Education Advocacy
The Council advocates for children with developmental disabilities to have access to quality, individualized educational programs that address their unique skills, interests and goals in inclusive environments. The Council strives for students with disabilties to be considered from the initial phases to the completion of planning and program development of educational policities and initiatives. Some current issues the Council’s advocacy efforts are focused on include:
- Increased focus and capacity to address special education issues.
- Improving the accountability system to value students with disabilities and measure programs and outcomes based on individualized goals and needs.
- Monitoring and providing input into policy development and implementation of access to alternative pathways to graduating high school with a diploma.
- Monitoring the rate of students with disabilities in schools to ensure all schools accepting public dollars will accept and serve all students with disabilities appropriately.
- Ensuring data necessary for monitoring education system(s) are readily available to stakeholders.
- Increased meaningful opportunities for stakeholder input and consideration of stakeholder recommnedations into policies and practices.