Reply to: Main Office:
1875 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 510
Washington, D.C. 20009
Phone: (202) 986-3000
Fax: (202) 986-6648
197 Friend Street, Ninth Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02114
Phone: (617) 371-1166
Fax: (617) 371-1155
CONGRESSIONAL ALERT– IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED
PROPOSED BILL COULD ELIMINATE IDEA RIGHTS IN ENTIRE SCHOOLS
On Tuesday morning, October 5, the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the U.S. House of Representatives will take action on H.R. 2. This bill reauthorizes and amends Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and other federal programs affecting disadvantaged students. Once the bill goes through “mark up” by the Committee, it will then go to the floor of the House for a vote.
H.R. 2 would exempt certain schools from complying with IDEA. Under this bill, schools that receive Title I money to improve education for disadvantaged students could apply to the U.S. Department of Education for permission to combine their IDEA money with Title I and other federal funds, in order to upgrade the entire, schoolwide education program. The Secretary of Education would then be authorized to exempt the schoolwide program from complying with some or all of the provisions of IDEA. The only requirement for granting an exemption would be that “the intents and purposes” of IDEA are met in the schoolwide program.
Ensuring that students with disabilities are included in schoolwide education reform is critically important. However, inclusion must not come at the expense of IDEA’s hard-won meaningful, enforceable right to a free appropriate public education.
Contact your House representative to voice your opposition to this aspect of H.R. 2. If your House representative is a member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce (see list below), it is critical to contact him or her, and his or her staff, immediately. Say that you oppose the change to the “special rule” on schoolwide programs that would allow schools to become exempt from IDEA.
House Education and the Workforce Committee Members (all area code 202):
Chairman William Goodling (R-PA) 225-5836
Thomas Petri (R-WI) 225-2476
Marge Roukema (R-NJ) 225-4465
Cass Ballenger (R-NC) 225-2576
Bill Barrett (R-NE) 225-6435
John Boehner (R-OH) 225-6205
Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) 225-4401
Howard McKeon (R-CA) 225-1956
Michael Castle (R-DE) 225-4165
Sam Johnson (R-TX) 225-4201
James Talent (R-MO) 225-2561
Jim Greenwood (R-PA) 225-4276
Lindsey Graham (R-SC) 225-5301
Mark Souder (R-IN) 225-4436
David McIntosh (R-IN) 225-3021
Charles Norwood (R-GA) 225-4101
Ron Paul (R-TX) 225-2831
Bob Schaffer (R-CO) 225-4676
Fred Upton (R-MI) 225-3761
Nathan Deal (R-GA) 225-5211
Van Hilleary (R-TN) 225-6831
Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) 225-3831
Matt Salmon (R-AZ) 225-2635
Thomas Tancredo (R-CO) 225-7882
Ernest Fletcher (R-KY) 225-4706
Jim DeMint (R-SC) 225-6030
William Clay (D-MO) 225-2406
George Miller (D-CA) 225-2095
Dale Kildee (D-MI) 225-3611
Mathew G. Martinez (D-CA) 225-5464
Major Owens (D-NY) 225-6231
Donald Payne (D-NJ) 225-3436
Patsy Mink (D-HI) 225-4906
Robert E. Andrews (D-NJ) 225-6501
Tim Roemer (D-IN) 225-3915
Bobby Scott (D-VA) 225-8351
Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) 225-5161
Carlos Romero-Barcelo (D-PR) 225-2615
Chaka Fattah (D-PA) 225-4001
Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX) 225-2531
Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) 225-5516
John Tierney (D-MA) 225-8020
Ron Kind (D-WI) 225-5506
Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) 225-2965
Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN) 225-3265
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) 225-5871
David Wu (D-OR) 225-0855
Rush Holt (D-NJ) 225-5801