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE ON THURSDAY JULY 9 AND ASK THEM TO

COSPONSOR THE IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT, H.R. 2740!

Dial 202-224-3121 (TTY 202-225-1904) and ask for your Representative. See

below for instructions on how to identify your Representative. We are

asking everyone to do this; it is important for your Congressional

Representatives to hear directly from you!

* * * * * *

Few parents can afford the thousands of dollars needed to pay for expert

testimony that is necessary to prevail in IDEA due process hearings and

litigation. But school districts can use tax dollars to employ and pay for

psychologists and other technical experts. Parents have fewer resources and

yet must bear a greater financial burden. The IDEA Fairness Restoration

Act, H.R. 2740, is necessary to allow parents to recover their expert witness

fees. It will restore Congress’ original intent. This bipartisan bill,

introduced by Congressman Van Hollen (land) and Pete Sessions

(Texas), will help level the playing field and make the right to due process

meaningful for parents across America.

Over 200 organizations support the bill, including the Arc, the Council

of Parent Attorneys & Advocates, Inc. (COPAA), Easter Seals, National

Disability Rights Network (NDRN), National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS),

National

Down Syndrome Congress (NDSC), National Center for Learning Disabilities

(NCLD), LDA, DREDF, TASH, CHADD, Center for Law and Education, Epilepsy

Foundation, Autism Society of America, United Cerebral Palsy, Our Children Left

Behind, and many others. In addition, more than 2,100 families,

advocates, attorneys, friends, colleagues, and others have signed a petition

asking

Congress to pass the bill. Both the organizational and individual sign-ons

will be posted on COPAA’s webpage shortly, www.copaa.org.

KEY POINTS TO SHARE WITH YOUR CONGRESSMAN’S OFFICE:

Why it's important to cosponsor the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act (H.R.

2740).

The IDEA Fairness Restoration Act will override the Supreme Court's

decision in Arlington Central School District v. (2006) and allow

parents

who prevail in due process or litigation to be reimbursed for their

expert witness fees. When prevailing parents cannot recover expert costs, the

playing field is neither level nor fair, and children are denied a free

appropriate public education and other fundamental IDEA rights.

* Hiring qualified medical, technical, and other expert witnesses

can cost many thousands of dollars. Few parents can afford this high cost,

putting due process out of reach for most parents, who already struggle to

afford what their children with disabilities need.

* School districts use tax dollars to pay for psychologists and

other paid experts. Parents have fewer resources and yet must bear a greater

financial burden. Approximately 36% of children with disabilities live in

families earning less than $25,000 a year; over 2/3 earn less than $50,000 a

year.

* Congress intended for parents to recover their expert witness

fees in the Handicapped Children's Protection Act of 1986. Allowing parents

to recoup their expert fees simply restores Congress' original intent.

* If due process is not affordable, the IEP process becomes even

more one-sided and unfair. School personnel control the IEP process and

often vastly outnumber parents. When the right to due process is meaningful,

it helps ensure that school districts provide an appropriate education to

children with disabilities.

* Most parents turn to due process and litigation only as a last

resort. In 2003, the GAO reported that there were only 5 hearings per

10,000 special education students. But when parents are forced into due

process, they should be able to afford expert witnesses, without which, winning

a

special education case is virtually impossible.

* For example, a Pennsylvania a mother was forced to go to due

process to implement the Independent Educational Evaluation recommendations

for her child with severe dyslexia and a written expression disorder. She

had to borrow $1,400 to pay the evaluator to testify, and for two days of

cross-examination by the school district. The parent prevailed and the child

received the reading instruction he needed. Before the Supreme Court’s

decision, the mother could recover her expert fees; after , she

would not.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR CALLING YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE ON THURSDAY,

JULY 9, 2009.

On Thursday, July 9, 2009, please call your Congressional Representatives

and ask him/her to cosponsor H.R. 2740, the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act.

Ask friends, colleagues, clients, and family members to call too. It

will only take a few minutes.

Basic Instructions: Dial 202-224-3121 (TTY 202-225-1904). This is

Congress’ main switchboard. Ask for your Congressperson's office. When you

are

connected, it helps to ask for the Aide who handles education or

disability. If you get voicemail, please let a message. Tell them you are a

constituent and would like the Congressperson to co-sponsor H.R. 2740, the

IDEA

Fairness Restoration Act. Use some of the talking points above.

You can also find direct dial numbers for your Representative, including

local numbers (if long-distance is too costly), on your Representative’s

webpage at http://www.house.gov. We prefer that you call the Washington, D.C.

number if you can.

How to Find Out Who Your Congressional Representative is: If you do not

know who your Congressional Representative is, go to http://www.house.gov

and put your zip code into the box in the upper left corner. (You usually

only need your five digit zip code.)

EVEN IF YOU ALREADY SIGNED COPAA’s PETITION, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO CALL

CONGRESS DIRECTLY ON JULY 9. We use the petition to show the breadth of

support for the bill and will send it to the Congressional leadership, but you

need to call your individual Congressional Representative’s office

directly on July 9.

PLEASE CALL INSTEAD OF USING EMAIL. Many calls will attract attention to

our cause, and Congress needs to hear from us. But if it is impossible for

you to call, then please email through _http://www.house.gov/writerep_

(http://www.house.gov/writerep) If you cannot call or use TTY because of a

disability or other reason, we encourage you to contact Congress via email.

But if it is possible for you to use the telephone or TTY, please make a

call. Calls get more attention.

Please make a phone call on July 9, even if you've called or written

Congress before. If you can't call on July 9, it's okay to call afterwards.

SPANISH LANGUAGE INFORMATION. (EN ESPAÑOL)

El jueves 9 de julio, llame por favor a su representante del Congreso,

202-224-3121 (TTY: (202-225-1904). Pida que el congreso pase el acta de

restauración de la imparcialidad de IDEA, H.R. 2740. Lea aqui en Español

sobre

los derechos de los padres a recuperar el costo de testigos expertos:

_http://www.copaa.org/pdf/MSSpanish.pdf

_ (http://www.copaa.org/pdf/MSSpanish.pdf)

WANT MORE DETAILED INFORMATION?

Download COPAA's complete brochure on the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act

with full talking points, _http://www.copaa.org/pdf/Brochure.pdf_

(http://www.copaa.org/pdf/Brochure.pdf)

You can read H.R. 2740 here:

_http://www.copaa.org/publicpolicy/HR2740bill.php_

(http://www.copaa.org/publicpolicy/HR2740bill.php)

The list of more than 200 disability organizations and over 2,100

individuals and others who have urged Congress to support H.R. 2740 will soon

be

posted on COPAA’s webpage, _http://www.copaa.org_ (http://www.copaa.org/) .

There is also a Spanish language brochure,

_http://www.copaa.org/pdf/MSSpanish.pdf_

(http://www.copaa.org/pdf/MSSpanish.pdf)

For more information about H.R. 2740 and this alert, please contact COPAA

at protectidea@...

Please distribute this notice broadly; share with colleagues, friends,

clients, email groups, lists, social networking sites, and anywhere else you

wish!

Thank you.

Bob Berlow and

Government Affairs Co-Chairs

Marshall, Executive Director

Council of Parent Attorneys & Advocates, Inc. (COPAA)

a national voice for special education rights and advocacy

www.copaa.org

email: protectidea@...

Sandy, Illinois (alpy2@...)

Volunteer Co-Webmaster, Our Children Left Behind

(http://www.ourchildrenleftbehind.com) (IDEA & NCLB reauthorization)

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