Republicans may shun aggressive legislative agenda

DOUG GROSS with the Associated Press wrote an interesting piece that quoted Rep. Ben Harbin (R-Martinez) as saying that "it'll be a real quiet session, but that's so tough to predict. There will probably not be an overly aggressive package this first year, but we will begin laying out our long-term vision and taking the initial steps that will get us to where we feel like we need to be."

See the complete article in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.

Announcing the new 2007 Employment Workshop Series

Announcing the new 2007 Employment Workshop Series

Employment in Your Community: Effective Tools, Collaboration, and Outcomes for People with Disabilities

Sponsored by Employment First Georgia (EFG)

Employment First Georgia is a newly established, statewide technical assistance, training, and consulting center, promoting innovative customized employment practice. EFG is supported by a collaborative of state and federal agencies, including start-up funds from the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy.

Attend all four workshops in the series, and receive technical assistance and consultation as an extra bonus ! (please register early as there is limited availability.)

Mark your calendar! The 1st seminar in the series...

Employment for People with Disabilities Best Practices to Career Success

Seating is limited. For more information and registration, see the Employment First Registration Form to register.

The same story in Virginia...families face horrible choices for their loved ones.

In Georgia, we have over 700 students leaving high school, 6,441 people waiting for help, and over 17,000 individuals with developmental disabilities living with caregivers over the age of 60. Last year we celebrated the largest increase in home and community based supports for people with disabilities in the history of our state. We are both making progress and have a long way to go. In July 2006, the waiting list was 7,100 people - as of November 2006 it was 6,441! Yes, our service system is experience the pains of getting stronger - but lets make sure Georgia continues moving in the right direction! Help us, go to www.unlockthewaitinglists.com.

A Painful Choice Over the Mentally Disabled
Dearth of Group Homes Leads Dozens Of Families in Northern Va. to Send Their Loved Ones Far Away for Care

It was a decision that Peggy Kube thought she would never have to make: Her brother, Terry Leatch, a 50-year-old with severe mental retardation, needed a new group home with more supervision. He wanted to stay near his sister because their parents, who doted on him for years, were dead.

But there was no place for him near her Spotsylvania County home -- not in Fairfax, not in Loudoun, not in Prince William. So she did the once unthinkable and had him moved 200 miles from his sister "Peg" to a group home outside Lynchburg, Va...Nearly 1,400 Northern Virginians with mental disabilities get a Medicaid-funded waiver to receive services -- largely group home beds -- in the community in lieu of being placed in institutions. But because of funding shortages, nearly as many are on years-long waiting lists to receive this community care, which is cheaper than placing the mentally disabled in the large facilities downstate.

Jim Wooten writes piece in support of vouchers for students with disabilities

This opinion piece alludes to a number of the important questions this bill forces.
Will this approach:

• deplete resources from public education?
• only be a win for public schools, who no longer have to "deal" with students with disabilities?
• offer real opportunities for meaningful inclusion in private schools, or will private schools be unequipped or unwilling to offer the supports needed for inclusion of students with disabilities? Will enough money be transferred with the child so that real inclusion can be supported
• encourage funding to move from public schools where protections under IDEA applies to segregated school settings where there are less protections for students and their parents? (see: And the program “shall not be construed to expand the regulatory authority of the state, its officers, or any public school system to impose any additional regulation of nonpublic schools beyond those reasonably necessary to enforcement of the requirements of this article.”)

This bill is a great opportunity to educate legislators on what you expect for your children in school and why it is so important to prepare them for employment and a meaningful, autonomous adult life...

By Jim Wooten Saturday, December 16, 2006, 07:02 PM
Click here for the full article in the AJC

The most important education reform bill proposed here in decades, one that would give scholarships to special-needs children, has been introduced by state Sen. Eric Johnson of Savannah, the Senate’s President Pro Tem — a position second in power to the lieutenant governor.

Watch for the defenders of the status quo, the more-money it’s-not-our-fault crowd that resists anything that doesn’t boil down to more revenues and less accountability, to rise up in an effort to smite down this reform-minded heretic and his mold-shattering legislation.

Truth is, in the world of education reform, Johnson’s Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act is not revolutionary. It is, in fact, downright mainstream. Florida does it, and has for six years. The number of students with disabilities whose parents opt for the scholarship that allows them to buy education services from any private school has grown from 970 to 17,300...

...As it exists in Florida, the John M. McKay scholarship program offers parents of children with a disability who are enrolled in public schools the opportunity to transfer to another public school, or to get scholarship aid to enroll in a private school. The scholarships range from $4,800 to $20,700. Parents love it.

Qualifying students in Georgia, according to the legislation, are those who suffer one or more defined disabilities, who spent the prior year in one of the state’s public schools, and who are required by state and federal law to have had an Individualized Education Program (IEP) written for them. That’s 186,272 students.

As proposed by Johnson, the maximum scholarship would be a sum equal to the state and federal money spent on them in public school. That sum — and not any locally generated revenues — would be granted to parents to buy from the private sector the education services they wanted for their child. The sum could be less, since parents could get no more than an eligible school’s tuition and fees.

Johnson has built in some important principles. The money goes to parents, not private schools. Parents designate where they want the money sent. Another important consideration is that no private school is required to admit anybody. And the program “shall not be construed to expand the regulatory authority of the state, its officers, or any public school system to impose any additional regulation of nonpublic schools beyond those reasonably necessary to enforcement of the requirements of this article.”

The early indication is that opposition will come from the education workplace unions and from the organizations that represent superintendents and school boards, as well as traditional voucher opponents, Johnson said last week. Supporters will be free-market conservatives and parents of special-needs children, who in Florida have overwhelmingly expressed their satisfaction with the McKay scholarships.

Some school officials are likely to object because most of the money being spent on a special-needs child will move with him to the private school. The local system should come out ahead, however, because it’s being freed of the obligation to serve a child with special needs, and class sizes should drop as a result. The systems keep their local money, plus the funds that would be spent to transport the children with disabilities...

...Some groups, like the education workplace unions, are just flat-out opposed to anything that smacks of vouchers. But “the dirty little secret is that we already have vouchers,” said Johnson. The HOPE scholarship is a voucher program. So too is the pre-k program, which sends public money to private pre-kindergarten programs.

Johnson said his bill “does not attempt to blame teachers, administrators or parents. It simply says that parents of special-needs children can choose the school that their children will attend. If they believe their needs are being fulfilled in public school, they are free to stay.” But if not they would have the option to go. Who could possibly object to giving parents that choice?

Governor Perdue Reaffirms Call for Tax Cut on Retirement Income

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that his 2007 legislative package will include eliminating state income tax on retirement income, a promise he made to Georgians while on the campaign trail this fall.

“I’m proud of the fact that we ran on a platform limited to promises that we could keep and that would have a positive impact on our economy for the future,” Governor Perdue said to attendees at today’s annual state Economic Outlook Luncheon. “We will keep our promise to eliminate taxes on senior citizens. This will prove to be a positive factor in Georgia’s long-term vitality.”

The tax cut will completely eliminate state income tax on retirement income, such as pensions or certain interest income, for Georgians 65 and older. This $142 million a year in tax relief will add to the more than $2 billion in tax relief that Governor Perdue has delivered since taking office in 2003.

Because of Governor Perdue’s tax relief, Georgia taxpayers currently have one of the lowest state tax burdens in the nation. Based on 2005 data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, Georgia has the 9th lowest per capita tax burden of any state in the nation – an improvement from 13th when Governor Perdue took office. This positive business environment has resulted in Georgia having one of the best economic outlooks in the nation.

For Immediate Release Contact: Office of Communications
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Sonny Perdue
GOVERNOR

Changing hearts, one at a time

Gracie Bonds Staples has written a number of wonderful articles in the AJC about disability issues. This article about Cynthia Patterson is a nice story about one of the career specialists at Briggs and Associates...

Associates, she helps others with disabilities find employment. In her spare time, she speaks to youth groups at churches and schools, encouraging them to embrace who they are, to treat others as they want to be treated.

She finds teaching moments — small opportunities to change the way those around her think about people with disabilities.

It happens when children gossip loudly to their parents that she has no hands; at fast-food drive-throughs or in line at the grocery store. She explains she was born that way, instructs that she can handle her own loose change from store clerks and invites onlookers to touch the place where her hands should be.

Senator proposes scholarships for disabled students

By JEREMY REDMON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 12/12/06

ATHENS — A Republican state lawmaker filed legislation Monday that would grant scholarships for disabled children to attend public or private schools of their choice.

"I want the state to give scholarships to any disabled student, whose parents are dissatisfied with their assigned public school, the ability to attend the public or private school that best fits their needs," Senate President Pro Tempore Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) said in a prepared statement.

Modeled on Florida's McKay Scholarship for Students with Disabilities Program, the scholarships would be equal to the cost for children to attend their assigned public schools or the private schools they want to attend, whichever is less. To qualify, students must have an Individualized Education Program.

Florida's scholarship program helped 17,300 students attend private school there during the 2005-2006 school year, according to a Florida Department of Education Web site. And the average scholarship was $6,927 for that year, with 751 private schools participating in the program.

"In a recent study of Florida's scholarship program," Johnson said, "findings show that parents are pleased, class sizes are smaller, the children are victimized less and there are fewer behavior problems."

Go to our legislative section to see the full text of this bill.

Study Finds Barriers in Rural Healthcare for People with Disabilities

A study has emerged highlighting the obstacles people with disabilities who live in rural areas face when searching for primary care physicians. Researchers interviewed residents with varying disabilities in rural Massachusetts and Virginia. They found that, in addition to the challenges already present with healthcare in rural America, people with disabilities face further obstacles. These include difficulties in finding doctors who understood the unique needs of people with disabilities and the necessity to travel large distances to get to medical centers.

Lisa I. Iezzoni, Mary B. Killeen, & Bonnie L. O'Day, Rural Residents with Disabilities Confront Substantial Barriers to Obtaining Primary Care. Health Services Research, August 2006, pp. 1258-1275.

For free abstract or full text purchase: Click Here.

Request for Comments on the Proposed Comprehensive Plan for IDEA Part D National Activities

Source: Federal Register - November 27, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 227) The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services invites comments and recommendations from the public prior to finalizing the comprehensive plan for national activities authorized under subparts 2 and 3, part D of IDEA (Comprehensive Plan or Plan). DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 11, 2007.

For complete information go to the Federal Register.

Governor Perdue Announces November Revenue Figures

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that net revenue collections for the month of November 2006 (FY07) totaled $1,278,047,000 compared to $1,208,629,000 for November 2005 (FY06), an increase of $69,418,000 or 5.7 percent. The percentage increase year-to-date for FY07 compared to FY06 is 5.6 percent.