June 22, 2004 (Gossip Law)
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OUR CHILDREN LEFT BEHIND
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** WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW **
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JUNE 22, 2004

GOSSIP LAW - UNDERSTANDING THE PARENTS' POSITION

We all have had some time to reflect on the current state of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA] reauthorization process. The active parent community quite well understands the legislative process from this point forward, including the possibilities that the bill never will make it to a conference committee and that it (or parts of it) could be included in a year-end catchall omnibus bill.

We parents have done all we can to maximize the resources and information available so that we are fully informed on the pros and cons of IDEA reauthorization from the family perspective. We have done our jobs. But perhaps one area where we need improvement is in conveying the true balance of power realities that exist between parents and school staff in the Individualized Education Program [IEP] Team development process.

If one believes the story told by the school-side lobby, parents have all the power in special education in America. We are represented at IEP Team meetings by highly paid, highly competent private attorneys who compete with each other to grab the gold available from up to 13 million parents involved in special education planning for 6.5 million students. The IEP Team meetings themselves are powered and conducted by the parents, tediously cover every one of the mythical hundreds of points school lobbyists contend IDEA '97 requires be addressed at the meeting and – with parent attorney involvement – result in individualized programs that tumble to the parents' side once completed. If any parents should be so unfortunate as to "lose" at an IEP Team meeting, the same legion of parent attorneys is ready to fall all over itself to grab the easy winner at due process, with the "attorney fees" pot of gold at the end of the process. Or so the school lobby gossip would have it.

If only it was that simple. If only we parents could live that reality for our children for one day ...

Instead, what is our reality? In the five weeks since the Senate vote on S.1248 [now H.R.1350/EAS], we have heard anecdotal information from families all over the country that school administrators are telling them at their children's IEP team meetings that if they – the parents – want to press any IEP disputes against the school, the "new law" is going to make the parents have to pay the school's attorney fees. The parents are being told that the "new law" means that schools do not have to give the same attention to behavior plans as once required by IDEA '97. Some school officials are continuing to threaten parent advocates – the few that truly exist – with the "unauthorized practice of law." Parents continue to sit in the little chairs at the long tables, without outside help, and at the mercy of the school team.

The parent reality is that we – and all taxpayers – hire and pay for every one of the significant number of well-paid lawyers that represent the school districts against parents, but lack the necessary money to hire lawyers for our own children.

The parent reality is that state parent training institutes and protection and advocacy systems are inundated with and even overwhelmed by the number of parents who call for special education information and direct representation, and that they almost never have enough people or resources available to meet the parents' needs.

The parent reality is that we almost always know less and are less prepared at IEP team meetings because our taxpayer dollars are directed toward preparing the school officials for the meetings, rather than preparing us to speak for our children.

The parent reality is that we must sit in IEP team meetings and generally accept the "gossip law" stated by school officials because we lack the resources to challenge it.

The parent reality is that our tax dollars make it possible for multiple silk purse law firms to compete for school board special education retainers while the families in most states get by with only a handful of lawyers who regularly handle and know special education law from the student perspective. (Michigan, with nearly 240,000 students receiving special education services, has fewer than 15 private lawyers who regularly represent families and students.)

The parent reality is that the special education system is becoming even more weighted to the school side, and that the resources available to us to balance out the power inequities are being reduced rather than increased.

The parent reality is that we still fear for our children's futures and see little indication that the schools (or Congress) truly understand the everyday barriers that we and our children face, further confirming our fears.

The parent reality is that we have no power to force or influence school officials to accurately and fairly describe special education law at the IEP team meeting.

We only wish that parents had the power the school lobby ascribed to us in claiming its need for Congressional relief. We know that is wishful thinking at this point. "Gossip law" happens, and there will be no end to it, especially while this IDEA reauthorization process remains active. But we do have the power to continue to inform Congress and public policymakers of our reality as parents. We urge you all to do so at every turn.

Tricia & Calvin Luker, today's parentvolunteer@ourchildrenleftbehind.com