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Welcoming Remarks Greetings. My name is Marca Bristo and I am the chairperson of the National Council on Disability (NCD). I want to begin by welcoming all of you and thanking you for making time in your busy schedules to be here with us today to talk about enforcement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). I particularly want to thank the folks who made time to fly in from as far away as the Native Alaskan village of Sitka to be with us today. Your presence here is a testament to your commitment to improving the efforts of the US government and the tribal governments that make up Indian country to live up to the 24 year-old promise of IDEA an educational system where no child is left behind and all children are given an equal opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills, and experience they will need to fulfill their dreams. As many of you know, NCD is very close to releasing a comprehensive report on federal enforcement of IDEA. The report to the President and the Congress, entitled Back to School on Civil Rights: Advancing the Federal Commitment to Leave No Child Behind, will be released at a Capitol Hill event late next month. Today, NCD will share with all of you a preview of the key findings from this independent study of IDEA enforcement. Next, Dr. Gregg Corr and Dr. Lois Taylor from the Office of Special Education Programs at the US Department of Education will briefly describe the Department's new monitoring and enforcement system. I want to take this opportunity to thank Gregg and Lois for making time to be with us today, and to acknowledge the cooperation NCD has received from the Department of Education as we have conducted the research and finalized the findings of our study. After the information sharing portion of the program, we will move to the heart of today's town meeting, which is a facilitated discussion about how best to improve enforcement of IDEA so that children and families are able to access the quality public education that they deserve. I want to acknowledge the hard work of NCD staff, particularly Ethel Briggs, Mark Quigley, Brenda Bratton, Stacey Brown, Kathleen Blank, and Andy Imparato, in preparing for today's event. I also want to acknowledge all of the NCD Council Members who have joined us for the important discussion, including Lilliam Rangel Diaz (with me at the table), my vice-chair Judge Hughey Walker, Dave Brown (the Chair of NCD's public policy committee), Gina McDonald (the co-chair of NCD's subcommittee on Children and Youth), and John Kemp (the Chair of NCD's Civil Rights Committee), who will be joining us later. I particularly want to acknowledge the passion, commitment, and leadership of NCD's two members who are leaders in the parents movement and powerful advocates for children with disabilities and their families, Lilliam Rangel Diaz and Shirley Ryan. Without the leadership and hard work of Lilly and Shirley, this Council's accomplishments on behalf of children and youth would not have happened. Before we turn the microphone over to NCD's general counsel and director of policy, Andrew Imparato, I would like for Lilly Rangel Diaz to share some remarks with you. Lilly is a former co-chair of NCD's subcommittee on children and youth and is an active member of virtually all of NCD's committees and subcommittees. In her private professional life, Lilly and her husband Adolfo recently opened the Center for Education Advocacy in Miami, Florida. I want to take this opportunity to thank Lilly for her ongoing leadership. Please join me in recognizing Lilly. (Applause) HOME | FAQs | NEWSROOM | SITE MAP | FEDERAL AGENCIES | RESOURCES |
