Whose IDEA Is It, Anyway? Honor
Roll of Organizations
Calvin and Tricia Luker, May
2003
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Yesterday we wrote about the IDEA
National Call to Action Day on April 29, 2003. Thousands of IDEA
stakeholders – students, parents, family members, friends and
advocates -- called their Congress members encouraging them to
reject the Improving Education Results for Children with
Disabilities Act, H.R. 1350, because it was bad for all
students. On April 30th we learned that Congress had prepared
for our Call to Action. Congressman John Boehner, Chair of the
House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and Education
Reform Committee Chair Mike Castle posted a web site alert on
their committee web site to Members of Congress [paid for with
our tax dollars] about OUR call-in, warning that “some lobbying
organizations are spreading false and misleading information
about the bill,” and that our calls would be loaded with
“incorrect or incomplete information” about H.R. 1350.
Today, May 20, 2003 we name and honor 69 national organizations
that helped organize or participated in the April 29th call-in,
speaking for students and parents, and telling our stories along
with us. These are the organizations Congressmen Boehner and
Castle referred to as the lobbyists “spreading false and
misleading information.” We students, parents and family members
who called in with our IDEA stories and experiences likely were
the ones who, through our stories, provided the “incorrect or
incomplete information” Boehner and Castle mentioned.
The 69 national organizations who publicly are OPPOSING H.R.
1350, and who are standing up for and with us to save IDEA as we
know it are:
National PTA – Children’s Defense Fund – National Association of
Education of Young Children – American Academy of Child &
Adolescent Psychiatry – American Academy of Pediatrics –
American Association on Mental Retardation – American
Association of University Affiliated Programs – American Council
of the Blind – American Counseling Association – American Music
Therapy Association – American Occupational Therapy Association
– American Physical Therapy Association – American Society for
Deaf Children – American Speech-Language-Hearing Association –
The Arc of the United States – Association of Maternal and Child
Health Programs – Association of University Centers on
Disabilities – Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law – Children
and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder –
Council for Exceptional Children – Council of Parent Attorneys
and Advocates – Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund –
Disability Service Providers of America – Easter Seals –
Epilepsy Foundation – Federation of Families for Children’s
Mental Health – Higher Education Consortium for Special
Education – Learning Disabilities Association of America –
National Alliance of Pupil Service Organization – National
Association of Developmental Disabilities Councils – National
Association of Mental Illness – National Association of
Protection and Advocacy Systems – National Association of School
Psychologists – National Association of Social Workers –
National Committee of Parents Organized to Protect IDEA –
National Consortium for Physical Education and Recreation for
Individuals with Disabilities – National Down Syndrome Congress
– National Down Syndrome Society – National Mental Health
Association – Research Institute for Independent Living – School
Social Work Association of America – TASH – Teacher Education
Division/Council for Exceptional Children – The International
Dyslexia Association – Tourette Syndrome Association – UCP.
Really, whose IDEA is H.R. 1350 anyway? We have seen a
deliberate and public effort to discredit the voices and
opinions of the individuals (US) and organizations (our Honor
Roll) who have the largest stake in the educations and lives of
6.6 million children who receive special education services
through and because of IDEA. IDEA belongs to us and our
children, and not to Congress. We need to TAKE OUR FACES TO OUR
SENATORS’ PLACES and tell them that ourselves. It’s clear our
senators won’t get the truth from a Congressional web site.
Tricia and Calvin Luker
www.ourchildrenleftbehind.com
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