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One of the most effective ways to
address discriminatory practices in special education
is to address your school board. Organized presentations
can have an immediate impact, and can have great
influence if covered by the local media. The following
are tips that may be helpful when addressing school
boards.
Do background research on
the School Board's policy, procedures, and membership:
- Call the School Board and find out the time
and location of their meetings and if you need
to get on the agenda ahead of time.
- Determine if there are any special procedures
for addressing the School Board.
- Find out if you have allies on the school
board.
- Request the minutes of prior meetings to
see whether the school board has recently discussed
special education issues or passed special education
policies.
Bring evidence and supporters:
- Bring other parents and encourage special
education experts from colleges and universities
to attend the meeting.
- Collect stories from children and parents
about how discriminatory special education policies
have impacted them, and prepare to tell them
at the meeting.
- Stress both data and real examples of children
who are harmed by the policy to ensure that
the focus remains on actual children and the
effects of a discriminatory special education
policy.
Contact the media:
- Send a press release to the media about your
upcoming school board presentation. Include
facts about the discriminatory special education
policy (see Appendix VI for information on writing
press releases).· Make sure your message
is focused on a few major points and "stay
on" your message in all your media relations.
Emphasize the following
special education issues:
- Inclusion and high expectations for all children,
and preventing the damages that result from
segregating children and expecting less of them.
- All children benefit from the integration
of students. Children in integrated educational
environments can learn from each other and will
develop tolerant attitudes about people who
learn in different ways.
- Communicate to the Board that you are prepared
to take legal action, but that legal remedies
can be avoided by immediately addressing special
education concerns.
Request that the School
Board take the following actions:
- Implement a policy that focuses on inclusion
and high expectations.
- Decrease class size of "regular"
classrooms, so teachers can better address the
needs of all students.
- Increase teacher training, provide teachers
more support in the classrooms, and implement
programs that encourage a variety of teaching
styles.
- Train teachers so that they are multiculturally
aware and able to implement positive classroom
management policies.
**Also emphasize that this is not
about cutting the budget by eliminating special
education funds. Educational inclusion requires
support and resources.
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