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  The Unfinished Promise:  50 Years of IDEA and the Fight for Inclusion   I'm assuming you, the reader, believes in that big American idea: that everyone should have an equal shot… But making that happen? That's always been the real work.   And sometimes, the biggest fights  to help give that equal shot didn't happen in big protests; they happened right over the heads of kids, in the battle to get them a classroom desk.   This month, November 2025, the U.S. is marking a huge anniversary: 50 years of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). We need to celebrate it but also fight like heck to protect it.   To understand why IDEA matters so much, we should look back. Before 1975, it was totally different. There was no guarantee that kids with disabilities could even go to public school.   Think about that for a second. Millions of kids were legally shut out. They were institutionalized, kept home, or, if they were l...

We need to sound the alarm on the proposed & recent cuts to the Dept of Education, specifically those to Special Education Services & the core functions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). These staffing cuts aren't just budget adjustments; they are a direct attack on the rights and well-being on our nation's children with disabilities. IDEA is a landmark civil rights law that guarantees a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for every child with a disability. It ensures access to specialized instruction, related services like speech, occupational, and physical therapy, & essential legal protections. I have listened to this poem by  Lederick Horne  a few times since these most recent actions to the Dept. of Education's Office of Special Education & Rehabilitative Services (OSERS). I feel so many emotions like anger , disappointment , scared , & sad . I don't know what to think & barely know what to do.  Decimating the s...

Happy New Year!  How many times have you heard this so far this month?  I think one thing this time of year and that phrase causes me to do is think about what will it take to have a happy year?  Many times I think we see the new year as a new chance to start something, learn something, etc. Look at gym memberships - they will increase in January as people start getting fit. Why do we choose to put it off and wait until another year? Why not the next month..or next week? Or better yet, the next day? If it's something you want to do or want to achieve, just start.  ...this is all sounding good to me, but yet this year... well, about halfway through the year, something changed. I don't know what - haven't figured that out. Something changed and the momentum I had gained in working out consistently and starting to plan and cook more at home hit a huge wall... a wall I am having trouble getting over. Every day my intention is to do better, but then I find myself disappoi...