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Attached is an article proposing cuts on Early Intervention and Special Education Programs:
Gov. Paterson and Suozzi propose to Dismantle
Special Education and Early Intervention Sweeping Cuts Proposed for Special Education, Early Intervention and Autism Services, Your Action is Needed Now!
Governor David Paterson has proposed sweeping cuts to early intervention and special education as a way to address the current budget shortfall. The scope of the changes are sweeping, and would eliminate most of the objective minimum standards of services that school districts and counties must meet, and replace them with programming provided at the discretion of schools districts.
Much of the proposed changes were thoroughly described in the New York State Commission on Property Tax Relief chaired by Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, The Commission began its work well before the financial meltdown that began in the fall of 2008, indicating that the changes proposed below are policy preferences independent of the current financial situation. See the article below to read the text of the Special Education section of the report.
Autism United is working in conjunction with other organizations to form a statewide coalition to prevent the cuts. People with autism and other disabilities need a statewide voice to assure that the budget isn’t balanced by sacrificing the neediest among us.
We will be hosting the first ever Autism Epidemic lobbying day in Albany on Tuesday, March 24. The whole Autism community is invited to come to Albany to bring our message to our elected officials buses are being organized from around the state. We are also organizing a the first ever statewide day to visit our State Senators and Assemblymembers in their local district offices near home on February 27. Your participation is crucial to make as big an impact as possible and stop the cuts.
A good way to start is to send an email directly to Governor Paterson, County Executive Suozzi, and your State Senator and Assemblymember by clicking on the “Take Action” button, which will take you to the website of the Autism Action Network where you can fill in a brief form and send an email to the decision makers.
And call the offices of Governor David Paterson and Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi and politely tell the staffer that you are opposed to the budget cuts and the policy changes to early intervention and special education.
Governor David Paterson, (518) 474-8390
County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi, (516) 571-3131
You can read the Special Education Section of the Suozzi Report at www.autismunited.org
Here are some of the worst proposals the Governor has called for: Early Intervention
The Suozzi Commission proposals seek to provide much less funding for Early Intervention and create barriers. No consideration seems to be given to the longterm effect the cutbacks will have on the affected children. Nor that the demand for Early intervention, and special education, increases by 10-15% every due to the autism epidemic. 1.The Autism Tax, Families will have to pay a co-pay for every session with a therapist or teacher for children in Early Intervention. Since the majority of children in Early Intervention either has, or will have, an autism spectrum disorder, this is a new Autism Tax. Clearly, this will force many families to chose between paying the rent and putting food on the table, or providing for those interventions we know do our children the most good in the long run. 2.Passing the Buck to the School Districts without Passing the Bucks, Responsibility for paying for Early Intervention will be shifted from the counties to local school districts, but the counties aren’t going to hand over any of our tax dollars to the school districts. That will force local school district taxes up, or result in huge cuts to Early Intervention. 3.Rationing of Speech Therapy Speech, The Suozzi Commission recommends rationing speech therapy by requiring “a criterion referenced treatment approach.” That means less speech therapy for kids who desperately need it. 4.Going After Non-Existent Insurance Coverage, The Suozzi Commission clearly did not speak to any parents of children with autism in the course of preparing their report because they want parents and Early Intervention service providers to get health insurance companies to contribute to Early Intervention costs. We would like to know what insurance coverage they are talking about. Who provides it? How do you get it? Special Education
Governor Paterson in his State-of-the-State Address thanked Nassau County Suozzi for the report and said he will seek to have it implemented. The recommendations in the Suozzi report would dismantle special education, not just for students with autism but all students.
The destruction of special education standards recommended by the Suozzi Commission is truly breathtaking in its severity and scope 1. Eliminate class size restrictions, School districts would have no limits on the number of students, or the required number of teachers and aides for children with disabilities. 2. Eliminate Educational Standards for Autism The only disability group mentioned by name in the report are students with autism, who the Suozzi specifically identified in the Suozzi Commission Report. And 3. Roll State Standards Back to the Federal Minimums, The Suozzi Commission report repeatedly advocates rolling back educational standards to the minimums required by Federal Law. And these minimums are very low indeed. If you have any knowledge of special education standards in Florida and other states that just provide the federal minimum, that is what is proposed for New York. 4. Shift the Burden of Proof to Parents, parents who believe that their child is not receiving an appropriate education would be required to prove that in administrative hearings, Now the burden of proof is on the school district. 5. Dramatically accelerate the integration of special education with general education, improving and increasing opportunities to benefit students who need extra help within the general education setting. While this may be beneficial for some students, the point here is to save money not provide for the education needs of students with special needs, or the needs of the mainstream students in the classrooms. 6.Teachers will Not receive You Child’s IEP. Believe it or not the State Education Department doesn’t even want to provide copies of IEPs to teachers.
Autism United is following these issues closely and is forming a statewide coalition of organizations and individuals to fight the cuts, and program changes. We can only stop these cuts if the entire community with a stake in special education and early intervention works together and gets involved.
Thank you!
Take Action
1 Compose Message Message Recipients: David A. Paterson (D-NY), Governor Your State Upper Chamber Representatives Your State Lower Chamber Representatives Thomas Suozzi, , County Executive Delivery Method:
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I am writing to you to express my deep opposition to the changes proposed for special education and early intervention outlined in your budget and the Report from the Commission on Property Tax Relief, led by Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi, which you pledged to enact in your State-of-the-State address. Your program is attempting to pay for the folly of the financial industry at the expense of New York’s most vulnerable citizens. How do you expect to retain any level of quality in special education classrooms that have no limit on the number of students? How can we assure students’ with disabilities receive appropriate educations if there are no minimum standards for services, staff ratios and programming? How are teachers supposed to implement an Individual Education Plan if they are not even given copies of that document? Teachers are challenged with their current work loads, how are they will they provide quality educations with an influx of special education students into mainstream classrooms, a move motivated solely by a desire to reduce short-term costs? Autism was the only disability specifically identified in the Suozzi Commission report and that was to call for a reduction in the current minimum standards in New York, standards that all parents of students with autism know are rarely met now. Effective early intervention has a demonstrated track record of positively affecting the long-term outcomes of children with disabilities, yet you propose a raft of policy changes that will result in fewer services for the kids who need it most. Given that the majority of children in early intervention either have of will receive an autism diagnosis the co-pays you have proposed for early intervention amount to an Autism Tax. Some children receive 25 hours or more of services per week, will families need to provide 25 separate co-pays per week? And the proposal to shift the financial responsibility for early intervention to the school districts from the counties is a thinly veiled tax hike combined with a probable significant cut in the hours of services provided. Autism rates are increasing by more than 15% every year. We are in an epidemic. Your proposals would dismantle more than thirty years of hard won progress for those among us most in need. Your budget and other proposals are a direct threat to the future of every child with special needs in New York. I urge you to reconsider these proposals and look for other ways to address the budget shortfall.
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am writing to you to express my deep opposition to the changes proposed for special education and early intervention outlined in your budget and the Report from the Commission on Property Tax Relief, led by Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi, which you pledged to enact in your State-of-the-State address. Your program is attempting to pay for the folly of the financial industry at the expense of New York’s most vulnerable citizens. How do you expect to retain any level of quality in special education classrooms that have no limit on the number of students? How can we assure students’ with disabilities receive appropriate educations if there are no minimum standards for services, staff ratios and programming? How are teachers supposed to implement an Individual Education Plan if they are not even given copies of that document? Teachers are challenged with their current work loads, how are they will they provide quality educations with an influx of special education students into mainstream classrooms, a move motivated solely by a desire to reduce short-term costs? Autism was the only disability specifically identified in the Suozzi Commission report and that was to call for a reduction in the current minimum standards in New York, standards that all parents of students with autism know are rarely met now. Effective early intervention has a demonstrated track record of positively affecting the long-term outcomes of children with disabilities, yet you propose a raft of policy changes that will result in fewer services for the kids who need it most. Given that the majority of children in early intervention either have of will receive an autism diagnosis the co-pays you have proposed for early intervention amount to an Autism Tax. Some children receive 25 hours or more of services per week, will families need to provide 25 separate co-pays per week? And the proposal to shift the financial responsibility for early intervention to the school districts from the counties is a thinly veiled tax hike combined with a probable significant cut in the hours of services provided. Autism rates are increasing by more than 15% every year. We are in an epidemic. Your proposals would dismantle more than thirty years of hard won progress for those among us most in need. Your budget and other proposals are a direct threat to the future of every child with special needs in New York. I urge you to reconsider these proposals and look for other ways to address the budget shortfall. Read more: [url]//www.city-data.com/forum/long-island/572471-cutting-early-intervention-special-education-programs.html#ixzz0egeckE6w[/url]
It is sad to say the govenment is "blind" ( no pun intended) to where budget cuts need to be made. If Patterson actually took a look at how budgets are spent he would find a lot of wasted money. Budgets HAVE to be spent each year in order for a new budget to be passed therefore people spend money on things that are not needed so they can get a new budget next year. If someone looked in to how budgets are spent we could save a lot of money and not have to cut anything. Also if everyone would do their jobs we wouldn't have to have an assistant to the asssistant to the assistant.
I am exhausted and angry. I feel as though I work like a dog all day, and spend all night and weekend doing paperwork. Does anyone else work 24/7? For this, we get a pay cut.
My friend did her billing for April and brought home over $600.00 less for the month. She is now working until 7:30 every night to make up the difference. They act as though we are making a lot of money, but we really don't. We do not get any benefits, and we do not get any paid time off.
My friend did her billing for April and brought home over $600.00 less for the month. She is now working until 7:30 every night to make up the difference. They act as though we are making a lot of money, but we really don't. We do not get any benefits, and we do not get any paid time off.
Sounds like you need to get a new career pronto and stop knocking yourselves out doing more work and earning less money. You need to put a stop to it because nobody else will.
Look at the teachers who have salaries, lots of paid time off, two guaranteed raises a year, health insurance for life, pensions with a guaranteed minimum 8% rate of return. If they weren't getting so much because their unions own the gonads of all the school districts, you wouldn't be getting ripped off as an independent contractor.
I am sorry for your loss and that your profession is being treated so unfairly!
Sorry but I happen to agree with some of this. Parents Co-paying for their childs special needs. Yeah, why should someone else? Integration and reduction of "special needs" classes. Sachem, back in the day at least, had an AP, honors, and regular 9th grade english course and SIX lower-level special education classes. Waste of time and taxpayer money.
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David A. Paterson (D-NY), Governor 
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Education cuts
