HELP
SUPPORT IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT!
NATIONAL CALL CONGRESS DAY, MONDAY DECEMBER 3!
PLEASE FORWARD AND DISTRIBUTE WIDELY!
Dear COPAAns,
On Monday, December 3,
2007, please contact your Congresspersons and ask them to support the
bipartisan IDEA Fairness Restoration Act, introduced by Congressmen
Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Pete Sessions. The bill. H.R. 4188,
would restore Congress' original intent--that parents who prevail in
IDEA due process or court cases can recover their expert witness costs.
Without the legislation, many parents cannot afford expert witness fees,
which can run into the thousands of dollars.
We are asking for everyone to join us in Contacting your Representative
on MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2007. (This includes parents, advocates,
attorneys, and others. ) Please forward this message to your friends,
families, colleagues, and others. Feel free to post on your website.
(1) Call 202-224-3121 and ask for your Congressional Representative's
Office. Then, ask for the education aide and tell them you would like
them to support H.R. 4188, the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act. You should
leave a voicemail message if they are out.
-or-
(2) Send an email to your
Representative by going to
http://www.house.gov/writerep/ and ask them to Support H.R. 4188, The
IDEA Fairness Restoration Act. This form will go directly to your
Representative's Office. Before you send your email, please copy it into
a word processing document, along with your Congressperson's name and
your name and address, and email that copy to COPAA at protectidea@copaa.org
This will enable us to put all of the emails together and show the
breadth of support for this important bill. With the crush of email that
reaches Congress, it is important to stand together.
PLEASE TAKE 5 MINUTES AND JOIN OUR EFFORTS. WE ARE ASKING EVERYONE TO
PARTICIPATE, EVEN IF YOU HAVE ALREADY CONTACTED YOUR CONGRESSPERSON or
attended a house party. We are only contacting Members of the House of
Representatives this time.
Note: If you are not sure
who your Representative is, you can go to http://www.house.gov/ and
using the locator in the upper left corner.
WHY SUPPORT THE IDEA
FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT?
(Feel free to use some of these points when you contact your
Representative on December 3.)
Parents prevail in IDEA cases only when they show that the school
district provided an education so inferior that it failed its legal
obligations. Otherwise, they do not prevail and can recover nothing.
But, while prevailing parents can recover their attorneys' fees, they
cannot recover their expert witness costs, as a result of the Supreme
Court's 2006 decision in Arlington Central School District v. Murphy.
The IDEA Fairness Restoration Act would override the Supreme Court's
decision and make the system more fair for parents of children with
disabilities.
In 1986, Congress amended the IDEA to allow parents to recover their
attorneys' fees when they prevail in due process. Congress intended this
to include expert witness fees. Congress knew that parents have much
less money than school districts and many cannot afford expert witness
fees. The IDEA Fairness Restoration Act would simply restore Congress'
intent.
Twenty-one years later,
that reality still has not changed. Approximately 36% of children with
disabilities live in families earning less than $25,000 a year; over 2/3
earn less than $50,000 a year. Few parents can afford the thousands of
dollars needed to pay qualified medical, educational, and technical
experts. While parents must hire expert witnesses to testify, school
districts can use therapists, psychologists, and other expert witnesses
on their own payroll, or hire outside experts with taxpayer dollars.
Congress included in the
IDEA the right to a due process hearing because it recognized that
parents needed an independent dispute resolution process to enforce
their children's rights to a free appropriate public education. Most
parents turn to due process and litigation as a last resort. In 2003,
the GAO reported that there were only 5 hearings per 10,000 special
education students. Figures are similar today. Parents should not be
deprived of their right to due process for lack of resources.
Approximately 7 million
children with disabilities are currently covered by the IDEA. H.R. 4188,
the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act, simply protects their rights. COPAA
thanks Congressmen Van Hollen and Sessions for their leadership and
dedication to childeren with disabilities.
And we thank each of you for your support and joining in our efforts
with phone calls and emails in support of the IDEA Fairness Restoration
Act ON MONDAY DECEMBER 3, 2007. PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL AND DISTRIBUTE
WIDELY.
Thank you,
Jessica Butler
Chair, COPAA Board of Directors
Robert Berlow
Chair, COPAA Government Relations Committee
Denise Marshall
Executive Director, COPAA
Email us: protectidea@copaa.org
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