President’s budget proposal shows no sign of IDEA campaign pledge

Alyson Klein writes in Education Week (subscription required) that President Barack Obama’s first budget proposal would boost U.S. Department of Education spending by 2.8 percent. “But — not counting massive one-time increases in the recent economic-stimulus legislation—the plan also provides no more than level-funding for special education,” she writes.

While on the campaign trail last year, presidential candidate Obama declared his support for “fully funding” the federal government’s commitment to special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

That promise seemed to waver when Obama took office, with the White House website edging away from the commitment to “full funding” and replacing it with a promise to seek unspecified “funding” for IDEA.

And yesterday, the Obama administration appeared to dismiss the campaign promise altogether in the budget proposal by maintaining special education funding at historic levels. Yet, the disability “issues” page currently displayed on the White House website still carries a pledge to “expand funding for programs like the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) that ensure all Americans have access to the tools to succeed.”

The dispute over special education funding is a heated one that has been going on almost since the IDEA was signed into law in 1975. (more…)

From WJLA-TV [Washington, DC], CBS News Political Hotsheet, and the [Washington, D.C.] Examiner:

As the inauguration planners advise people to take the Metro and prepare for long walks, people with disabilities are wondering how they will be able to attend the inauguration events at all.

Some are now even saying the committee is doing all it can to discourage the disabled from showing up.

… “This is like a big, bold sign that says if you’re a person with a disability, this is not your event,” said Richard Simms, executive director of D.C. Center for Independent Living, a nonprofit that promotes independent lifestyles for disabled residents.

CBS News quotes from a memo issued by inauguration event organizers:

And if you’re disabled, best of luck: “Persons in wheelchairs or utilizing walkers should be aware that they will need to move across bumpy surfaces, grassy areas, and possible icy areas (depending on the weather).”

From the [UK] Independent:

An independent UK media regulator has found that the BBC  violated the Broadcasting Code in airing a radio show in which an American comedian described Sarah Palin’s son as “retarded” and said his Down syndrome was proof that “God obviously hates her.”

The finding came in response to a viewer complaint about a show last September that featured comedian Doug Stanhope. In a Broadcast Bulletin, the UK Office of Communications (Ofcom) said “the word ‘retarded’ was used in a particularly derogatory manner” and that the reference to Down syndrome as a punishment from God was “highly offensive.”

(more…)

From Todd Mayfield, Jefferson City, MO:

November 3, 2008
Rally at Jefferson City, MO, state capitol.

Elijah Roark Mayfield, 12, and Gov. Sarah Palin

From Todd’s account:

“… In the group standing around us there was a dad with a small baby that had Down syndrome, too. When Gov. Palin entered the stage that dad held his baby up high to make sure she saw him — she did and she acknowledged him by placing her hand over her heart and making an adoring facial expression. She didn’t make her way over at that time, but she did continue to look their way several times.

“At the end of her speech, (more…)

From CQ/Washington Post:

Speaking at the annual conference of the Republican Governors Association, Sarah Palin told of the families and people with disabilities she met along the campaign trail. An excerpt from the transcript of her remarks:

I will remember with gratitude all the families with special needs children who were the stars of the show in our rallies: kids with autism and some in their wheelchairs and these beautiful kids who maybe before were made to feel like there wasn’t a place for them in the life of our country.

… You know, and always being warned you can’t cry on the campaign trail or you can’t show that — well, my goodness, speaking to some of these families and the challenges that they have — and they who aren’t asking anything from government or from anybody else — perhaps a hand up, but not a handout, these families.

I would see them in the audience, and they would hold up their banners. And I’ll tell you, I came close to crying few times, because they just touched my heart.

(more…)

From Politico.com:

Respected political analyst Michael Barone drew criticism Tuesday when he told a conference of academics that journalists trashed Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin because “she did not abort her Down syndrome baby.”

Audience members erupted in angry boos, and some walked out of the annual meeting of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges in Chicago.

“The liberal media attacked Sarah Palin because she did not abort her Down syndrome baby,” Barone said, according to accounts by attendees. “They wanted her to kill that child. … I’m talking about my media colleagues with whom I’ve worked for 35 years.”

Barone did not dispute the accounts of his remarks, and said in an email that he was “attempting to be humorous and, as many in public do, went over the line.” His apology is here.

Barone is a senior writer for U.S. News & World Report and principal coauthor of “The Almanac of American Politics.” He is also a regular commentator on Fox News.

(U.S. News photo)

Writing in the Rocky Mountain News, parent Renee Beauregard calls on opponents of Amendment 51 to come up with the money to fund basic services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Colorado. The measure, which was defeated at the polls last week, would have raised the sales tax by a fraction of a percent to eliminate the state’s waiting list for services.

The defeat of Amendment 51 does not mean this enormous problem is going away. To those of you like Rep. Doug Bruce, Rep. Kevin Lundberg, Jon Caldara, Mark Hillman, and the anonymous anti-tax groups and others who said that Colorado simply needs to “reprioritize” where it spends its money and redirect funds to help these people, I am going to call upon you now. Because you believe that Colorado has this money somewhere, and because you made a concerted effort to help defeat Amendment 51 through your words, I look to you now to help find that money. Instead of just saying “no,” please begin to ask the question “how.”