July 2005
Short Term Objective: Get Those Letters Out!
June Campaign
Flier promoting the July 2005 "Short
Term Objective" Campaign
Spread the word . . . the rights you save could be your own. Time for a serious governmental behavior modification plan.
Turn back the plans of DOE to rollback our rights and further empower the districts over our struggling children with disabilities and their parents. It is time to organize and unite families of 225,000 special education students in the NJ public education system.
From disabled students . . .To parents, grandparents and siblings . . . To special education attorneys to advocates, volunteer or otherwise . . . To friends of human rights and justice . . .
We are beginning to have an impact.
APIECE http://APIECENJ.org / http://StudentAdvocate-NJ.org is leading a petition drive . . . gathering over 1000 signatures . . . as well as a letter writing drive.
ARC of NJ has also been on the forefront of promoting letter writing to the DOE
SPAN of NJ http://SPANNJ.org has organized and presented testimony to national hearings.
At the June meeting of the NJ IDEIA 2004 Organizing Committee . . . we decided to dedicate the month of July to writing letters to office holders and political candidates and to doubling the number of petition signers. Even if you have already sent a letter to the DOE, we need more letters now to the politicos whose decisions are affecting the future of special education in NJ.
Why?
This November, many state level political offices are up for grabs . . . from the Governorship, to every seat in the NJ Assembly.
We need to act now to communicate our concerns . . .
Why now?
By the time e fall rolls around, the candidates will be full steam ahead raising funding from donors and special interests and hitting the campaign trail. They will have little time to give serious concern to what our children will be up against.
We need to strike now with our concerns. Can we change the outcome? Some say no but we believe otherwise.
Last month our committee called for 100 Letters for Our Children to be sent to the DOE and ARC of NJ made a similar appeal for letters to the DOE. A DOE official at a public meeting acknowledged “all” of the letters that have been received and made reference to our petition drive and The Student Advocate Website http://StudentAdvocate-NJ.org from which part of this effort is being coordinated.
We recently have garnered the endorsement of a NJ Assemblyman. We have handed a letter to gubernatorial candidate Doug Forrester and another letter to Secretary of State Regena Thomas. What is needed? You are needed:
- to start getting a letter our every week (or every couple of days). To whom? Forrester, Corzine and Codey. Your assembly and senate representatives.
- Urge your senate and assembly representatives to initiate and / or sign a letter to circulate in their respective house supporting the issues of the petition drive.
- Let Corzine and Forrester know – regardless of your own party affiliation – that this issue is what will motivate your vote. You want them to act now to fix this issue as they both can do.
- Also let Codey know how this issue will influence your vote.
- Urge all senate and assembly challengers to sign on to the petition and join the letter writing effort and otherwise publicly make their voices heard in support of the issues of the petition drive.
- Follow up the letters with phone calls.
- Allocate as much time as you can, from 15 minutes to a couple of hours a week to getting the letters out, spreading the word and collecting petition signatures, and following up the letters with phone calls.
To reach Acting
Governor Codey, Sen. Corzine and Doug Forrester:
Acting Governor Richard Codey E-mail:
SenCodey@njleg.org
, PO Box 001, Trenton, NJ 08625, Phone:
(609) 292-6000 / Fax: (609) 777-2922
U.S. Senator Corzine, 1 Gateway Center, 11th Fl.,
Newark, NJ 07102, 973-645-3030, Fax:
(973) 645-0502
Web Link:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/?lvl=L
Doug Forrester, c/o BeneCard
Services, Inc., 168 Franklin Corner Road, Building 2, Suite 201, Lawrenceville,
NJ 08648
Phone: 609-219-0400 Fax: 609-219-1788,
talktous@benecard.com
To reach state senate and assembly members:
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/?lvl=L
All correspondence should also be sent or cc-ed to DOE Commissioner William
Librera and DOE Director of Special Education Programs Barbara Gantwerk:
William Librera, NJ Commissioner of Education, DOE, PO Box 500, TRENTON, NJ
08625-0500
(609) 292-4469
Barbara Gantwerk, Director, Office of Special Education Programs, DOE, PO Box
500, TRENTON, NJ 08625-0500
E-mail: barbara.gantwerk@doe.state.nj.us
, phone: (609)292-0147 / fax: (609)984-8422
We spend dozens of hours
every year in IEP processes, reviewing draft after draft and pursuing points of
disagreement with the districts. We spend hours upon hours, monitoring the
districts to assure that our IEP agreements are adhered to. We attend
conferences, read books and literature, research on the internet and do whatever
we can to work toward the maximal potential of our children.
One other area that needs our attention is organizing our voices effectively – so that we can continue to promote the interests of our children more effectively in the future. We need more rights in the IEP process – not less rights. Our children need greater opportunities, not diminished ones. How much time will you invest now – so that you are not expending hundreds of frustrated hours later. You might view these issues as some abstract concept but the reality will be upon you before you realize.
Set your short term objectives:
- Gather 5 signatures a week on petition
- Get letter out to Codey
- Get letters out to Corzine and Forrester
- Get letters out to assembly and senate representatives
- Get letters out to assembly and senate candidates
- Follow up with phone calls
Annual goal:
Stop the rollback of the rights of our children and the closing of opportunity for their success.
For info:
IDEIA 2004 Organizing Committee, PO Box 1214, Belle Mead, NJ 08502
908-881-5275 /
advocate@studentadvocate-nj.org
Sample letters at
http://StudentAdvocate-NJ.org
June 15 - 24, 2005
100 Letters for Our Children
(By popular
demand and the large response we have received from letter writers, as confirmed
by recent comments by a DOE official, we are extending the dates for the letter
writing drive. Our extension of the dates is consistent with the call by ARC of
NJ to write letters to the DOE through June 24.)
Stand up
and be counted as an advocate in opposition to the withering of the rights and
processes in special education that are needed for the survival of our
children. Keep our laws supportive of our special education children so that
they can approach their full potential. Say no to weakening of our special
education laws in NJ by IDEIA 2004 implementation.
MS Word Printable Hand Out for June 15 - 24
Effort
Letter to Ms. Gantwerk from Julia
Zindzius of Ocean County BEAM /
Letter to Ms. Gantwerk from Wanda Opdyke
PRESERVE CRITICAL PROTECTIONS FOR
STUDENTS UNDER THE IDEA 2004!! ARC of NJ
Sample Elected
Official / Candidate Letter
This will be the first of monthly activities initiated and promoted by The NJ IDEIA 2004 Organizing Committee .
We are encouraging all who care about the outcome of how IDEIA 2004 is implemented in NJ to write letters to:
Barbara Gantwerk, Director, NJ Office of Special Education
William Librera, NJ Commissioner of
Education
Acting Governor Richard Codey
Your state assembly and senate representatives
Candidates for state office representing your district
For tips on letter writing and a sample letter that you can copy and tailor to
your own views, click here. Addresses
for the above mentioned recipients are at this link.
We also encourage participants in this 100 Letters for Our Children Campaign to
send opinion letters to their local papers on these issues. We encourage
you to mention the petition drive at
http://StudentAdvocate-NJ.org in any news opinion letters that you get out.
For more on opinion letter writing and a sample letter,
click here.
Our goal is to generate at least 100 letters and to coordinate them around June
15 - 24 as best as possible.
We do not want our letters to get lost - we want to open the floodgates of our
concern.
We also encourage your support with the goal for the petition drive of hitting
the thousand signature mark by June 24.
To participate in the effort, send a short note with the following link to
friends, family, relatives, colleagues, other parents, other members of your
organization, etc:
http://studentadvocate-nj.org/IDEIA2004_Petition.htm
More importantly, print the petition at the following link and gather signatures wherever you go.
http://studentadvocate-nj.org/PetitionIDEIA%202004Handout_Sig.doc
You can also call your colleagues and
encourage them to add their support.
In order to assess the success of this effort, and to measure up to our goal of
100 letters, we ask that you let us know if you will be participating in the
effort either by e-mailing us at
Advocate@StudentAdvocate-NJ.org
or by filling out the form at this link.
We ask that you share the letters with us by sending them to: Advocate@StudentAdvocate-NJ.org .
Please indicate when you send us the letter if you grant permission to post the letter up at our On-Line Public Hearing on IDEIA 2004 Implementation .
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