"The Great Debate": Abramoff Scandal and Student Rights
by Bob Witanek
advocate@studentadvocate-nj.org
http://StudentAdvocate-NJ.org 908-881-5275
"There
was a great debate at the federal level already about what changes should be in
effect," said Gantwerk, confident that parent groups such as Witanek's already
had a chance to weigh in. – Barbara Gantwerk as quoted in Trenton Times, May
17, 2005
(entire article at this link:
http://www.studentadvocate-nj.org/TTimes_20050517_Petition_Gantwerk.htm )
The current lobbyist scandal engulfing Arbamoff, DeLay and dozens of congressional representatives provides a window into the mechanisms of US Congress and what goes on behind the scenes as the millionaires down there decide all of our fate in the thousands of bills they pass every year. Suffice it to say that both houses, the US Senate and US Congress, are scandal ridden institutions. As much as politicos now treat Abramoff money as hot potatoes – trying to cast it off with as much efficiency as possible – their greatest fear must currently be that the process of US legislation could be further unmasked for the cess pool of influence peddling, corruption and special interests driven scandal that it really is. It is just that process that Barbara Gantwerk had labeled as “a great debate at the federal level.” The same figures playing hot potato with Abramoff money (while sitting on top of mounds more of similarly ill gotten gains) are the ones who led what Gantwerk called a great debate.
How are the cards stacked for our children in Washington DC and in Trenton? Who goes to bat for our children and who wields a bat against them?
On the one side we have non-profit 501C3 organizations and state funded agencies. They do a bang up job with the limited resources that they have at their disposal. But given the legal definition of these agencies and groups, they are restricted from taking overtly political positions on issues. For example, they can not make campaign contributions and they can not tell folks how to vote. They can not even threaten that they will tell folks how to vote. That is who goes to bat for our children. Their only weapon is to make a factual and a moral argument and to appeal to the better side of politicians. How many of those politicians do we believe actually have much of a better side.
On the other side . . . what do they have? Teachers unions, directors associations, other professional associations, school board coalitions, etc. Most of these are dues paying membership organizations. They do not get state or federal funds. They do not offer tax write offs for donations. Their legal definition allows them the full range of political rights. They can endorse candidates. They can offer campaign funds. They can hire lobbyists to communicate such offers. They can tell people and members who to vote for and who to vote against. They can campaign openly on ballot questions. Their weapons include a much wider and more overt political arsenal.
The Abramoff scandal, the tip of the iceberg that it really is, gives us a view into how the decisions that change laws to the detriment of our children are made. Best you believe that the mechanisms behind the elimination of short term objectives, mid-year progress reports, stay put, manifest determination protections, the mechanisms that made up Barbara Gantwerk’s “great debate” are the same mechanisms that are now coming to light in only the latest of monumental congressional scandals tipped off by the Abramoff revelations.
So what do we as parents need to be doing about this situation? Firstly, we need to analyze how the game is played, who sets the table, who eats off it and who waits on the floor for the scraping of crumbs. We should always tell the truth about how the processes are rigged. We need to participate in those processes and encourage such participation while at the same time recognize and speak the truth about the corrupt process that gets us to where we are now.
While looking at the process from this view for some could create the idea that our challenges are insurmountable – and that is not my point. The point is that we lay out what the obstacles are – we identify them – so that we can figure out the best way to surmount those obstacles. Through a dialogue, through organizational efforts, through action, through convergence of constituencies and wherever possible, genuine unity – any obstacle is surmountable.
We fight the good fight all year with our districts – at IEP meetings and in between. We muster our family resources as best we can to create a window of opportunity for our children in special needs. We have successes and we have setbacks in these endeavors. Just as in congress – state and federal – the cards are stacked against us yet we take up the challenge nevertheless – we rise to defeat and surmount the obstacles - and we therefore improve our children’s condition.
The very same dedication is needed when it comes to facing off to the obstacles of a corrupt political process that has led to where we are today with short term objectives, mid year progress reports, stay put, etc., on the chopping block. Just as we have some success at the IEP level – we can have similar successes on a collective scale should we work to overcome the obstacles before us.
Recognize the mechanisms in play and have unbounded confidence in our abilities to overcome the field of obstacles before us.
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