For More information:
NEA Communications 202-822-7200

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 11, 1998

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Stronger discipline ... more involvement by general education teachers ... additional staff training ... increased parental involvement ...and mandatory mediation of disputes with parents.

These are just a few of the sweeping changes in the nation's special education law that will affect every public school in America this fall, impacting most of the 2.4 million members of the National Education Association (NEA).

To help them prepare, NEA, in collaboration with the Caliber Corporation of Baltimore, Md., will conduct a first-ever interactive intranet videoconference from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. EDT on Aug. 13, allowing NEA members at 19 sites across America to pose questions about the new federal law to a panel of U.S. Department of Education officials and subject matter experts.

The live conference will air from 12 noon to 3:00 p.m. Central time, 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Mountain time, and 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Pacific time.

Up to 25 people at each site will learn about changes in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Originally enacted in 1975, the IDEA was amended in 1997, and IDEA 97, as it is now called, will have a profound impact on all school employees, from teachers and aides to bus drivers and school nurses.

Final regulations will not be promulgated until later this school year, making it all the more important for educators to gain as much understanding as possible of the new law.

"IDEA 97 is both an education law and a civil rights law," said NEA President Bob Chase. "Its goal is to guarantee an opportunity to learn for all students, regardless of disability. It's mandatory that our members understand its complexities, so they can make it work to the best benefit of all students."

Today, three-quarters of the nation's 5.8 million students with disabilities are educated in general education classrooms, and the new law, Chase says, "attempts to balance carefully the interests of students, teachers and parents."

The videoconference, moderated by NEA Communications staffer David Sheridan, will originate from a studio in Baltimore. It will start with an overview of proposed IDEA 97 regulations by Thomas Hehir, director of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSEP).

Ed Amundson, a special needs teacher from Sacramento, Calif. and chair of NEA's Caucus for Educators of Exceptional Children, will discuss the impact of IDEA 97 on NEA members. He will be joined by Patti Ralabate, a special needs teacher in Connecticut, and Leon Horne, a member of NEA's Legislative Committee.

Hehir and JoLeta Reynolds of OSEP will follow with a description of how the Department of Education can help states and educators implement IDEA 97, through professional development and technical assistance. Participants across the nation will then have an opportunity to submit questions directly to the presenters and subject-matter experts via E-mail. All questions not answered live during the unique intranet-video-teleconference will be answered afterwards on a separate page on NEA's web site at www.nea.org/publiced/idea.

"NEA is committed to answering every member's question about IDEA 97," Chase said. "This is an enormously complicated issue, and we want to ensure that all school employees who work with exceptional children receive the information, cooperation, and training they need to do the best job they can."

A complete list of videoconference sites is attached.

The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support personnel, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.