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Protect Children With Disabilities

 


Dear Senator,

Our 22-year-old son Bennett McCall was born with a rare genetic disorder. He’s nonverbal and uses a wheelchair to get around. He also loves to swim (he can walk in the water), roll along greenways and meet up with friends. He started early intervention at 6 months old and continued through the public school system until he was 19 years old.

Ben is a product of the special education program. I am deeply concerned about the Administration’s decision to fire nearly all staff in the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the US Department of Education.

For 50 years, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) has had strong bipartisan support, and we are counting on Congress to ensure these firings are reversed. If not, this will have a devastating impact on babies, toddlers and all children with disabilities.

The staff in OSEP are the people who ensure states follow IDEA, the law that guarantees children with disabilities the right to a free appropriate education and supports states to better serve children with disabilities and their families.

Without OSEP, there will be no federal oversight, no accountability, and no one to make sure that states uphold the rights of children with disabilities and support their efforts to do so.

Before IDEA became law in 1975, over a million children with disabilities were prohibited by states from going to school.

Please take immediate action to stop these firings and reinstate the staff who protect the educational rights of children with disabilities.

Sincerely,
Vanessa Infanzon
Charlotte, North Carolina


This statement is adapted from the National Down Syndrome Congress. Feel free to copy and paste and personalize the top section to reflect your lived experience.




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Location: Charlotte, NC, USA

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