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REMARKS by MARCA BRISTO Good Morning and welcome everyone. I am Marca Bristo, chairperson of the National Council on Disability. On behalf of the Council, I thank you for joining us, and especially Senator Edward Kennedy for taking time from his busy schedule to be with us this morning. NCD is an independent federal agency representing all people with disabilities, regardless of severity, and from all cultural, racial and ethnic backgrounds. Our members, who are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, make recommendations to the President, Congress and Federal agency officials concerning ways to better promote equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities. NCD. Today NCD releases Back to School on Civil Rights, the second in our "Unequal Protection Under Law" series of independent analyses of federal civil rights enforcement for Americans with disabilities. The series came about in response to a mandate NCD received from the 1996 National Disability Summit to investigate their concern regarding the lack of enforcement of disability civil rights laws. This report deals with Federal enforcement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), a law that affects six million children with disabilities in this country. IDEA has had a tremendous impact. Once legally excluded from public schools, millions of children with disabilities now go to school every day. The number who find jobs after completing their education has doubled since IDEA became law in 1975. Having said this, it saddens us to report that despite these important changes, the drop out rate among students with disabilities is far higher than for general ed students. Unemployment among those who want to work, but can't find a job, is around 70%. Countless numbers of children with disabilities, especially those from low-income, ethnic and racial minority, or rural communities, are still not receiving the full benefit of the law. They and their families struggle daily to obtain the services and supports they need to learn. As a last resort, many families must take legal action to force their local school district to comply with the law. Even more sadly, federal efforts over several Administrations to enforce IDEA in states where noncompliance persists have been inconsistent, often ineffective and without any real teeth. I want to stress that we are talking about federal efforts over different five Administrations: Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton. Over a two-year period, we looked at the data published in reports by the Department of Education between 1975-1998. We worked with the Department over five months to ensure its technical accuracy, and consulted with advocates all over the country on our recommendations. NCD believes this report gives a realistic picture of federal enforcement from 1975 until 1998, when a new system began to be implemented. We are encouraged by the Department's new system initiative. At the same time, we believe any system that does not include national compliance standards, objective triggers for enforcement action, and consistent consequences for noncompliance will only perpetuate current problems. It is our hope that this report will lead to dialogue, and more importantly to action. We call upon the members of Congress, the Departments of Education and Justice, students with disabilities, parents and all education community stakeholders to consider the recommendations in this report and act to make the promises of this law a reality for all children with disabilities. This is the challenge we must meet for our kids for the new millennium. Thank you. HOME | FAQs | NEWSROOM | SITE MAP | FEDERAL AGENCIES | RESOURCES |
