CeleRate
03-19-2004, 10:21 PM
March 19, 2004
Alert - National Call Your Senators Day is Wednesday, March 24, 2004
In November, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) "reported out" a bill to amend Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (I.D.E.A.) and to reauthorize Parts C and D. The full Senate is expected to vote on this bill soon.
This bill, S. 1248, contains many harmful provisions. If it is allowed to become law, these provisions will hurt children and youth with disabilities and erect more barriers for families who are trying to work with school districts to plan effective education programs for their sons and daughters.
Even worse, the Senate HELP Committee agreed to allow several harmful amendments to be introduced when S. 1248 moves to the full Senate for a vote this spring.
We cannot just sit and wait for this to happen.
We cannot allow S.1248 to move forward unless civil rights for students with disabilities are protected, research-based educational practices are restored, and responsibilities that should be shared by school districts are addressed and made clear in IDEA.
Parents and advocates must make sure that every Senator understands that the current bill is not accept-able to the parents and children they represent, that they must not let any bill containing provisions that damage children and youth go forward in Congress this year, or ever!
What can you do?
On Wednesday, March 24, call your Senators and say "VOTE NO!" to S. 1248.
To get the names and contact information of your Senators, go to www.senate.gov or call the Senate switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
When you call, tell your senator's staff that you want your senator to vote No to S. 1248. You do not have to give reasons for opposing the bill. If you do want to give reasons, you may say S. 1248 will weaken IDEA and hurt children with disabilities. Your Senator's staff will tally the calls, so every call counts.
Please take 5 minutes to help our kids!
Alert - National Call Your Senators Day is Wednesday, March 24, 2004
In November, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) "reported out" a bill to amend Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (I.D.E.A.) and to reauthorize Parts C and D. The full Senate is expected to vote on this bill soon.
This bill, S. 1248, contains many harmful provisions. If it is allowed to become law, these provisions will hurt children and youth with disabilities and erect more barriers for families who are trying to work with school districts to plan effective education programs for their sons and daughters.
Even worse, the Senate HELP Committee agreed to allow several harmful amendments to be introduced when S. 1248 moves to the full Senate for a vote this spring.
We cannot just sit and wait for this to happen.
We cannot allow S.1248 to move forward unless civil rights for students with disabilities are protected, research-based educational practices are restored, and responsibilities that should be shared by school districts are addressed and made clear in IDEA.
Parents and advocates must make sure that every Senator understands that the current bill is not accept-able to the parents and children they represent, that they must not let any bill containing provisions that damage children and youth go forward in Congress this year, or ever!
What can you do?
On Wednesday, March 24, call your Senators and say "VOTE NO!" to S. 1248.
To get the names and contact information of your Senators, go to www.senate.gov or call the Senate switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
When you call, tell your senator's staff that you want your senator to vote No to S. 1248. You do not have to give reasons for opposing the bill. If you do want to give reasons, you may say S. 1248 will weaken IDEA and hurt children with disabilities. Your Senator's staff will tally the calls, so every call counts.
Please take 5 minutes to help our kids!