ORGANIZING THE FAMILIES OF 225,000 SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS IN NJ - CAN WE DO IT?
by Bob Witanek Advocate@StudentAdvocate-NJ.org http://StudentAdvocate-NJ.org http://APIECENJ.org  908-881-5275

For those who are supporting the IDEIA 2004 petition drive at the Student Advocate Website . . . Here is an update.

 If you have not read or signed: http://studentadvocate-nj.org/IDEIA2004_Petition.htm

Petition signers: Almost 600.  Who signed?  See http://studentadvocate-nj.org/IDEIA2004_Petition_Signers.htm .

Letters Pledged  to Barbara Gantwerk, DOE, legislators and Acting Governor Codey pledged: about 300.  Toolbox for such letters:

 http://studentadvocate-nj.org/IDEIA2004_Writing.htm

If you want to add your comments to the on-line public hearing at The Student Advocate Website – you can use the comment box when you sign the petition: http://studentadvocate-nj.org/IDEIA2004_Petition.htm or if you already signed, send them to Advocate@StudentAdvocate-NJ.org .  If you send a letter to DOE and want to post it to the public hearing page, send it to Advocate@StudentAdvocate-NJ.org as well.  Author’s names can be redacted at your request.

The following are some observations as to where we stand on preventing the weakening of NJ Special Education Law

Feedback and clarification from others on any misunderstanding of fact are appreciated.

 Timeline issues:

1. Federal law will be written by July 2005.
2. My understanding is that NJ could likely hold some public hearings during the fall of 2005 around this issue.
3. That would likely be the time by which we need to make our greatest impact – after the fall – our ability to impact the issue will be less even though NJ law should be fully implemented by July 2006
4. The summer months would be a difficult time for organizing around this issue.  In general that is true around all issues.  Folks are scattered to the winds and focus on education matters will be diminished.
5. Based upon the above – I believe our best time to organize is between now and end of May or latest mid-June and then from September through October or whenever the public hearings are.  We need to continue to work over the summer but those are the best timeframes during which we can reach the greatest numbers of potential constituents.

 Demographics issues:

1. There are roughly 225,000 special needs students in the state of NJ.  Based upon that number, I would estimate between 300,000 and 400,000 special needs parents.
2. I don’t know what the racial breakdown of the special education numbers are but the recent report from NJDDC http://www.njddc.org/sep-uneq.htm reported over representation of Black students in Special Education in NJ.  There are roughly 13% Black and 13% Latino totaling roughly 26% of the NJ population that is Black or Latino.  The special education ratios are a little higher.  We can estimate roughly 60 – 70,000 of special education students are Black or Latino in NJ.  We need some methods of reaching into these communities to learn how our efforts can be more effective and how we can be more supportive of their struggles around these issues.
3. I believe that most special education parents have little or no knowledge of what IDEA is and are unaware of what is going on with IDEIA 2004.
4. A tremendous effort is needed to reach much further into the diverse special needs population in NJ.  Much more grassroots work is needed.
5. There is strength in numbers and if we were able to mobilize thousands of expressions of support for strong special education law – we have a greater opportunity for our voice to be heeded.
6. We need a plan to strive to reach out to each and every special needs family in NJ on this issue.

How Can We Effect Policy – Suggestions for Action

1. We in APIECE obviously believe that this petition drive is an important tool for our efforts to educate, organize and mobilize our base constituency around advocacy to prevent weakening of rights of students with disabilities and their families and to harm the administration of special education through the elimination of short term objectives, etc.  We believe as Frederick Douglas stated that “Power Yields Nothing Without a Demand.”  We organized the petition drive to demonstrate a clear demand supported by a growing constituency of special needs families, advocates and allies.
2. We want to expand from the on-line format to print format.  The following are some resources.
            A. Handout with collectible signature block.  Print copies of these and collect signatures at your meeting.  The forms should be mailed to us at Student Advocate Website, PO Box 1214, Belle Mead, NJ 08502.  We will add the names to the list of signers and fax or mail the signed letters to Barbara Gantwerk.

http://studentadvocate-nj.org/PetitionIDEIA%202004Handout_Sig.doc

            B. Other handout without signature block: http://studentadvocate-nj.org/PetitionIDEIA%202004Handout.doc

            C. Promotional Flier for Posting on bulleting boards, in schools, etc.: http://studentadvocate-nj.org/IDEIA2004_Announce.doc

            D. Press release to help generate print media stories about petition drive: http://studentadvocate-nj.org/ideia_2004_press_release.htm Press volunteers are needed, inquire within!

3. Signature pledges.  If folks were committed to help generate 1 signature, 3 signatures, 5 signatures, 10 signatures per week, and there were a number of such folks who could make that commitment, the drive would grow.

Meetings:

As mentioned above, the remaining months of the spring school semester are May and half of June.  *If you have an organization of any sort or even a few volunteers who work together – can you get a meeting together on IDEIA 2004 during May or June?*  You can study the issue and do a short informal workshop yourself.  I would be willing to present the petition.  I can present the petition if you would have me or you can invite someone from SPAN or SELC.  They might not present the petition but they can present the issues as well.  *How many such meetings can we have around NJ during May and June?*

[ While our major focus has been the petition drive, we are using the IDEA NOW newsletters with the SPAN survey as a resource at our activities and tabling.  We are also promoting the SPAN survey from our website. ]

I would suggest that the meetings have a hands-on component:   

Letter writing – have sample letters and get the letters out right at the meeting.

Petition signing – have a computer logged on to our petition page and have folks sign right there or use the printed pages with the signature blocks

Surveys – Have printed versions of the SPAN surveys – you can get those from NJDDC – ask for copies of IDEA NOW.

Petition Committee

Currently, APIECE is the main organization promoting the petition.  Many others have joined the effort by forwarding the petition information to their constituents.  We have amassed quite a few supporters already and for all of the signers, many hundreds more have read the information and are more aware about IDEA and IDEIA 2004 because of the effort.  We are looking to have other organizations and individuals to help take ownership of the petition.  Ideally, we would like to see a committee of 5 come forward to help serve as a steering body for the petition campaign.  The committee can be larger than that but 5 would be a good number.  The job of such volunteers would be to be prepared to spend some time each week on helping to keep the effort growing, to keep the word spreading and the list of endorsers and signers growing.  Some of the efforts could be calling petitioners who pledged to get letters out to remind them to get them out, contacting those who stated that their organization might sign on to see if they can provide such approval and otherwise build firmer support from their membership, provide literature tables at events where this information is welcome and gather signatures there, participate in decision making as to next steps etc. for the petition drive.

Organizations

We also have a section of the petition for organizations to sign on to show greater organized support for the petition drive.  If your organization has a decision making body that can do that, please do provide us with the information.  If your organization wants to place a statement on our on-line hearing around this issue, do contact us: advocate@StudentAdvocate-NJ.org .

Are Petitions Really Effective?
That is a good question.  Since this petition is not of the legally binding sort, it does not have the ability to compel government action by law.  However, it does provide a sense of unity and a show of strength in numbers that can be an effective tool of pressuring government.   Furthermore, the petitioners are also volunteering for various tasks when they sign.  A pool of potential labor for further efforts is being established.  Should the various forces working around this issue decide to mobilize for state BOE meetings, for a press conference, for a rally or whatever action we decide, the petitioners are a base of potential solid supporters.  Can the petition itself on its own, deliver the goods?  Probably not.  But it provides a reference point of growing awareness and support that can be alluded to at all times by all those who are mobilizing around these issues.  It is a strong complement for a stronger effort made up of many parts.

For the children,

Bob Witanek Advocate@StudentAdvocate-NJ.org http://StudentAdvocate-NJ.org http://APIECENJ.org  908-881-5275