Friday, April 20, 2007

AJC :: Georgia's hospitals to get Federal investigation..

A breaking news announcement shared that Governor Sonny Perdue has been notified that the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights division is headed for Georgia to investigate our state's seven state-run mental health hospitals..

The rest of the story may be found at:

Justice Dept. to investigate Georgia's mental hospitals..
By Alan Judd, Andy Miller, authors of the A Hidden Shame ongoing series of articles regarding the condition of Georgia's state-wide run mental health care hospitals..
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution..
Published on: 2007-04-19

You're going to have to grab it quick because the AJC's articles go into archive very regularly.. Be forewarned that it takes a subscription to view many of their articles.. Perhaps this one they'll just let slide..

Cross-posted opinion at: Six. Almost Seven....

Gwinnett County :: Meeting 2007-04-20: ACLU Sponsored School to Prison Pipeline Project..

WHAT: The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) is sponsoring a "School to Prison Pipeline Project in Gwinnett County, Georgia..

WHO: For parents and community members interested in learning more and making a difference in Gwinnett County

WHEN: Friday, 2007-04-20, 7-8:30pm

WHERE: Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, Conference Room B, 75 Langley Drive, Lawrenceville , GA 30045

DIRECTIONS (From South of Gwinnett)

  • Take I-85 North to Hwy. 316 (splits to the right)
  • Exit Hwy. 316 at Hwy. 120 (Duluth-Lawrenceville exit) and go right approximately 1.5 miles
  • Turn right at the 6th light (Langley Drive)
  • Go approximately .5 miles and the complex will be on your right

Resource: Member post at GA-ChildrensNetwork, Yahoo! group (semi-high traffic, in-depth application process to join)

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Georgia Special Education Petition :: Keep parents in the know, in the loop..

There is currently an online petition circulating concerning special education in Georgia.. It is being forwarded by parents of children with disabilities (CWDs).. They want to make the message clear that they are very serious about staying involved in the education of their children, our Future.. Please pass it on quickly..

Cyberhoused at The Petition Site: Educate Georgia Petition (#600878749)..

The Educate Georgia Petition states:

Children with Special Needs and their Parents want to be "equal" partners in the education of "their" children.

Recently, Georgia Dept. of Education, Division of Exceptional Students has proposed changes to the Special Education Rules, which will be effective July 2007, unless we speak up! Many of the proposed changes will negatively affect Children with Special Needs, their parents and education in our communities throughout Georgia.

The following petition is the collected voice of Concerned Public Citizens and Parents of Children with Special Needs. We the undersigned, hereby agree by adding our signature to this petition, that we are not in agreement with the 2007 Proposed changes to Special Education Rules and Regulations, as proposed by the Georgia Department of Education, Division of Exceptional Students.

The proposed changes will NEGATIVELY affect the education of Children with Special Needs and communities in Georgia. In addition, we, the concerned Public Citizens and Parents of Children with Special Needs propose the following changes: Adoption of Proposed changes, as contained in this petition, to improve the educational results for Children with Special Needs throughout Georgia.

Make Parents “equal” partners in education. Give us a place at the table when making decisions about our Children with Special Needs. Georgia Leaders, we are asking you to change the course of Georgia’s Education!