I have several family members in NYS. I'm organizing them to call, as will
we. Sorry I didn't post sooner.Of course, they want to hear from NYS parents, however Governors ALWAYS have national ambitions, so if they hear from lots of out-of-state parents, they may factor in how rejecting this legislation might look for their future ambitions. Still, it's best to be from NY (or appear to be). Feel free to use my town and ZIP -- Shirley, NY 11967. The girl who answers the phone only asks for a ZIP. Believe me, school adminstrators are asking their out-of-state family and friend to do this. We parents should, too.
Done..
BUMP!
I just don't understand how it would help if am from another state. Why would you think they would care about someones opinion from another state? If it will make a difference I will call but I am not from New York. Will it really count??Bumping - Please remember to call before Wednesday.Would e-mailing work just as well? Every time I get on the phone the kids start acting up!I emailed! I copied and pasted from TZoya's other post. I added that although I didn't live in New York, this issue still impacts me because these things have a way of spreading across the nation. What other post? Do you mean the one using her zip? Or was there another one that I missed (I've been off the boards a few days).Well, just answered my own question. You have to fill out your name, address, city, and zip. The only choice for a state is New York! So, I guess I will TRY calling and hope the kids can settle down for 2 minutes (good luck after traveling all weekend!).Tzoya - sorry I ignored the first thread you had. But the title sounded like it was something for New Yorkers only. And, since I've been out of town - I didn't realize that it was going to impact all of us and that we COULD call and make an impact ourselves. So, I did!
snoop - I bumped it back to page 1
I e-mailed (again) since my work frowns on using their phones long distance. The link above to the NY autism group has a link to send mail that does not need a NY address. I am not sure if an out of state address will be ignored with a "They can't vote anyway" or listened to since it shows that the issue has legs. But it can't hurt.
Thanks! I called and left a message urging him to sign the bill. The aide kind of stopped when I gave my zip code, so I took the opportunity and said "Yes, I'm from Minnesota but this bill will have HUGE ramifications for the rest of the country if the governor doesn't sign it!" And I again asked her to let the governor know to sign the bill.
I'm not in NY but I have kept all our son's work since haveing a iep with copies of the iep's. To me if the daily work is bad than means something. I have even sent to washington a better education plan for the usa. I've passed this on to everyone I know and urged them to pass it on as well! Have called and emailed myself and hope that it gets passed..... Thanks for keeping us updated Tzoya!Thanks all. The possible signing (or not) is TOMORROW! One last day to email, call, write! Will let everyone know the minute I hear the results.And that's not an inflammatory statement. If the Burden of Proof legislation is not passed in NY, I doubt it will pass anywhere else. Now that the Supreme Court has left it up to the states to assign burden of proof, school districts don't have to PROVE that their recommendations are right. WE have to prove that their recommendations are WRONG. Think about it. IF you had to prove today that your child's IEP is wrong, how would you go about doing it? If you think you'll NEVER have to go to a hearing, you are probably 100% right. But what will happen if this legislation is not passed is that school districts will thumb their noses at parents and say, if you don't like it, take us to a hearing. I've already heard this in IEP meetings -- something that I NEVER heard until recently (after the Supreme Court decided to screw disabled kids). School district personnel are being told to call Albany to protest Gov. Spitzer signing this. They are organized. I am So disappointed that so few on this Board have posted on my several topics on this. If this bill does not pass, we won't be talking about our rights anymore, because those rights will be SO hard to enforce and so expensive to enforce, most parents won't be ABLE to go to hearing. ANd the deep-pocket schools will KNOW that. Some districts already spend more on litigation than on special ed as a whole (they carry insurance for this and also get partially reimbursed for litigation -- something we don't).
I am begging ALL parents, but particularly NY parents, to call and support this legislation asap. The decision will be made Wed.:
Just call the numbers below during the week:
518-474-8390 or 518-474-1041; say "I want the Governor to sign A5396-A"
and give the operator your zip code.
Calling right now...and giving a bump!
This is Saturday isn't it? I swear I lost a day somewhere. What happened to Friday? I wrote the numbers down on my calendar and will call at 8 eastern on Monday.
I promise to call Monday.
NY Parents,
you need to organize and get active on this. You definitely do not want to be sent back to the dark ages, trust me some of us are there it is a nightmare. We all appreciate that there are some places that do their best for our special kids. Even though I live here in NC, where the services are pitiful in some schools, I want NY to continue to be a good place maybe some other laggard states can emulate them someday. So if calling helps I will.
Concernedpa.
Also, if this happens in New York, where services are good, what will happen elsewhere in the nation? This could easily be precedent setting!I will mail call MondayTzoya, I'll call tomorrow. Sorry I didn't post sooner, I've been out of town a couple of days.
Thanks for posting.
Dave
That makes sense! Ok you got it!