Inclusion
Perspectives on Parenting©
by Nancy Lambert Davenport


Nancy Davenport's Column:
For Richardson News 10-31-99
Copyright Nancy Lambert Davenport 1999


"New President Needs To Know Disabilities"


A year from Tuesday we will be electing a new President. I want a good one, thank you - ideally one who knows and loves God and cares at least as much about others as he does himself. After that I want one who has education high on his priority list-not just because it's the concern that was popular enough to get him elected, but because he knows that it is one place we can makes changes that can better the lives of all our citizens.

Then I want him to know that the smart kids, the minority kids, the troubled kids, the problem kids, are not the only ones out there. I want him to know that the kids with disabilities are there and need a champion too.

He needs to understand the fact that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which has been made law, is just the first step. Now it needs to be implemented. A similar law was enacted years ago, but many districts ignored it or only gave lip service to the law. I want him to be committed to this law and to bring people of vision into leadership with him.

I want him to understand that through this law we should expect to see kids with disabilities all over the place rather than shut off in separate building or in isolated classrooms. These same kids should be evaluated for progress like all other students. If progress is not being made, then heads will roll and new things tried until there is progress. They will be educated in their "least restrictive environment," and teachers will be provided aides and training to do the job right.

I want him to know that there is grave danger to the students with disabilities. The new regulations on discipline could allow some administrators (those who find these students inconvenient to educate) to take advantage of this new ruling. The new regulations allow students to be removed from their educational settings for up to 45 days at a time if someone considered them dangerous for any reason. The interpretation of "dangerous" could be abused. I want him to understand that having all kids educated together does not only benefit the kids with disabilities. Study after study has shown that ALL students' test scores go up when kids with disabilities are in the mix. It's a fact, and our new president should know this.

I want our next President to know personally people like my son, Austin and some of his peers with disabilities - that they make great contributions to their schools and are as much a part of their community as anyone else, that they pay taxes, and that they vote. They just happen to have labels. If he knows them, he will care about them, and my guess is if he knows them, he will be a better President because of it.

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Nancy Lambert Davenport
EMAIL: ndavenport@ticnet.com
URL: http://www.nancyldavenport.com