Students and Citizens Against Futile Ethics
S.A.F.E. Keeping Disabled People Safe
"It is the Nature of love to create. It is the Nature of hate to destroy."-Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
IDEA 2004: Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004
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IDEA 2004 is the latest update to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, first ratified in 1997. |
SAFE harbors concerns about IDEA 2004 because of its weakened protections for students with rare learning disorders, such as Nonverbal Learning Disorder, and because of the unfettered autonomy it gives educators in deciding which kinds of behavior warrant the removal of their disabled students from mainstream classes. Moreover, SAFE is concerned that the burden of proof in bringing allegations rests solely on the complaining party and must be established BEFORE allegations of accommodation violations can be brought before local educational authorities for mediation.
Nevertheless, IDEA itself is a landmark piece of legislation that has improved special education services for students, and can potentially continue clearing the way for the disabled to advance as a people group. We encourage students, teachers, administrators and students to work together in good faith for the good of each students' education.
Are You Having Problems?
If you are having significant problems ensuring that your accommodations or your child's accommodations are being met, the United States Board of Education has an Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that will investigate complaints and take measures to ensure that you or your child does not experience retaliation for filing a complaint. IT IS AGAINST THE LAW and PUNISHABLE FOR SCHOOLS TO RESPOND THIS WAY. While we encourage much discussion before resorting to a complaint, there does come a point when it is safer in the long term to file, thus indicating that you are determined to see the full implementation of needed accommodations, then to hope that continued discussion will change the minds of consistently uncooperative faculty or staff.
The mission of the Office for Civil Rights is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation through vigorous enforcement of civil rights.
For more information, contact OCR at:
Court Cases:
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...
There is a significant movement among some in the educational community to protest special education services as unwarranted privileges extended to those whose backgrounds afford the easiest access to psychiatrists, specialists, and other resources involved in being diagnosed as learning-disabled. Two examples of this perspective:
Ruth Shalit fired from The New Republic for Plagiarism:
Ruth Shalit's article on Special Ed featured in Education Reform: The Critical Issues:
Studies and Credibility:
SAFE is currently looking into the merits of the following studies/articles on ADHD:
