Celebrating the Community Alliance for Special Education's 30 Years of Fighting for Children with Disabilities

by Jackie Speier

Celebrating the Community Alliance for Special Education's 30 Years of Fighting for Children with Disabilities

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HON. JACKIE SPEIER

OF CALIFORNIA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, San Francisco's Community Alliance for Special Education (CASE) was formed in 1979 in response to an unmet need to protect the educational rights of children with disabilities. As CASE celebrates its 30th anniversary, we can all celebrate their good and inspired work supporting children with disabilities by ensuring the fair and just implementation of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and state special education laws.

Perhaps most impressively, CASE recognizes the financial hardship that can beset a family raising a child with a disability and has never turned away a client based on their ability to pay.

Their excellent work has led to impressive results over the past three decades, including 94% of children served by CASE receiving appropriate educational services and 95% of clients being connected to local parent networks to help them address other family needs.

Over the last thirty years, CASE has provided more than 20,000 consultations to parents and professionals, represented upwards of 3,000 families and trained in excess of 25,000 people. In addition, their handbook, Special Education Rights, is the most widely-used resource guide in California on the special education process.

Madam Speaker, you and I are both blessed to represent what San Francisco legend Herb Caen called "The city that knows how". I am happy to report that CASE furthers San Francisco's proud legacy by successfully harnessing the power of collaboration and communication to engage children, parents, educators and the community to advance the admirable goal of improving educational opportunities for children with disabilities so that they, too, can become happy and productive members of the community.

It is with great admiration that I commend the Community Alliance for Special Education for making our world a better place by advocating for those who otherwise might not be heard. I congratulate everyone who has had a part in making CASE the success story it is and look forward to more great work over the next thirty years.