This page contains lists of organizations opposed to and organizations supporting or neutral in respect to pending legislation changing I.D.E.A legislation, which passed the Congresss as H.R. Bill 1350 and now moves to the Senate for vote.  This list is being updated regularly.

Organizations Opposed to H.R. 1350

Wrights Law - Disseminate information on advocating for special needs.

Association For Retarded Citizens (ARC)

Council for Exceptional Children - The largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted.

National Association of the Deaf - The nation's oldest and largest nonprofit organization safeguarding the accessibility and civil rights of 28 million deaf and hard of hearing Americans.

National Association of State Directors of Special Education

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology

American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)

National Association of Social Workers

National Association of School Psychologists

American Counseling Association

AAPD - American Association of People with Disabilities - the largest national nonprofit cross-disability member organization in the United States.  

Exceptional Parenting - organization for parents of special needs children.

UCP  - The leading source of information on cerebral palsy and a pivotal advocate for the rights of persons with any disability.

Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights

Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund - A national law and policy center dedicated to protecting and advancing the civil rights of people with disabilities.

National Center for Learning Disabilities

Association of University Centers on Disability  - Promotes and supports the national network of university centers on disabilities.

OMB Watch - Office of Management and Budget Watch - A watchdog organization that focuses on budget, regulatory, nonprofit advocacy and information policy and right to know issues.

Learning Disability Associations of America

Bridges 4 Kids - Building partnerships between parents, schools and communities.

Learning Disabilities Association of Virginia

U.S. Autism Ambassador - The only national autism organization I am aware of to alert parents to contact their congressmen about this legislation before the congressional vote took place.

Bush administration - this legislation has the endorsement of President Bush and his cabinet.  It was drafted by the Congressional Education and Workforce committee, sponsored by Congressional representatives John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Mike Castle (R-Del.).  The vote to approve this legislation took place pretty much along party lines, with most Republicans supporting and most Democrats opposing this bill in committee and in the full house vote .

AFT - American Teacher's Federation. Here is a reprint of what the AFT has to say about H.R. 1350 from their web site, "The reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act went into high gear in the U.S. House of Representatives this month with the introduction of the Improving Education Results for Children with Disabilities Act of 2003 (H.R. 1350). . . The bill provides many of the changes that AFT is requesting, including simplification of Individualized Education Plans, more flexibility in the discipline provisions, and clarification of time-consuming due-process requirements. Unfortunately, H.R. 1350 falls short in some areas. The bill fails to provide the mandatory full funding requested and actually limits the amount of money a state can receive. Also, although H.R. 1350 takes steps to address minority overrepresentation in IDEA, it does not fully consider the needs of the students for quality services, even if the students are correctly identified."

NEA  - National Education Association.  The NEA is neutral on this legislation, as of April 29, giving it a legislative rating of incomplete.  On the positive side, they support the full funding of IDEA.  However NEA does not appear to object to several provisions that weaken the rights of parents and children.  They recommend putting provisions in place setting short-term goals through state-created legislation before they are removed from IDEA (as opposed to objecting to their removal from IDEA in the first place) and ensuring that high quality alternative education settings are provided for children who are expelled from public school and recommend retaining the  functional behavioral assessment and creation of a behavior intervention plan "for students with disabilities who are to be removed from the classroom and educated in an alternative setting".   For more detailed information on the NEA's  item by item recommendations as sent to the Education and Workforce Committee and to the Full House, please review the attached letters sent to Congress by NEA regarding this legislation.  Letter to the House Education and Workforce Committee.  Letter to the Full House of Congress.  

California School Board - supports this legislation.

California Department of Special Education - supports this legislation.

American Association of School Administrators - supports this legislation.

Wisconsin Educational Association   - supports this legislation.