50 Strong For Our Children
Arranging comments for presentation
during “Pre-Proposal” IDEIA 2004 Public Comment Period:
December 19, 2005 to January 18, 2006
Can We Count You In?
Promotional flier for 50 Strong
effort in MS WORD 2000
50 Strong
for Our Children District Coordinators
Will you and your district be counted among the 50 Strong For Our Children effort? The aim of this effort is to mobilize written comments into the process of upholding student and parent rights as NJ Education Code regarding special education is revised under IDEIA 2004. The goal is to arrange for every NJ school district to provide 50 or more signed statements or comments to the New Jersey Board of Education during the “pre-proposal” public comment period of December 19, 2005 through January 18, 2006.
What is needed?
We need one or more coordinator(s) from each
district who helps to gather the written comments from the district parents and
drafts a cover letter to be placed over the gathered comments. While the
comments should be gathered from here forward, they can be submitted during the
comment period.
We need individuals to sign the petition and / or write letters.
What comments should be gathered?
Signed petition statements. Print the petition from link:
http://studentadvocate-nj.org/PetitionIDEIA%202004Handout_Sig.doc
Letters. Sample letter at this link:
http://studentadvocate-nj.org/IDEIA2004_Writing.htm
Any other letters or other petition or organizational statement that someone wants to gather support upon.
How to organize it in your district:
One or more parent(s) (or
guardian, etc.) plays the lead role in gathering the petitions and letters/
The coordinators organize letter writing / petition signing meetings where the
statements are collected. Advocates and organizers from The NJ Student Advocate and other organizations and agencies would make themselves available
to speak at letter writing / petition signing meetings. At sports gatherings,
street fairs, district events, board meetings or wherever special education
parents or potential supporters might be, the coordinators can organizer
petition signing and letter writing. They can call friends, colleagues,
relatives, etc. to increase the number of comments.
As it stands, there are several towns around the state that already have gathered input from 50 or nearly 50 participants so the effort is already be off to a good start.
Given that there are over 600 school districts, we have the potential to organize over 30,000 written comments from throughout NJ. While we might not hit the goal in every district, the goal gives us something to work toward. It gives an opportunity to converge across the diversity of views of our constituency around a common purpose of impacting the process in a positive way for 225,000 special education children across the state of New Jersey and their families.
The only question is – can we count you and your district in the “50 Strong For Our Children” effort?
Please contact The NJ Student Advocate at
908-881-5275,
Advocate@StudentAdvocate-NJ.org
For more
information, visit
http://StudentAdvocate-NJ.org
Ask the Advocate
NJ Complaint Form (MS Word)
(PDF)
On Line Public Hearing on IDEIA 2004
Survey on NJ OSEP Complaint
Process
Past Activities
IEP Wkshp
Rec. Programs for
those w/ Disabilities
An Evening of Educational Advocacy
September 8, 2005 Edison, NJ
What The Student Advocate Has Done for Our Children
Lately . . .
NJ IDEIA 2004 Organizing Committee
Minutes of IDEIA 2004 meeting on Thu., May
26
Student Rights Radio
Discussion, October 31
Effort to
Reach Gubernatorial Hopefuls and Acting Governor / Candidates
IDEA: An Update
Dec. 5, 2005
Middletown
January 18,
2006: Hold a Candle Light for Our Children's Rights
50 Strong For Our
Children
No. Jersey Radio Interview Aired, 1/22
Petitioning for Rights Children: Legal in Princeton
Interview on NJ IDEIA Rights
- Racial Disparities in Sp-Ed
Call
is Heard in Montgomery Twp: Inclusive Recreation
NJSAU Minutes 2/18/2006
Playing and Singing for
Our Rights, 4/1/6
Better IDEA Laws for Special Education
Students?
Better IEPs? Anything is Possible!
April
1 Report: Student Advocacy Union - Fundraising Concert
Mobilization for Rights
of Our Children, May 17, 2006, Trenton
Nationwide Internet Radio Rally for Sp-Ed Parent Rights
9pm EST, Sat. May 20
Parents’ Rally @ Statehouse in Trenton Thursday, June 8, 2006
Piscataway Parents Mtg, June 19, 2006