The National Committee of
Parents Organized to Protect IDEA
from
Patty McGill Smith,
pmcglsmith@ndss.org,
National Down Syndrome Society,
December 2, 2002
For more articles visit
www.bridges4kids.org.
The National Committee of Parents
Organized to Protect IDEA has been
created to marshal the support of
parents from across this Nation to ensure that
the basic guarantees in IDEA are protected. The
National Coalition of
Parent Centers and the
National Down Syndrome Society are spearheading this
effort to organize
and communicate strong parent support to protect this
most important law.
Please review the attached
position paper concerning the discipline
provisions contained in IDEA. We invite
you and other groups that advocate
and support IDEA to sign on to this Position Paper. The
National Committee
of Parents Organized to Protect IDEA will deliver this
Position Paper to Members of
Congress and to the Bush
Administration. We ask you to take the
Position Paper with all the collected signatures to
your Congressional
Representatives in his or her district office. If
possible, visit personally
with your Representatives and
discuss the Position Paper.
In addition, we ask you to
disseminate our request for sign-ons by putting
the Paper on your organizational
websites and faxing or e-mailing it to
potential people who will sign it. We are interested in
sign-ons by National, state and
local organizations as well as by individual
supporters of IDEA. We would
also like to collect the signatures
of any high profile supporters of
IDEA that you might be aware of in your state.
Please fill out the information
below and e-mail or fax it to one of the
three addresses listed. Please return
by Thursday, December 12, 2002
YES, our organization will sign on to this document:
PERSON AUTHORIZING THE SIGN ON
________________________________________________
NAME OF
ORGANIZATION__________________________________________________________
INDIVIDUAL SIGNING
______________________________________________________________
ADDRESS
_______________________________________________________________________
CITY_______________________________________ STATE _____
ZIP______________________
PHONE__________________________________________________________________________
FAX__________________________________
E-MAIL____________________________________
IMPORTANT: Please return by DECEMBER 12TH to one of the
following Organizations:
Patty McGill Smith
pmcglsmith@ndss.org
Fax: (402) 551-0709
National Down Syndrome Society
Kathryn Erickson
NDPATH01@Minot.NDAK.net
Fax: (701) 837-7548
National Coalition of Parent Centers
Sandy Loehnis
sloehnis@pacer.org
Fax: (952) 838-0199
PACER Center and National Coalition of Parent Centers
This material was prepared with private funds.
____________________________________________________________________________
THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF PARENTS ORGANIZED TO PROTECT IDEA
POSITION PAPER ON DISCIPLINE ISSUES
RELATING TO THE REAUTHORIZATION OF IDEA
DATE: 12-02-02
The National Committee of Parents Organized to Protect IDEA
represents millions of parents and
families who are unified across the
country to protect the educational
guarantee required by the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act. The National Coalition of
Parent Centers and the
National Down Syndrome Society
are spearheading the effort to organize and
communicate strong parent support to protect this most
important law. This effort is
based on the belief that our children's lives depend on this
law.
As Congress contemplates the
reauthorization of IDEA this year,
consideration is being given to changing the
language of the Act with
regard to school discipline
procedures for students with disabilities. The
National Committee of Parents
Organized to Protect IDEA urges Congress to
refrain from making such changes
because the changes made to the law in
1997 are working and the need
for further change does not exist.
Following the adoption of the
changes to the law in 1997, the General
Accounting Office (GAO) was asked to
assess the discipline provisions in
IDEA. In a report released in January 2001, the GAO
found that IDEA discipline
provisions do not hinder school officials in disciplining
students. In the study, principals generally
rated their school's special
education discipline policies under both IDEA and local
policies as having "a
positive or neutral effect on school safety and
orderliness." The report
also refuted concerns about the so-
called "double-standard" between
students with and without
disabilities or, what we refer to as "the safety
net."
Under IDEA, behavior of students
with disabilities is required to be
addressed as an education matter so that
all children, including those who
have behavior issues or whose disabilities involve
behavioral manifestations,
are able to learn in the least restrictive environment.
When a student's disability-related needs include
behavior challenges, special
education and related services must be provided in a manner
consistent with the child's
IEP to address the student's unique needs. As
clarified by the IDEA Amendments of 1997, when a
child's behavior impedes the
learning of him/herself or others, the IEP team must consider
strategies, including
positive behavioral interventions and supports, to
address that behavior.
The experience of thousands of
parents affiliated with The National
Committee of Parents Organized to
Protect IDEA indicates that these types
of interventions have worked
well to help students with disabilities
meet their
behavioral needs in school. Teachers, administrators
and parents, working together, have
been successful in assessing when
behavioral or other interventions
are necessary and in providing ways to
address inappropriate
behaviors.
This does not mean that students
with disabilities cannot be disciplined.
On the contrary, regulations
promulgated by the U.S. Department of
Education currently permit
schools to suspend students protected by
IDEA for up to 10
school days in a given school year without providing
educational services or
placing them in alternative
educational settings. The regulations further
permit students with IEPs to be suspended for more
than 10 days or expelled
if their infractions are not deemed manifestations of
their disabilities. However, in
such instances, they must continue to be provided their
right to
free appropriate public education. This
means there must be no cessation
of the education programming
and services they receive, or may need
additionally to receive, to participate fully in a
preschool, elementary or
secondary curriculum that is
consistent with state education standards and
their IEPs.
Provisions added to the law in
1997 state that school personnel can remove
students with disabilities for up
to 45 days to an alternative setting who
possess or carry a firearm to school or knowingly
possess, sell or distribute illegal
drugs in school or at a school function. In addition,
the school, through a hearing
officer, may seek to remove for up
to 45 days a student who exhibits
behavior that "is substantially likely to result in
injury to the child or others."
As Congress reviews the
discipline issue, The National Committee of
Parents Organized to Protect
IDEA, ask that it consider the
following:
1. Through its own investigation, the GAO finds that no
problem exists. The
burden should be on those
advocating for change to show that a pervasive
national problem exists that cannot be effectively
addressed under current
law, including working with parents through the IEP
process;
2. Any proposed statutory change
that permits teachers/school
administrators to unilaterally
remove students with disabilities
from their educational placement for
such subjective determinations as "disruptive behavior"
is overly broad and will
punish students for behaviors that are
disability-related, in violation of their civil
rights under section 504 and
the Americans with Disabilities Act, and;
3. IDEA ensures a free
appropriate public education for all children with
disabilities - including
those with mental retardation,
autism, and mental illness. Some of these
children may have behaviors that interfere
with their ability or the
ability of other children to learn.
These behaviors must, under the law, be
addressed as education
issues. These children were the intended
beneficiaries of Public Law 94-142, the predecessor of
IDEA; they must not be
excluded from school based on a subjective determination of a
school administrator,
teacher or administrative hearing officer.
The National Committee of Parents Organized to Protect IDEA
strongly concur
that the current discipline
provisions in IDEA are sufficient to ensure
school safety. On behalf of the thousands parents who
are affiliated with
our organizations, we urge Congress not to amend the
current IDEA discipline
provisions in the next
reauthorization.
This material was prepared with private funds.
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