{"id":810,"date":"2009-06-29T10:51:19","date_gmt":"2009-06-29T15:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/?p=810"},"modified":"2009-07-01T08:33:59","modified_gmt":"2009-07-01T13:33:59","slug":"sign-on-and-support-the-idea-fairness-restoration-act-hr-2740","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/sign-on-and-support-the-idea-fairness-restoration-act-hr-2740\/","title":{"rendered":"Sign-On and Support the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act (HR 2740)!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_pop\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/gallery\/share-button-gray.png\" style=\"border:0px\" alt=\"Share\" \/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_icon_type = \"labels\";var hupso_background=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_border=\"#FFFFFF\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_twitter_via=\"wrightslaw\";var hupso_url=\"\";var hupso_title=\"Sign-On%20and%20Support%20the%20IDEA%20Fairness%20Restoration%20Act%20%28HR%202740%29%21\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div><p><strong>In 2006, the Supreme Court decided that parents <\/strong><strong>could not be reimbursed for expert witness fees<\/strong> in <em>Arlington Central School District v. Murphy<\/em>. The Murphy decision has made the playing field unlevel and unjust for parents who are forced to pursue due process.  H.R. 2740 will override this decision.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Few parents can afford the high cost<\/strong> of paying technical, medical, and other expert witnesses themselves; by contrast, school districts can use taxpayer dollar to pay for experts or use staff on their payroll.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Please sign COPAA&#8217;s petition in support of the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act (H.R. 2740)<\/strong>, a bill that would permit parents who prevail in due process and litigation to recover their expert witness fees.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/s.aspx?sm=Ib9OdiMVf9ZE2rcPz5F2DA_3d_3d\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Individual petition:<\/strong><\/span><\/a> <span style=\"color: #000080;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/s.aspx?sm=Ib9OdiMVf9ZE2rcPz5F2DA_3d_3d\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">http:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/s.aspx?sm=Ib9OdiMVf9ZE2rcPz5F2DA_3d_3d<\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/s.aspx?sm=ZqaHLUdhQIhctyl6F_2bSZEA_3d_3d\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Link for organizations and groups.<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/s.aspx?sm=ZqaHLUdhQIhctyl6F_2bSZEA_3d_3d\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">http:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/s.aspx?sm=ZqaHLUdhQIhctyl6F_2bSZEA_3d_3d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Why should this bill should be passed?&#8230;<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>We are seeking both individuals and organizations to sign in support.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Organizational Sign-Ons.<\/strong> We are seeking organizations and informal groups who would like to sign on in support of the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act.  Last year, over 100 organizations signed on.  Current signatories include COPAA, National Disability Rights Networks, Disability Rights, DREDF, National Down Syndrome Society, Autism Society of America, Autism National Committee, Our Children Left Behind, and many state and local organizations and parent support groups.<\/p>\n<p>Your organization does not have to be incorporated.  We welcome sign-ons from disability groups; informal networks of attorneys and advocates and others; parent support groups; health, civil rights, and other related organizations or groups; nonprofit organizations, public interest law firms and organizations, associations, and any other supportive groups or organizations of people.  To sign your organization or group on, click here: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/s.aspx?sm=ZqaHLUdhQIhctyl6F_2bSZEA_3d_3d\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Link for organizations and groups.<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/s.aspx?sm=ZqaHLUdhQIhctyl6F_2bSZEA_3d_3d\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">http:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/s.aspx?sm=ZqaHLUdhQIhctyl6F_2bSZEA_3d_3d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Even if you sign the organizational petition on behalf of an organization or group, you should sign the Individual petition on your own behalf.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Individuals: Sign COPAA&#8217;s Petition for Individuals! <\/strong> If you are a parent, attorney, advocate, family member, neighbor, friend, colleague, other professional, please sign COPAA&#8217;s petition for individuals who support the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act (H.R. 2740).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Let&#8217;s tell Congress that we support this bill and want it passed!<\/strong> More and more parents find that they cannot protect their children&#8217;s rights because they cannot afford it.<\/p>\n<p>Please send this note to your friends, family, support groups, listservs, yahoo groups and others to ask them to sign the petition.  There are 7.1 million children with disabilities and their rights are important.  <a href=\"http:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/s.aspx?sm=Ib9OdiMVf9ZE2rcPz5F2DA_3d_3d\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>The link to sign COPAA&#8217;s individual petition.<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/s.aspx?sm=Ib9OdiMVf9ZE2rcPz5F2DA_3d_3d\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">http:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/s.aspx?sm=Ib9OdiMVf9ZE2rcPz5F2DA_3d_3d<\/span><\/a><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/s. aspx?sm= Ib9OdiMVf9ZE2rcPz5F2DA_3d_3d\"><\/a>Just click and fill in the information and you&#8217;ll be signed on.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The effects of not being able to afford expert fees can be pernicious.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In one case, 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\u2019s Murphy decision, the mother could recover her expert fees; after Murphy, she would not.   In other cases, solo practitioners report that they could not take cases pro bono because they had no way to afford the expert.  The IDEA Fairness Restoration Act would go far to cure these problems.<\/p>\n<p>You can read more about this important issue on COPAA&#8217;s website at<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.copaa.org\/pdf\/MurphyBrochure.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"> http:\/\/www.copaa.org\/pdf\/ MurphyBrochure.pdf<\/span><\/a><br \/>\nNote that this brochure may refer to H.R. 4188; that was last year&#8217;s bill.  This is being updated and <strong>the new bill number is H.R. 2740<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>This information is also available in Spanish,<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.copaa.org\/pdf\/MSSpanish.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\"> http:\/\/www.copaa.org\/pdf\/ MSSpanish.pdf<\/span><\/a><br \/>\nLea aqui en Espanol: Murphy y los derechos de los padres para recuperar el costo de los expertos. Importante! es el nuevo n\u00famero H.R. 2740: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.copaa.org\/pdf\/MSSpanish.pdf\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">http:\/\/www.copaa.org\/pdf\/ MSSpanish.pdf<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A copy of the bill is on COPAA&#8217;s website here. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.copaa.net\/publicpolicy\/HR2740bill.php\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">http:\/\/www.copaa.net\/publicpolicy\/HR2740bill.php<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>You can find the full bill and follow the status at <a href=\"http:\/\/thomas.loc.gov\/\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">http:\/\/thomas.loc.gov\/<\/span><\/a>. In the box that says Search Bill Summary and Status, type IDEA Fairness and press search.  This will take you to H.R. 2740.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2006, the Supreme Court decided that parents could not be reimbursed for expert witness fees in Arlington Central School District v. Murphy. The Murphy decision has made the playing <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/sign-on-and-support-the-idea-fairness-restoration-act-hr-2740\/\">Continue Reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,137,1266,57,8,5,7,1273,11,64,136],"tags":[368,367,366,41],"class_list":["post-810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advocacy","category-attorneys","category-due-process","category-fape","category-faqs","category-idea-2004","category-legal-news","category-political-action","category-special-ed-law","category-special-education-regulations","category-strategies","tag-expert-witness-fees","tag-hr2740","tag-idea-fairness-restoration-act","tag-parental-rights"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=810"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":827,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810\/revisions\/827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrightslaw.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}