Advocacy Still Needed to Protect Educational Rights of Students with Disabilities
At the time of this GO Bulletin, SB 1578A still does not have a posted work session scheduled on OLIS. There is still an opportunity for your voice to be heard! Thank you to those of you who have written emails to your legislators and those listed below.
Your advocacy is working, but we need to keep "GO"ing... Send your email today!
Every student deserves to learn with their peers. Oregon public schools returned to in person learning last spring. However, across the state, hundreds of students with disabilities have yet to access full time school with their siblings and classmates. For example:
- Some students are offered shorter school days and/or shorter school weeks compared to their peers.
- Others are denied the opportunity to attend ANY in person school.
- Students are getting as few as 20 MINUTES WEEKLY in instruction, and often not even from a licensed teacher.
- In some districts, entire classrooms of students are being denied full time education.
These students are disproportionately Black, Indigenous and People of Color, and almost all experience disabilities.
SB 1578A addresses this problem for students in almost every legislative district and at all grade levels. SB 1578A allows Oregon Department of Education to act quickly to restore access to fulltime, in person public school for students with disabilities. Yet SB 1578A must be scheduled for a work session to continue in the legislative process and become law!
SB 1578A would give ODE the limited authority to immediately respond to allegations of violations of the law by school districts when failure to act immediately would:
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Cause physical harm to a child
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Cause a child to unlawfully be denied more than five school days in a school year
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Substantially limit access to public education through an unlawful policy or action that violates state and federal non-discrimination laws.
SB 1578A also gives ODE the authority, when appropriate, to require districts to restore access to full time instruction while the investigation is ongoing or immediately cease actions leading to physical injury.
Here is all you need to take action:
Today, please contact Senate President Peter Courtney, House Speaker Dan Rayfield, Ways and Means Co-Chairs Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward and Rep. Tawna Sanchez and ask them to schedule SB 1578A for a work session and pass it off the House and Senate floor as soon as possible.
Cut & paste this group of email recipients:
Here are a few things to include in your email:
- Include SB 1578A in your subject line
- Mention your name and city where you live
- Tell them that every student deserves to learn alongside their peers, yet hundreds of students with disabilities are still not in classrooms. SB 1578A would get students with disabilities back in school with their peers and siblings.
- If you have a personal story about your child being denied Free and Appropriate Public Education and SB 1578A would help your family, include 3-4 sentences about your situation and how SB 1578A would help.
- Respectfully ask that they schedule SB 1578A for a work session and to pass it off the House and Senate Floor so Oregon students with disabilities can access public education like their peers.
SB 1578A is a simple, swift and effective solution to an urgent problem. It enjoys broad support, with bipartisan sponsors in both the House and the Senate. It passed out of the Senate Education Committee with unanimous and bipartisan support. There is no known opposition to the bill.
