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 IDEA
Weekly Update
by Sandy Alperstein, OurChildrenLeftBehind.com, March
6-7, 2004
For more articles like this
visit
http://www.bridges4kids.org.
We started out
this week in defense of teachers. In light of the “terrorist”
slur uttered by U.S. Secretary of Education, Rod Paige, we
thought it appropriate to point out that whatever our
differences with individual teachers over the years, we admire
and respect teachers in general. They are there, every day, in
the trenches with our children. In fact, many of them are
heroes. None of them are “terrorists.” Read “Teachers, Trust,
and Terrorism,” posted on our Home page, to see what we’re
talking about.
Also on our Home page this week, we take a lighthearted view of
this IDEA “reauthorization” process in “Bone of Contention.” See
how Debi Lewis has managed to use my new puppy as inspiration
for a piece about IDEA! On a more serious note, in “Rhetoric or
Reality,” we remember that in an election year we will be seeing
a lot of good packaging and hearing a lot of nice words, but
that we need to demand more than empty campaign promises. We
need to demand actions that help, rather than hurt, our kids!
To do that, we need to get our acts together – literally! Read
“Guns and Gumption,” and then please write in with your ideas
for how we can get parents united behind IDEA the way the NRA
has gotten gun owners united behind its agenda.
Finally, please keep visiting, calling and writing your
Senators! As we note in “Snowballing,” you never know which
visit, call or letter might be the turning point, the one that
made the difference. Every contact counts, and yours might be
the one that swings the vote in our direction. So please, please
make your voices heard now! The Senate bill is scheduled to be
debated and voted on this month! For information about events
being sponsored by TASH and the League of Special Education
Voters, please see the flyer posted on our Breaking News page.
There are events scheduled for D.C. and things you can do right
in the comfort of your own home. Please participate – please
help get that snowball rolling!
On our Press Info page this week, we have added “Guidelines for
Reporting and Writing About People with Disabilities.” This
piece provides useful information to help you use appropriate
language when discussing people with disabilities, and can help
you with writing your letters, press releases, op-ed pieces,
letters to the editor, etc.
Finally, on our Message Board this week, we have posted the
testimony of a parent at the hearing that took place this week
in Congress on the AYP (adequate yearly progress) requirements
of NCLB (No Child Left Behind) for students with disabilities.
Well, that’s it for this week. Let’s make the next few weeks
count!
Our Children Left Behind [OCLB] was created and is
owned/operated by parent volunteers (Sandy Alperstein, Tricia &
Calvin Luker, Shari Krishnan, and Debi Lewis). Permission to
forward, copy, and/or post this article is granted provided that
it is done in its entirety and is attributed to the author(s)
and
www.ourchildrenleftbehind.com. For more about OCLB or to
share information, please contact
parentvolunteer@ourchildrenleftbehind.com.
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