LaTEACH
Congratulations LaTEACH Members!
House Education Committee heard your voice!
April 30, 2014


Your advocacy worked!
 
Yesterday, the Louisiana House Education Committee passed HB993 and HB1015 that will give students with disabilities a pathway to promotion and graduating with a diploma!
 
Over 100 LaTEACH members confirmed that they had contacted members of the House Education Committee and dozens of LaTEACH members were in attendance yesterday at the House Education Committee hearing.
Next Steps: Full House

The bills will be next considered by the Full House of Representatives early next week.  A full alert will be issued this evening.  There are many more steps to get these bills through the legislative process.

 

Contact your Louisiana House Representative to tell them how you feel about these issues.  Click Here to find your representative.

Representative John Schroder: 
A Champion of Positive Change for 
Students with Disabilities
Parents of children with disabilities expressed gratitude and appreciation to Representative John Schroder for the work he has done and continues to do to move these issues through the Legislative process.  Representative Schroder shared that the bills have a long way to go and advocates should contact their Louisiana Representatives and Senators to express support for the changes needed to give students with disabilities a pathway to graduate.



Watch the Testimony and House Education Committee Discussion
Click here if you would like to watch the House Education Committee hearing on this subject it starts at the 1:55:00 mark of the video.
 
April Dunn, Joanette Dunn and Rebecca Hanberry were the first people to testify. 
 
 
April Dunn: Advocate Extraordinaire!
April stole the show and showed how needed these changes are to change outcomes for students with disabilities.  Here's a brief synopsis of her testimony. 
 
April took regular classes in high school and earned a 3.0 GPA, never missed a day of school, participated in J-ROTC, Choir and other student organizations, and had a perfect behavior record.  She got into Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC) through a loophole that is now closed to students who do not have a high school diploma. As a BRCC student April has earned over 100 credit hours with a 3.0 GPA.
 
April believes she is 'College Ready' and apparently so do her BRCC instructors who recognize her performance with good grades in their classes.  However, because she could not pass the required standardized tests she was not awarded a high school diploma! 

April joined her LaTEACH members in advocating to change diploma requirements. 
 
Congratulations to April for advocating so current and future high school students can receive the credit they deserve when they exit high school - instead of dropping out, like so many choose to do.
Any questions?
If there are any questions about the information in this alert, contact LaTEACH at:
contact pic
Phone: 1-800-450-8108
Phone: 1-800-894-6558
Website: www.lateach.org

LaTEACH is an initiative of the Louisiana Developmental Disabilities Council.