Expert Witness: Individual Petition
 

1. INDIVIDUAL Sign-On: IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT

 




SIGN THE PETITION!
INDIVIDUAL Sign-On: IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT

 Please complete the form below to sign the PETITION in support of the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act, H.R. 2740. This bill will enable parents who prevail in IDEA due process and litigation to recover their expert witness fees, an expense few can afford. The petition will be displayed on COPAA's website and shared with members of Congress.

IN ADDITION TO SIGNING BELOW, PLEASE ALSO CALL YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND ASK HIM/HER TO SUPPORT H.R. 2740, THE IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT. Call Congress 202-224-3121 (TTY: 202-225-1904). Signing the petition is very helpful but your individual Congressperson needs to hear directly from you, preferably by phone. Ask for the aide who handles education or disability, tell them you are a constituent, and ask them to cosponsor H.R. 2740. Use the points in the petition below if you like. If you do not know who your Congressional Representative is, go to www.house.gov and put your zip code in the box on the upper left.
PETITION TEXT

We, the undersigned, strongly urge Congress to pass the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act, H.R. 2740. The bill will allow parents who prevail in hearings and litigation under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to recoup their expert witness fees. In 2006, the Supreme Court held in Arlington Central School District v. Murphy that parents could not recover expert fees. H.R. 2740 will overturn that decision. It will restore Congress' original intent in enacting the Handicapped Children's Protection Act of 1986 to allow prevailing parents to recover expert witness fees along with attorneys' fees.

The IDEA Fairness Restoration Act will make a difference to the millions of parents of students with disabilities in America. Few parents can afford to pay the thousands of dollars needed to pay qualified medical, educational, and technical experts. Approximately 36% of children with disabilities live in families whose income falls below the poverty line; approximately 2/3 live in families earning less than $50,000 a year. While parents must hire expert witnesses to testify, school districts can use therapists, psychologists, and other expert witnesses on their payroll or hire witnesses at public expense. Congress should allow parents in IDEA cases to recover expert fees just as prevailing plaintiffs in ADA, Title VII, and other civil rights cases do.

It is important to pass H.R. 2740 to ensure that parents are not deprived of their right to due process for lack of resources.

Thank you very much for your support.
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Instructions: The questions below ask you for your name, city, state, zip code, email, and any comments you wish to make. The petition will show only your name, city, state, and any comments you put in the comments box. So, your email address, zip code, and Congressional District will NOT be shown on the petition. We will not share your email address or zip code without getting your permission first.

If you fill out this form, you will be added to the petition. If you do not wish to be added, you must delete your answers to the questions.

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1. Your Name (First and Last Name). We cannot accept sign-ons that do not include First and Last Name. (We would appreciate it if spouses each have their own entry, because the program downloads into Excel and it allows us to keep count of how many people signed on. But if you don't have time, you can put both spouses together in one entry). PLEASE DO ENCOURAGE YOUR FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES, NEIGHBORS, AND FAMILY TO SIGN ON.

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2. Your email address. COPAA will NOT share your email address without your permission first.

3. Your City or Town

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4. YOUR STATE please use 2-letter abbreviation, e.g. CA, NY, FL).

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5. Your Zip Code. COPAA will not share your zip code without your permission first.

6. OPTIONAL: Name of your Congressional Representative, if you know and would like to share that information with us. This question is purely optional.

7. OPTIONAL: PLEASE SHARE ANY COMMENTS YOU WISH.

You might share your views of the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act or why its important. You might describe your experience doing disability advocacy or lawyering. You might simply identify yourself as a parent, grand parent, relative, friend, colleague, or advocate/attorney for a child/children with a disability. Its time to show America that all of us are connected to people with disabilities! This is one time when identifying yourself as a family member or friend is a very good thing, and perhaps as important or more important than your professional title. But leave any comment you want, or no comment at all, if you prefer. This is totally optional.

For more information, or if you have questions, email protectidea@copaa.org

Thank you for signing onto the petition in support of H.R. 2740, the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act.

Once again, please help pass the Act by calling your Congressional Representative and asking them to cosponsor H.R. 2740, the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act. Making this call is very important, so as many Congressmen as possible will cosponsor the bill and help it pass. The main number for Congress is 202-224-3121 (TTY: 202-225-1904). You can find out who your Congressman is by going to www.house.gov and putting your zip code into the box in the top left corner. The petition is going to Congressional leadership; we still very much need you to call your Congressional Representative.

Thank you very much.

Bob Berlow and Jess Butler
Government Relations Co-Chairs
Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, Inc.
a national voice for special education rights and advocacy
www.copaa.org
email: protectidea@copaa.org
If you wish to get a copy of the bill, we will have it on the COPAA website shortly. In the meantime, go to www.congress.gov, and in the box that says Bill Summary and Status, type "IDEA Fairness Restoration". This will take you to the bill.