PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION FOR KIDS WITH DISABILITIES (H.R.2740)

We urgently need individuals to sign the petition outlined below.
This is to help kids with disabilities by supporting a  proposed federal law that will even the playing field for families by allowing  parents who win at due process or court against a school district to recover  their expert
witness fees.  Without this law, many parents cannot afford to  pursue their children's right to education because they can't afford to pay  thousands of dollars for expert witnesses to testify (while schools have experts on staff paid for by tax dollars).

Please take a moment to sign the individual petition and please share with anyone you can  think of who might help. We NEED to show Congress that this issue matters to  families!!

Please know that the  group sponsoring this petition (COPAA - _www.copaa.org_ (www.copaa.org) ) is a volunteer-run nonprofit  dedicated to helping kids with disabilities obtain an appropriate education - They will not share your information or use  it for any purpose other than this!
Thanks in advance!
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Sign-On and Support the  IDEA Fairness Restoration Act (HR 2740)! Ask Congress to Help Level the Playing Field.  Few parents can afford to pay for needed experts  on their own, while School Districts can Use taxpayer dollars to fund  experts.  This is manifestly unfair.  Please see instructions below to  sign COPAA's Organizational and Individual Petitions.   

Dear COPAAns and others,
Please consider signing COPAA's  petition in support of the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act (H.R. 2740), a bill  that would permit parents who prevail in due process and litigation to recover  their expert witness fees.  Few parents can afford the high cost of  paying technical, medical, and other expert
witnesses themselves; by contrast,  school districts can use taxpayer dollar to pay for experts or use staff on  their payroll.   In 2006, the Supreme Court decided that parents could  not be reimbursed for expert witness fees in Arlington Central School District  v. Murphy; the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act would overturn that decision.   The Murphy decision has made the playing field incredibly unlevel and unjust for  parents who are forced to pursue due process.

This link goes to the Sign-On letter  so you can read it, and a very simple form to use to sign-on.  The form  allows us to download sign-ons in excel format and to sort them, and we'd really  appreciate if you use it.

INDIVIDUALS: SIGN COPAA's PETITION FOR  INDIVIDUALS!  If you are a parent, attorney, advocate, family  member, neighbor, friend, colleague, other professional, please sign COPAA's  petition for individuals who support the IDEA Fairness Restoration Act (H.R.  2740).  Let's tell Congress that we support this bill and want it  passed!  More and more parents find that they cannot pursue their  children's rights because they cannot afford it.  Please send
this note  to your friends, family, support groups, listservs, yahoo groups and others to  ask them to sign the petition.  There are 7.1 million children with  disabilities and their rights are important.  The link to SIGN
COPAA's  INDIVIDUAL PETITION IS HERE:
_Indiv-Petition_
(www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Ib9OdiMVf9ZE2rcPz5F2DA_3d_3d)
(If that doesn't work, the full  link is:
_www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Ib9OdiMVf9ZE2rcPz5F2DA_3d_3d_
(www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Ib9OdiMVf9ZE2rcPz5F2DA_3d_3d)

The  effects of not being able to afford expert fees can be pernicious.  In one case, a mother was forced to go to due process to implement the Independent  Educational Evaluation recommendations for her child with severe
dyslexia and a  written expression disorder.  She had to borrow $1,400 to pay the evaluator  to testify, and for 2 days of cross-examination by the school district.   The hearing officer ordered the scientifically-based reading
instruction the  child desperately needed.  Before the Supreme Court’s Murphy decision, the  mother could recover her expert fees; after Murphy, she would not.  In  other cases, solo practitioners report that they could not take cases pro bono  because they had no way to afford the expert.  The IDEA Fairness  Restoration Act would go far to cure these problems.

You can read more  about this important issue on COPAA's website at
_www.copaa.org/pdf/MurphyBrochure.pdf_
(www.copaa.org/pdf/MurphyBrochure.pdf)
Note that this  brochure may refer to H.R. 4188; that was last year's bill. This is being  updated and the new bill number is H.R. 2740.
This information is also  available in Spanish,
_www.copaa.org/pdf/MSSpanish.pdf_
(www.copaa.org/pdf/MSSpanish.pdf)
_Lea aqui_ (www.copaa.org/pdf/MSSpanish.pdf)  en  Espanol: Murphy y
los derechos de los padres para recuperar el costo de los  expertos. Importante! es el nuevo número H.R. 2740: _www.copaa.org/pdf/MSSpanish.pdf_
(www.copaa.org/pdf/MSSpanish.pdf)
A copy of the bill  will be posted to COPAA's website shortly.  In the meantime, you can find  the full bill at _www.congress.gov_ (www.congress.gov/) , and in the  box that says Search Bill Summary and Status, type IDEA
Fairness and press  search.  This will take you to H.R. 2740. 
For more  information, or if you have questions, please feel free to email us at protectidea@copaa.org.

AGAIN, PLEASE SHARE THIS  INFORMATION BROADLY, you can re-post and forward as you wish.Thanks very  much,
Robert Berlow and Jess Butler
Co-Chairs, Government  Relations
Council of Parent Attorneys & Advocates, Inc.
a national voice for special education rights and  advocacy
_www.copaa.org_ (www.copaa.org/)
email: _protectidea@copaa.org_ (mailto:protectidea@copaa.org)