ADA/504 ACTION ALERT - PLEASE CALL CONGRESS & PLEASE SHARE

[Guest guest]

Hi all. This bill would ensure proper coverage under disability

discrimination laws (ADA & 504) for adults and children/students with

disabilities.

Schools are starting to ask that they be excluded from coverage, which could

result in children with disabilities being denied their rights. Please read

this

alert, share widely, and take action if you can. Thanks!

From COPAA (The Council of Parent Attorneys & Advocates:

_http://www.copaa.org_ (http://www.copaa.org/) ):

Please contact Congress to support the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, H.R.

3195. The bill could come to a vote next week. This important bill will amend

the ADA and Section 504 to ensure that the rights of adults and children with

disabilities are protected. When Congress passed the ADA in 1990, it was

intended to protect people with disabilities from discrimination. A series of

Supreme Court decisions narrowed the act, holding that many people with

disabilities were not eligible for the ADA¢s protections. H.R. 3195 will

override

them and re-establish the protection against discrimination that Congress

intended. (This is the same bill that is sometimes called the ADA Restoration

Act.)

If you represent an organization or disabilities group (including informal

parent group), we would also appreciate it if you would write a letter to

Congress on your letterhead (if you have it) and provide a copy to COPAA:

govrelations@...

Please ask your Congressional Representatives to support H.R. 3195, the ADA

Amendments Act of 2008. Call 202-224-3121 (TTY 202-225-1904) and ask for

your Representative¢s office. You can send an email and look up your

Representative here: http://www.house.gov/writerep

The bill could come to the House Floor for a vote as early as next week, so

please call or email promptly. Calls are much more useful if you can make

them.

H.R. 3195 IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT WILL RESTORE EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS UNDER

THE ADA AND MAKE CLEAR THAT THE SAME LANGUAGE APPLIES TO SECTION 504 OF THE

REHABILITATION ACT.

Since both laws define disability the same way, the same corrective language

should apply to both. Unfortunately, a few school districts began

attacking the bill yesterday in the press, arguing that it should not apply to

504 to

protect children in school. We need to help show that there is support for

the bill.

First, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 will protect youth with disabilities

moving into the world of employment.

Courts have wrongfully narrowed the ADA and held that people with epilepsy,

diabetes, intellectual and developmental disabilities, muscular dystrophy,

and cancer (among many others) are not eligible for the ADA¢s protections.

Studies show that plaintiffs lose 97% of ADA employment discrimination claims,

mainly because they cannot meet the definitions of disability established by

the Supreme Court. This is not what a bipartisan Congress intended when it

passed the law. H.R. 3195 will overturn these decisions.

H.R. 3195 will ensure that people with disabilities do not lose ADA

eligibility simply because their condition can be addressed with assistive

technology

or helped by medication. It will ensure that employees are not

discriminated against because of their actual or perceived impairments. It

will make

clear that the ADA protects people whose disabilities prevent or severely

restrict them from doing activities of central importance to most people¢s

lives.

H.R. 3195 will thus correct the decisions in Sutton v. United Airlines,

Toyota Motor Manufacturing v. , and their companion cases.

Second, H.R. 3195 will add simple conforming language applying the ADA

Amendments Act of 2008 to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Since the ADA and Section 504 define disability similarly, the same

amendments should apply to both. Children and young adults with disabilities in

school deserve the same protections as adults seeking employment.

When you talk or write to your Congressional representatives, it is

important to make these points. H.R. 3195 will not change what most school

districts are already doing to determine whether children with disabilities are

entitled to 504 protections. But it will ensure that no child has the door to

equal protection slammed by applying the old, outdated ADA case law to 504.

H.R. 3195 will make clear that the small number of children who have

inappropriately been denied 504 eligibility should receive it.

MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT H.R. 3195 and Sec. 504

H.R. 3195 is only about ELIGIBILITY for the ADA and 504. This is a

different issues from whether 504 plans are effective or inadequate. It is

important

today to protect the rights of children to be ELIGIBLE under 504, just as

adults would be under the ADA. That is what H.R. 3195 will do. Please stay

focused on this.

No child should have the door to 504 eligibility slammed because of old,

outdated ADA case law, that a bipartisan consensus agrees should be changed.

H.R. 3195 will clarify that those children who have been inappropriately denied

504 coverage under outdated ADA-like theories are entitled to 504¢s

protections. This is a relatively small number of children, but it is crucial

that

they be protected.

Still, it is important to emphasize that H.R. 3195 will not cause schools to

face any major changes in determining IDEA eligibility. Most schools

correctly find that children with a range of impairments are eligible for 504¢s

protections. In general, courts considering claims from students with

disabilities have generally held that those children are eligible for 504,

unlike the

employment decisions.

It is a myth to claim that H.R. 3195 will force school districts to

accommodate large numbers of children that they would not otherwise. H.R. 3195

includes provisions to protect schools and employers against inappropriate

disability claims. It is important to protect against discrimination, both in

employment and at school. It appears that some school districts are

unfortunately fighting the bill. The effect of excluding school districts is

that some

districts could begin in the future denying children with disabilities the

same promise of equal protection and protection from discrimination under 504.

This is wrong. Every child deserves to be free of discrimination.

Please urge your Congressional Representatives to support H.R. 3195 and keep

America¢s promise to people with disabilities: children and adults.

Equality of the law and justice will benefit all Americans.

Thank you,

Berlow

COPAA Govt. Affairs Co-Chairs

Marshall

COPAA Executive Director

Council of Parent Attorneys & Advocates, Inc.

A National Voice for Special Education Rights & Advocacy

www.copaa.org

email protectidea@...

Sandy, Illinois (alpy2@...)

Volunteer Webmaster, www.OurChildrenLeftBehind.com (IDEA & NCLB

reauthorization)

**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for

fuel-efficient used cars.

(http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)