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At Wrightslaw, our goals are to help you gain the information and skills you need to navigate the confusing world of special education.
Highlights:
What can
one person do; what two people did; teaching a child to read - special
ed or Reading First; A Call to Action; questions about support for
NCLB; IDEA reauthorization update; dangerous amendments may weaken
IDEA; advocacy training programs in MS, NY, OK; what will YOU do this
week?
Download
newsletter in html: https://www.wrightslaw.com/nltr/03/nl.1007.htm
The Special Ed Advocate
newsletter is free - please forward this issue or the
subscription link to your friends and colleagues so they can learn
about special education law and advocacy too. We appreciate your help!
1. What Can One Person Do?
Last
weeks newsletter, we wrote, "Every where you look, you see information
about No Child Left Behind. What does it mean? What can you do with
it? What can you change with it?"
"What will you do this week to improve education outcomes for
children in your community? You need to give this some thought. There
is room for everyone."
We want
to tell you what two folks, Bill Byrne, a West Virginia attorney,
and Anne Spence, a Colorado parent, did to improve education for children
last week. Read their stories below.
2. No Child Left Behind — Really? Why I Like This Law by Bill Byrne, Esq.
Bill
Byrne is an attorney who represents special-needs children and their
parents. After he read portions of Wrightslaw:
No Child Left Behind as a peer reviewer, Bill wrote an Op-ed article
about NCLB for the WV Charleston Gazette.
"For more than 25 years, I have watched school after school “drop the ball” — and not give proper education services to disabled children. The only recourse is for courageous and determined parents to take on school systems and make them follow the law, often leading to costly and painful lawsuits."
"The
federal No Child Left Behind law changes all this, and puts the burden
on school systems to show that schools are doing their job. The law
requires schools to be accountable for the progress of students —
all students — not just “the best and the brightest . .
.”
Read No
Child Left Behind - Really? Why I Like This Law
3. Using Info from The Special Ed Advocate in a Letter to the Editor
Anne
Spence is a parent from Durango, CO. She used portions from last
week's issue of The Special Ed Advocate in a Letter to the Editor
that asked parents to join an educational task force. Her letter,
published in The Durango Herald
on Sunday, October 5, said:
"If you are a parent of a child in special education and you
are not happy with the free appropriate public education (FAPE) that
your child receives, please consider joining our group of parents,
the Durango Educational Task Force, so that we might make 'A
powerful organization. We are currently at the level of 'Our dear
friends,'and wish to increase our numbers." Contact
Anne
1 parent = A fruitcake
2 parents = A fruitcake and a friend
3 parents = Troublemakers
5 parents = “Let’s have a meeting”
10 parents = “We’d better listen”
25 parents = “Our dear friends”
50 parents = A powerful organization”
Read 12 Things Parents
Need to Know from Parent
Leadership Associates.
4. Teaching a Child to Read: Special Ed or Reading First?
A mom
writes, "My child is in 2nd grade and receives special education
for reading. He just got a progress report with an F in reading even
though he gets this extra help in special ed."
"We
asked about putting him in the Reading First program. We were told
he couldn't be in special ed and Reading First. Is my child prohibited
from being in Reading First because he's in special Ed?"
What
do you think? Are children who receive special education be excluded
from Reading First?
In
Teaching
a Child to Read: Special Ed or Reading First, Sue Heath answers
this mother's questions, offers strategies for getting help, and recommends
a learning plan:
"The F in reading is telling both you and the school that the
current reading program is not meeting your son's needs. He needs
to learn to read." Read
article
5. A Call to Action - Richmond, VA (October 18, 2003)
A Call to Action is an advocacy conference geared towards parents, advocates and attorneys who represent children with disabilities.
Morning Sessions
*
IDEA Amendments by Larry Searcy, Legislative Director, Center for
Law Education
* No
Child Left Behind by Pam Wright, M.A., M.S.W. and Pete Wright, Esq.
Afternoon Sessions
*
Diploma Options (Will Kids with Disabilities Be Left Out?)
* Coalition
Building in Local Communities
A
Call to Action is being held at T.
C. Williams School of Law, University of Richmond.
Registration: $15.00 (includes lunch)
More information about A
Call to Action.
To receive a brochure for "A Call to Action" - or several
brochures to distribute to members of your community, please contact
Cheryl Ward.
Email:
cward@ENDEPENDENCE.ORG
Phone: (757) 461-8007
FAX: (757) 461-5375
6. Questions About Our Support for NCLB - The Ultimate High Stakes Test?
"I am a longtime user of your usually excellent advocacy advice, but I fail to see how uncritical acceptance of NCLB furthers the cause of helping children with disabilities succeed in fulfilling their potential, or how it fits with other positions you have taken, as on high Stakes Testing, since NCLB seems to be the ultimate High Stakes Test."
Response:
"I
want to clarify a few things before I get to your fears for severely
disabled children. No Child Left Behind is a general education law.
Lowering the general education standards will not help children with
severe disabilities . . ."
"Now
for your concerns about schools abandoning the children with the most
severe disabilities. If IDEA is weakened in the next reauthorization
. . ."
Read Questions
About Support for NCLB - The Ultimate High Stakes Test?
Learn more about No
Child Left Behind
7. IDEA Reauthorization Update
Speaking
of IDEA, many folks have asked for an update about the reauthorization
of IDEA.
The House and Senate have both introduced their respective bills (H.R.
1350 and S. 1248). The full House passed its bill. In the Senate,
the bill was passed out of Committee and is awaiting consideration
by the full Senate. Senator Kennedy’s (D-MA) office called a
meeting of . . . Read IDEA
Reauthorization Update
More
IDEA Reauthorization
News
8. Dangerous Amendments May Weaken IDEA
The National Association of Protection & Advocacy Systems advises us about two dangerous amendments to the Senate bill.
* Amendment
to Gut No Child Left Behind for Children with Disabilities
*
Limits on Parent's Attorney Fees
Read Dangerous Amendments May Weaken IDEA
Visit Our Children Left Behind for breaking news about IDEA reauthorization issues
9. Advocacy Training - Join Pete and Pam for an Advocacy Training Program (MS, NY, OK)
"Your boot camp was the most useful CLE I've ever attended. CLEs are notoriously boring and unpleasant. Your program was neither and I learned a lot, even as an experienced practitioner in the field." - Rob Mead, KU Wheat Law Library
Wrightslaw training programs focus on four areas: special education laws, rights & responsibilities; how to use the bell curve to measure progress & regression; SMART IEPs; and tactics & strategies for effective advocacy.
November 7-8: Jackson MS (Last Boot Camp in 2003!)
For more information about these events and programs that will be held over the next few months, please check our Seminars & Training page.
10. What Will You Do This Week?
Last
week, we wrote, "Millions of children attend underperforming
schools. What will you do this week to improve education outcomes
for children in your community? Give this question some serious thought."
Bill Byrne wrote an Op-ed
article about No Child Left Behind. Anne Spence wrote a Letter
to the Editor to ask parents to join a task force. Sue Heath wrote
an article about how to use
flyers to educate others.
What will you do this week?
11. Subscription & Contact Info
The Special Ed Advocate is a free online newsletter about special education legal and advocacy issues, cases, and tactics and strategies. Subscribers receive "alerts" about new cases, events, and special offers on Wrightslaw books.
Law Library - https://www.wrightslaw.com/law.htm
Advocacy Library - https://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc.htm
Free Newsletter - https://www.wrightslaw.com/subscribe.htm
Newsletter Archives - https://www.wrightslaw.com/archives.htm
Seminars & Training - https://www.wrightslaw.com/speak/index.htm
Yellow Pages for Kids - http://www.fetaweb.com/help/states.htm
Contact Info
Pete
and Pam Wright
Wrightslaw & The Special Ed Advocate
P. O. Box 1008, Deltaville, VA 23043
Website: https://www.wrightslaw.com
Email: newsletter@wrightslaw.com
