Political Quotes

“All children should have access to a quality education, regardless of whether they have disabilities. The importance of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act [IDEA] is that it enables parents to acquire special educational assistance for their children who may be fully capable of becoming productive members of society, but may need some extra help along the way. I am pleased that Members of Congress on a bipartisan, bicameral basis have worked out a compromise that allows us to reauthorize this important piece of legislation. While I generally support the compromise on the IDEA bill that is before us today, I want to touch briefly on an issue that some school nurses have raised with regard to this legislation. I have heard from many Oregon school nurses about the importance of including nurses in the individual education program [IEP] development process. Under current IDEA regulations, school nurses are considered qualified health professionals and are considered fully capable of assessing a student's disabilities during the IEP process. The school nurses had asked to be mentioned specifically in the statute as 'related service providers' in a disabled child's multidisciplinary team. While this could not be worked out, I understand that the committee report addresses this issue, and I want to convey my support for the inclusion of school nurses as part of the IEP process.”