CALL/EMAIL CONGRESS TO COSPONSOR IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT

CALL/EMAIL CONGRESS TO
COSPONSOR IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT

IMPORTANT ACTION ALERT: CALL/EMAIL CONGRESS TO COSPONSOR IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011

Please share this action alert broadly.

ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVE AND ASK THEM TO COSPONSOR THE IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT (S.613 AND H.R. 1208). This bill will allow parents to recover expert witness fees when they prevail in due process hearings and court actions under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

IDEA gives parents the right to an impartial due process hearing, but parents must be able to afford expert witnesses to testify at those hearings. Expert witnesses can include psychologists; physicians; speech, occupational, physical, and other therapists; educational experts; positive behavioral support experts, and others. Without expert witnesses, most parents cannot prevail. Sometimes, it is the school district that sues the parents, in which case parents must also have expert witnesses to adequately defend themselves.

The IDEA Fairness Restoration Act will restore the right to recover expert witness fees for parents and students with disabilities who prevail in administrative hearings and court actions. Congress intended that parents have this right when it amended the IDEA in 1986. But in 2006, the Supreme Court acted contrary to this intent in Arlington Central School District v. Murphy, when it held that parents could not recover expert witness fees. Plaintiffs in other civil rights cases, like cases brought under the Americans with Disabilities Education Act (ADA), recover fees, and this bill would simply give parents the same right under IDEA.

When you call on WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2011, please ask your elected officials to co-sponsor the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act. The bill is introduced in both the Senate (S.613) and in the House (H.R. 1208). Please reference both the name of the bill and the correct bill number when you call.

Congress needs to hear that this legislation is very important and it is crucial that they hear from parents of children with disabilities, advocates, attorneys, family, friends, and colleagues. If you are not able to call on May 4, please do so during the week of May 2-6, 2011.

ACTION REQUIRED BY STAFF, FAMILY MEMBERS AND

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS:

HOW TO CONTACT CONGRESS: It is best to call your Representative (House) and Senators (Senate). Calls are more personal and more attention is paid to a phone call. Even a 2 minute call makes a difference. However, if you prefer or need to send an email instead, that is also very helpful.

CALL CONGRESS. Call your Congressional Representative and Senators and ask them to Cosponsor S.613 and H.R. 1208, the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act. You can call them at 202-224-3121 (TTY 202-225-1904). If you do not know who they are, you can look them up at www.house.gov or www.senate.gov. Ask for the staff member who handles education or disability. Share with them the information below.

SEND AN EMAIL MESSAGE TO CONGRESS. You can email your Congressman through special forms available on House of Representatives Website, http://www.house.gov/writerep , and write your Senators through a Web Form available on the Senate website, http://1.usa.gov/Senate

SAMPLE EMAIL / INFORMATION TO SHARE IN YOUR CALL. Here is information you can share with Congress as you ask for support. You can use it for your phone call, or you can cut and paste it into an email form. If you email, it helps to personalize it with even a few sentences about your child or your legal/advocacy practice. You might add something like "We are the parents of a child with autism and it is important to us that you support this bill, so we can afford due process if we are ever forced to go." Or write something longer and more personalized.

Dear Congressman/Senator,

Please cosponsor the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act, H.R. 1208 and S.613. The bill would restore Congress' original intent in enacting the Handicapped Children's Protection Act of 1986 that parents who prevail in administrative hearings and court actions be allowed to recover expert witness fees. The bill would overturn the Supreme Court decision in Arlington Central School District v. Murphy.

When school districts provide an education so poor that they fail their legal obligations, parents can seek an impartial due process hearing to protect their child. In those hearings parents must provide testimony from such expert witnesses as psychologists, doctors, therapists, and educational experts. This testimony is needed to prove that a free appropriate public education was not provided to their children. Few parents can afford expert witnesses. Nearly 36% of children with disabilities live in families earning less than $25,000 a year; over two-thirds in families earn less than $50,000 a year. Without the ability to afford expert witnesses, the right to a due process hearing is not meaningful for most parents. Sometimes, it is the school district that sues the parents, in which case parents must also have expert witnesses to adequately defend themselves.

The bill simply gives parents the same right as prevailing plaintiffs under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other similar laws to recover expert fees. When Congress passed the Handicapped Children's Protection Act of 1986, it intended that parents would recover expert witness fees in IDEA cases, as clearly stated in the Conference Report. But the Murphy case overrode that intent. We ask Congress to restore its original intent and provide parents with the right to recover expert witness fees if they win their case.

Sincerely yours,

Your name here

Additional Resources:

* Senate bill, (S.613) is here: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.112s613

* House bill (H.R. 1208) is here: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.uscongress/legislation.112hr1208

For more information about this alert, please contact:

Robert Berlow, Co-Chair, COPAA Government Relations Committee, govrelations@copaa.org

Jessica Butler, Congressional Affairs Coordinator, Autism National Committee, jessica@jnba.net

PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL AND DISTRIBUTE WIDELY

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