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NATIONAL
COUNCIL ON DISABILITY
An independent federal agency
working with the President and Congress to increase the inclusion, independence,
and empowerment of all Americans with disabilities.
LETTER
OF TRANSMITTAL
January 25, 2000
The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
On behalf of the National Council on Disability
(NCD), I am pleased to submit a report entitled Back to School on
Civil Rights: Advancing the Federal Commitment to Leave No Child Behind.
This report is the second in a series of independent analyses by NCD
of federal enforcement of civil rights laws.
The series grew out of NCD's national policy
summit of a diverse group of more than 300 leaders from the disability
community, where the participants called on NCD to push for more effective
enforcement of existing civil rights laws. NCD produced the first report,
Enforcing the Civil Rights of Air Travelers with Disabilities,
in March 1999. The third report on enforcement of the Americans with
Disabilities Act will be released in spring 2000.
Back to School on Civil Rights looks
at more than two decades of federal monitoring and enforcement of compliance
with Part B of IDEA. Overall, NCD finds that federal efforts to enforce
the law over several Administrations have been inconsistent and ineffective.
Despite the important efforts of your Administration to be more aggressive
than any of its predecessors in addressing these compliance problems,
failures to ensure local compliance with Part B requirements continue
to be widespread and persist over many years. Enforcement of the law
is too often the burden of parents who must invoke formal complaint
procedures and request due process hearings to obtain the services and
supports to which their children are entitled under law. The report
includes recommendations for your Administration and Congress that would
build on the1997 reauthorization of IDEA.
NCD stands ready to work with you and all
public and private stakeholders to address the problems identified in
this report and to advance a federal approach to enforcement that results
in improved compliance and better outcomes for children and families,
so that the nation's 25-year-old commitment to effective education for
all children will be more fully realized.
In your 1997 State of the Union address,
you made clear that your number one priority is to ensure that all Americans
have the best education in the world. We share your commitment.
Sincerely,
Marca Bristo
Chairperson
(This same letter of transmittal was sent
to the President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate and the Speaker of the
U.S. House of Representatives.)
1331 F Street, NW, Suite 1050, Washington,
DC 20004-1107
(202) 272-2004 Voice (202) 272-2074 TTY
http://www.ncd.gov
NCD MEMBERS AND STAFF
Members
Marca Bristo, Chairperson
Kate P. Wolters, First Vice Chairperson
Hughey Walker, Second Vice Chairperson
Yerker Andersson, Ph.D.
Dave N. Brown
John D. Kemp
Audrey McCrimon
Gina McDonald
Bonnie O'Day, Ph.D.
Lilliam Rangel-Diaz
Debra Robinson
Shirley W. Ryan
Michael B. Unhjem
Rae E. Unzicker
Ela Yazzie-King
Staff
Ethel D. Briggs, Executive Director
Mark S. Quigley, Public Affairs Specialist
Kathleen A. Blank, Attorney/Program Specialist
Geraldine Drake Hawkins, Ph.D., Program Specialist
Allan W. Holland, Accountant
Brenda Bratton, Executive Secretary
Stacey S. Brown, Staff Assistant
For sale by the U. S. Government Printing
Office,
Superintendent of Documents, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC 20402-9328
ISBN 0-16-050268-3
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