USE’EM OR LOSE’EM         (IDEA)  I was wondering how I would start this section, stressing my brain to a dangerous point of exhaustion, and failing to come up with anything interesting as a starting point to kick off our advocacy issues.

Here we will begin with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).   Just when I was running out of ideas low and behold, with it’s natural dependable grace and style, the System kicked in. Not to be outdone by the sinking of the Titanic, U.S. officials have tried their utmost and succeeded brilliantly in nation-wide non-compliance with the special education laws. Remember these laws? They are the ones that promised to guarantee all students with disabilities their right to education in a school environment equal to that of the general student population. The laws promised to strive to meet the needs of students with disabilities. The needs of the students were considered both in terms of physical accessibility and appropriate educational programming. That was about twenty-five years ago. How time flies when you are having fun.     The Associated Press, in a brief report printed in The New Mexican on Monday, January 24, 2000, evaluated the success if the IDEA. The National Council on Disability, after hours of coffee breaks and reams of shredded paper, announced the startling news that “Federal efforts to enforce the law over several administrations have been inconsistent, ineffective and lacking any real teeth”. Don’t you wonder what these guys were doing? They write laws and then they don’t enforce them. Of course, the Department of Education, charged with monitoring compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Act “said it has increased monitoring under the Clinton administration.” I think this may amount to more and more people doing less and less of everything until almost everyone is doing practically nothing! It is refreshing to know that our government is at least consistent. Since this Act was born in 1975, more than twenty-five years ago, and still hasn’t been uniformly implemented nationwide we can all rest assured that there will be no surprises. Nothing will change.   As an advocate in education I am not surprised by any of this. I have seen schools without so much as one wheelchair accessible toilet stall. Needless to say, in one case the student in the wheelchair eventually had to leave the school and go on Homebound Instruction since nothing else in the school was accessible either. Things have not changed very much since IDEA became law.   Let us hear from you. What experiences have you had in the education system? You are the ones who can change the system, even though you have never really been invited to offer your opinion. But, if you check the law in our IDEA appendix section you may be surprised to find that in the early part of the law it identifies “rights and responsibilities of . . . children”. That means you. The word “responsibilities” indicates that you, the student, must take action in the process of maintaining and improving your educational program.  Has anyone ever introduced you to the IDEA? Have you ever been involved in reviewing the enforcement of the law? Do you think the law is effective? WHY do you think it is, or is not, effective?    We will be discussing the law and some of the important things it was meant to do. Some of you may have stories to tell that will directly involve the IDEA. That will give us a chance to talk about real situations. Contribute your experiences and comments.