Senate Passes Special Ed Reform Bill!

The Pennsylvania Senate passed an important special education reform bill on June 4 by near unanimous vote.

The hard work of more than 40 disability advocacy organizations on special education funding and accountability reform has paid off. It’s a great victory, and it brings Pennsylvania one step closer to making historic progress for children with disabilities.

The House is expected to vote on the bill in the next week.

House members need to understand the importance of this legislation. (Please note: The bill will move to the House as SB 1115. There is a companion bill in the House – HB 704, but the vote will be on SB 1115 as passed by the Senate.)

Find the Harrisburg office phone number and e-mail address of the state representative here – http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/#address.

E-mail or call their Harrisburg office this week and leave a message, asking for a vote in favor of Senate Bill 1115.

TALKING POINTS for calling the Harrisburg office of your local state representative:

• “Please vote for Senate Bill 1115, the special education reform bill, when it comes up for a vote.”
• “The Senate passed this important legislation by a 46 to 1 vote on June 4.”
•  “The current funding system is broken, is unfair, and does not provide enough resources for special education in the right places. The broken system sets the number of students eligible for state funding for special education at 16 percent regardless of whether the school district has fewer or more students receiving special education. It also does not focus the funding on strategies that have a track record for improving student performance.”
• “The school districts you represent need support for special education, and must be held accountable for results.”
• The bill does not call for any new funding in 2012-13.”
•  “I have personal experience with how this broken system hurts children with disabilities and all students.” (Describe your experience.)
•  “Thank you for supporting this important issue and voting for SB 1115 when it comes up this week.”