Justice For All
jfa@jfanow.org
Bush Fails Students with Disabilities
Belinda Carlton,
Belindagc@aol.com , writes:
BUSH'S EDUCATION PLAN LEAVES AMERICA'S STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES BEHIND
When Bush brags about his improvements in Texas education system he does not
brag about students with disabilities. Bush does call the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act an unfunded mandate. America's 6 million students
with disabilities are not an unfunded mandate. They have a federally protected equal
right to high expectations in education. The truth in Texas is disabled students are not being educated, nor tested. The federal Office
of Special Education Programs flunked Texas in nearly every area of special education and found Texas Education Agency (TEA) has a total lack of
consequences for school districts not providing students with disabilities an education.
Texas is last in the nation in the inclusion of students with disabilities in
classrooms with non-disabled students, according to the 21st Annual Report to Congress on
the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1999). And, this summer, suit was brought against Texas, by our state
protection and advocacy agency, for failure to provide an appropriate education to individuals with mental retardation institutionalized in state
schools.
In 1999, the Education Committee of the Texas House recommended TEA's special
education advisory committee be parents of children currently receiving special education services in public schools and that these parents could not
be employees of school districts. This way to end the Governor's office history of
appointing parents who work for schools and parents of adult children with disabilities. Governor Bush vetoed the legislation that would
have helped accountability in our special education system.
George Bush's proposal is to give more federal money to schools to educate
students with disabilities. And he wants to give them local control. They
are not complying with federal law now. Why would they if they are given local control. Before federal law children with disabilities were routinely
and legally excluded from education.
Bush's plan to take money away from low performing schools and give it to
private schools that are not required to comply with special education laws makes no
sense either. Accountability and commitment to provide an equal and excellent education for all students is what this country needs.
Belinda Carlton
Advocate and Parent of Survivor
of Texas Special Education
belindagc@aol.com
--
Fred Fay
Chair, Justice For
All
jfa@jfanow.org
http://www.jfanow.org
Getting Out the Disability Vote:
http://nod.org/vote2000/vote2000.html
Register to Vote Online at:
http://www.fec.gov/votregis/vr.htm
For Your States's Election Resources:
http://www.iupui.edu/~epackard/eleclink.html
Project Vote Smart:
http://www.vote-smart.org/
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