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10 MINUTES TO SAVE IDEA DISCIPLINE PROTECTIONS FOR KIDS
Congress is negotiating the final IDEA conference bill. Parents,
family, friends, and advocates need to tell Congress how important it
is to keep the discipline provisions in the IDEA strong. It will take
only 10 minutes of activism on your part to help preserve these
important rights for kids. What's 10 minutes? Please distribute this
email widely and repost!!!!
Please send a fax to Congress that includes the points below. If
you've already done one last week or last month, do another. Edit as
you see fit; add a line or two if you wish.
*FAX* your letter to ALL FIVE Congressional aides listed below. (You
do *not* need to be a constituent; please send your fax to all five.)
Fax *THIS WEEK* – TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! GET FRIENDS &FAMILY TO SEND
FAXES!! We are looking for quantity here! Do *not* use email; it just
gets deleted. Please do not call; we don't want to clog their phones
when they are working so hard. If you don't have access to a fax, we
can find a way for someone else to fax for you. The fax numbers are:
Sen. Judd Gregg:
Fax to Attention Ms. Denzel McGuire
fax: 202-228-4222 or 202-228-5044
Sen. Edward Kennedy:
Fax to Attention Ms. Connie Garner
fax: 202-224-5128
Rep. John Boehner:
Fax to Attention Mr. David Cleary
fax: 202-226-1010
Rep. George Miller:
Fax to Attention Ms. Alice Johnson Cain
fax: 202-225-3277
Rep. Michael Castle:
Fax to Attention Mr. Sarah Ritling
fax: 202-225-2291
-- Jess Butler
Dear Senator Gregg, Senator Kennedy, Representative Boehner,
Representative Miller, and Members of the Conference Committee,
I am concerned that the House and Senate IDEA bills do not adequately
protect the discipline protections for children with disabilities. The
House bill's discipline provisions are draconian, removing fundamental
protections that prevent arbitrary removal of children from the
classroom. The Senate bill is better, but it still does not prevent
unnecessary exclusion of children.
Keep the manifestation determination in any IDEA bill. Kids with
disabilities need to stay in their classrooms, and learn with their
peers. Under the House bill, children could be removed for any conduct
violation–no matter how minor, even if it was a manifestation of the
disability, and even if the child doesn't understand what he did
wrong. Kids with diabetes could be removed for eating in class, kids
with autism for being unable to sit still. The Senate bill keeps the
manifestation review, but weakens it unacceptably. For example, the
manifestation team would no longer consider the child's IEP and
placement. If the problem is with the IEP and/or placement, it can be
easily fixed with proper supports, instead of removing the child
entirely. The Senate also lets school districts do the review after
disciplining the child. This means the school could made the wrong
decisions, and the child would still be removed until the review
occurs.
It is also important that Congress keep and strengthen the
requirements for Positive Behavioral Intervention Plans in the IDEA.
Individual, classroom, and school-wide Positive Behavior Supports are
evidence-based practices and highly effective in keeping schools safe
and students learning in all grades. Requiring school professionals to
develop Positive Behavior Intervention Plans, based on Functional
Assessments of Behavior, is vital to the "specially designed
instruction" so desperately needed by students with
often-misunderstood disabilities. The expertise required to perform
these procedures already exists. Congress needs to require Positive
Behavior Support training for general education and special education
personnel. The Senate and House need to strengthen the requirements
for implementing Positive Behavior Support practices in all states, at
all levels. This will reduce discipline problems dramatically, and
decrease suspensions, expulsions, “push outs” and dropouts.
The House and Senate bills must be made stronger to protect the
discipline rights of children with disabilities.
Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
Signature
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